What Is Faith?
Notes
Transcript
If I were to ask you to describe or give a definition of your faith, what would you say?
Trust, belief, walking with Jesus, etc..
That all sounds good and sweet, but can you defend a faith like that in a world like ours?
17 The first one to plead his cause seems right, Until his neighbor comes and examines him.
I want us to look at the biblical definition of faith and also understand what faith does.
Text; Heb. 11:1-2
1 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.
2 For by it the elders obtained a good testimony.
1. Faith and Hope; 1a
1. Faith and Hope; 1a
Faith is substance that is connected to hope and evidence. Too often we think of faith as just a belief that has no substance or evidence, but it does. Let’s look at the definitions of these four words then we will look at their connection to faith.
Faith- strong belief, complete trust and confidence, persuade, to win over
Substance- solid presence, real physical matter, tangible reality
Hope- desire for something to happen, expectation
Evidence- available body of facts, information indicating whether something is true and valid, proof
The link between faith and hope is the key to understanding and defending faith.
The word Hope is used differently in the NT than the way we use it in everyday life.
When we use the word hope, we usually are referring to an emotional state of desire in our hearts regarding what we would like to happen in the future but are not sure will come to pass. We may hope that our favorite team will win a football game, but that hope may never materialize.
Sproul, R. C. (2010). What Is Faith? (Vol. 8, pp. 2–3). Reformation Trust Publishing.
When the Bible speaks of hope, it is not referring to a desire for a future outcome that is uncertain, but rather a desire for a future outcome that is absolutely sure. Based on our trust in the promises of God, we can be fully confident about the outcome.
19 This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which enters the Presence behind the veil,
The promises of God for tomorrow are the anchor for believers today!
Hope is faith looking forward with confidence in God that what He says will come to pass. Because I have faith [trust] in God, the one making the promises, there is substance [tangible reality] to my hope [desire/expectation].
The question now is, where is the evidence to back this up?
2. Faith and Evidence; 1b
2. Faith and Evidence; 1b
Evidence- available body of facts, information indicating whether something is true and valid, proof
How can you prove something you cannot see? How do you validate faith when you can’t touch it? The Bible even tells us “we walk by faith and not by sight.”
You’ve heard the old saying, “Seeing is believing”, well there’s a lot of truth to that, even biblically.
Faith in the gospel of Jesus Christ is not a blind faith without hope/substance. It is trust in tangible evidence, just like it was to the apostles.
Peter is talking of adding to our faith in Jesus being a eyewitness of the Son of God;
15 Moreover I will be careful to ensure that you always have a reminder of these things after my decease.
16 For we did not follow cunningly devised fables when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of His majesty.
17 For He received from God the Father honor and glory when such a voice came to Him from the Excellent Glory: “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”
18 And we heard this voice which came from heaven when we were with Him on the holy mountain.
19 And so we have the prophetic word confirmed, which you do well to heed as a light that shines in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts;
20 knowing this first, that no prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation,
21 for prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.
1 Inasmuch as many have taken in hand to set in order a narrative of those things which have been fulfilled among us,
2 just as those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the word delivered them to us,
3 it seemed good to me also, having had perfect understanding of all things from the very first, to write to you an orderly account, most excellent Theophilus,
4 that you may know the certainty of those things in which you were instructed.
Paul defends his confidence in the resurrection of Christ by eyewitness accounts;
5 and that He was seen by Cephas, then by the twelve.
6 After that He was seen by over five hundred brethren at once, of whom the greater part remain to the present, but some have fallen asleep.
7 After that He was seen by James, then by all the apostles.
8 Then last of all He was seen by me also, as by one born out of due time.
The Bible doesn’t ask us to adopt a BLIND faith but a REASONED faith—a faith that can honestly ask the hard questions and then search for real, substantive, credible answers.
Köstenberger, A. J., Bock, D. L., & Chatraw, J. (2014). Truth matters: confident faith in a confusing world (pp. 13–14). B&H Academic.
3. Good Testimony; 2
3. Good Testimony; 2
Who are the elders? Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Sarah
Elders- a person who has lived in ancient times, at a point long before the point of time of the present discourse itself. [Before the first coming of Christ, the cross and resurrection]
What is a testimony? Evidence or proof by a witness; to speak well of a person on the basis of personal experience
Testimony- [martyreo] martyr
Faith is the witness of our personal experience in Christ lived out in the world, one day at a time.
The Bible was written with the assumption that we are the rational and spiritual beings God made us to be, giving us the created dignity of marrying our belief with reason. The Christian faith is true not only because we want to believe it is, but because the Bible provides substantive consistent truth that is the most plausible of all explanations of faith and God.
Faith is believing God!