Faith hope and love are intangibles. They are difficult to define, but incredibly important.
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Hebrews 11:1
Faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see
Faith is the confidence that what we hope for will actually happen (what we hope for is those things God has spoken about, life, salvation, his promises etc. Full rights as adopted children Romans 8:24); it gives us assurance about things we cannot see.
According to the Blueletter Bible Lexcicon:
Faith is a conviction of the truth of anything, belief; in the NT of a conviction or belief respecting man's relationship to God and divine things, generally with the included idea of trust and holy fervour born of faith and joined with it
a) relating to God
1) the conviction that God exists and is the creator and ruler of all things, the provider and bestower of eternal salvation through Christ
b) relating to Christ
1) a strong and welcome conviction or belief that Jesus is the Messiah, through whom we obtain eternal salvation in the kingdom of God
So faith is a conviction of the truth, even though we cannot physically see it.What we see is what is immediately in front of us. What we cannot see is what we need faith for. Hebrews gives us some clues about what faith is about.
Hebrews11:3
By faith we understand that the entire universe was formed at God’s command and not by anything that can be seen.
Faith is about belief. It is about believing without seeing. The writer to the Hebrews thought faith was so important he spent a whole section writing about it in chapter 11. Jesus said to his disciples that those who believe without seeing will be blessed.
John 20:29
You believe because you have seen me. Blessed are those who believe without seeing me.
Faith is important to our existence, to our relationship with God and to our everyday lives.
1. Faith pleases GodHebrews 11:2
Through their faith, the people in the days of old earned a good reputation.
Faith is important to God. It is by faith we believe and are saved, it is by faith that we build a good reputation, it is by faith that we live.
Hebrews 11:6
And it is impossible to please God without faith. Anyone who wants to come to him must believe that God exists and that he rewards those who sincerely seek him.
It is very clear that faith in God is what is all important. God is not interested so much in our great deeds that we do, in our so called goodness. God is interested in us having a conviction of the truth about himself, about who he is and about his grace and salvation offered to us.
Romans 1:16-17
For I am not ashamed of this Good News about Christ. It is the power of God at work, saving everyone who believes-the Jew first and also the Gentile. This Good News tells us how God makes us right in his sight. This is accomplished from start to finish by faith. It is through faith that a righteous person has life.
Our salvation, our life our future, are all determined by faith and it is this faith in God that pleases him. It is a faith not based on our ability and our merit but totally reliant on God. From the beginning through to the end, it’s about faith and what God can do, not about what you or I can do.
Jesus was often astounded and amazed at the lack of faith amongst the supposed believers, the people of Israel, yet he was amazed by the faith of those who were outside of Israel and foreigners, e.g. the Canaanite woman (Matt 15:21-28) and the Roman centurion (Matt 8:5-13). They had a faith that was based on who Jesus is and in Jesus’ ability rather than their own standing. They did not rely on rituals or on individual ability; they focussed only on God’s ability.
There is a lesson for us in this. Sometimes we confuse religious practice with faith. Religious practice is not faith; it is there to help us in our faith and to understand God’s amazing love for us. Whilst many religious practices may be helpful, if we confuse them with faith, then there is no power and no pleasing God. It is faith that pleases God.
I think this is really key.It is never in our own strength, or our own goodness that we achieve anything. It is only through faith in Christ, through absolute trust in him and through and unswerving belief that he and he alone has the answers we need to every situation.
2. Faith extends usPeter had faith when he walked on water, and it extended him beyond the ordinary into the extraordinary (Matt 14:22-32). It was only when he was not able to apply faith that he got himself into trouble. Again, there is a lesson for us in this. Faith has to be applied.
I can say I have faith that my chair will hold me, but unless I sit on the chair and apply faith to the situation I will not be exercising faith. Abraham exercised faith when he left Ur and moved at God’s command into the unknown.
Hebrews 11:8-10
It was by faith that Abraham obeyed when God called him to leave home and go to another land that God would give him as his inheritance. He went without knowing where he was going. And even when he reached the land God promised him, he lived there by faith—for he was like a foreigner, living in tents. And so did Isaac and Jacob, who inherited the same promise. Abraham was confidently looking forward to a city with eternal foundations, a city designed and built by God.
Abraham did not know where he was going till he got there, but he stepped out in faith and trusted God for his future. He did not stay because he did not see where he was going; instead, he stepped out into the unknown, and allowed God to lead him into the future.
Faith is meant to be exercised. Otherwise it is just a good idea and theory. It’s not about so called opportunity, or talent or ability, just applied faith. We don’t need masses of faith; we just need to exercise what we have.
Matt 17:20
If you have faith even as small as a mustard seed, you could say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there’ and it would move. Nothing would be impossible. Think about this. Jesus is saying that small faith moves mountains and that nothing is impossible. NOTHING WOULD BE IMPOSSIBLE. We think of moving the landscape as impossible. God says nothing is impossible with even a small amount of faith.
What impossible thing do you have in your life right now, that needs moving? What has God said about that situation? What is he saying to do? Speak out and apply faith. If a mustard seed measure of faith will move mountains, then we don’t need much faith to do and see amazing things.
God is not asking us to shift around the geography of the world or change the shape of our topography.
He is asking us to believe in him and in all he offers us, and through that, he will accomplish much.
When Peter walked on water it was because he applied faith.
This is what faith is. It is about application and that is why it extends us. It takes us beyond the ordinary and into the extraordinary. It takes us beyond our own abilities and the seemingly impossible into the realm of God possibilities. Faith extends us because sometimes what we see and what we believe do not match up. But as we believe in faith, we will see.
3. Faith brings blessingHebrews 11:6
And it is impossible to please God without faith. Anyone who wants to come to him must believe that God exists and that he rewards those who sincerely seek him.
God rewards those who believe and who earnestly seek him. Faith brings blessing but it comes through earnest seeking. Want blessing, seek God earnestly, and not just for selfish reasons. I notice that belief in God goes along with sincerity in action and that produces blessing. Faith, applied brings results and rewards.
When you look at the etymology of this word "reward" in the Greek,we find that it means a reward that is related to paying off a debt, to requite. In other words, the reward is about us having a freedom from the debt we owe God and his paying it for us.
There are also other rewards. We have the opportunity to come into the presence of God, (Hebrews 10) a place in his family, (Romans 8:15-17) and a chance to do great things. God’s rewards are never about selfish ambition but about seeing his purposes achieved on the earth.
ConclusionFaith is implicit trust and belief in God and who he is. Faith pleases God and extends us beyond the ordinary and into a life of amazing possibilities in God. There is an eternal reward, as well as the reward here of life with Christ and his purposes achieved.
