A study of Faith

Definition of Faith

Man’s Definition

When referring to faith, one place to begin would be Hebrews 11. Referred to as the “hall of faith” by many, this chapter is like an honor roll of the faithful men and women of the OT.

King James Version Chapter 11

11 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. 2 For by it the elders obtained a good report. 3 Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear. 4 By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous,

Faith in general is the persuasion of the mind that a certain statement is true. Its primary idea is trust. The NASB translates V1 this way, “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” So faith is believing in something you can’t see, or something you can’t prove to be true. For this study we will say that is the conviction that what God says is true and that what He promises will come to pass.

V2 says that “By it the elders obtained a good report.” NASB translation, For by it the men of old gained approval. Whose approval did they gain? Who gave them the good report. God did.

The first act of faith mentioned here is believing that God is who designed and build everything there is. And that He built it out of nothing. “what is seen was not made out of things which are visible”. So the first act of faith in being a Christian begins in the first line of God’s Word. Gen. 1:1, “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.” If you can’t believe the first sentence in the Bible, How can you believe the rest of it? Any wonder that Satan has gone all out in our society to undermine that belief? Remember we defined faith as the persuasion of the mind that a certain statement is true.

God’s Definition

Lets look at what God says was approved faith in Hebrews 11. According to V4 here, the first example of faith in scripture is that of Abel. It says, “By faith Abel offered to God a better sacrifice than Cain, through which he obtained the testimony that he was righteous.” So what did Abel do that Cain didn’t? Gen. 4:3-5 says, “And in process of time it came to pass, that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the LORD. And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof. And the LORD had respect unto Abel and to his offering: But unto Cain and to his offering he had not respect. And Cain was very wroth, and his countenance fell.” It says Abel brought of the “firstlings.” The word translated firstlings here can also be translated as birthright and first born. It gives the sense that Abel brought of the first fruits of his labor in raising sheep. Gen. 4:2 says that Abel was a keeper of sheep but Cain was a tiller of the ground. What the passage doesn’t say is that there was anything special about Cain’s sacrifice. This gives me the impression that Cain just grabbed some fruit and hoped to make an offering of it.

God expects our best when it comes to offerings. In general, if we value something, it would probably be accepted by God as an offering. I remember a story about King David and a sacrifice he made to God. Because of something David did, a plague fell on the people. David, under the instruction of God through a prophet, went to build an altar on a threshing floor that belonged to Araunah the Jebusite. Now Araunah offered to give David the threshing floor as well as the oxen for the sacrifice. Listen to David’s reply in 2 Sam. 24:24-25, “Then the king said to Araunah, “No, but I will surely buy it from you for a price; nor will I offer burnt offerings to the Lord my God with that which costs me nothing.” So David bought the threshing floor and the oxen for fifty shekels of silver. And David built there an altar to the Lord, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings. So the Lord heeded the prayers for the land, and the plague was withdrawn from Israel.” David, like Abel, knew that an offering to God can’t be made with something of no value to us. The Bible doesn’t tell us how Cain and Abel were instructed in what offerings God would accept, but we assume that they were instructed at some point. Otherwise, how would they know to make an offering to God in the first place. Abel believed that if he made it in the proper way, it would be accepted. Cain was told by God that if he did well, he would be accepted. Rather than believe God and try again, Cain killed his own brother out of jealousy. The scripture doesn’t say if he ever tried again or ever got it right. Abel, like many after him, paid the ultimate price for his faith in God. And his faith will be proclaimed for eternity in God’s Word.

The next example of faith is Enoch. Now Enoch is another one that we know little about. His story takes up a whole 4 verses in Genesis 5. Then he is mentioned in Luke 3 as an ancestor of Abraham and in the book of Jude he is spoken of as being a prophet who said that the Lord would one day execute judgement on the ungodly. So we have to assume that God told him he would one day judge the ungodly behavior of man on the earth. So Enoch must have believed what God said and had told others. Genesis 5 also says that Enoch walked with God for 300 years. The word “walk” in the bible doesn’t always mean putting one foot in front of the other. Ge 13:17 says, “Arise, walk through the land in the length of it and in the breadth of it; for I will give it unto thee.” But Mic 2:7 says, “You who are named the house of Jacob: “Is the Spirit of the LORD restricted? Are these His doings? Do not My words do good To him who walks uprightly? It is the same Hebrew word in both passages, but by the context you can see that they have entirely different meanings. I believe that Enoch “walked uprightly” or in God’s will for 300 years! Hebrews says that he had this testimony, “that he pleased God”. And for his faithfulness, Enoch never died! At least not yet. There are some who believe that he will be sent back one day to once again demonstrate his faith and accomplish God’s will on the earth. All I can say for sure is that everything happens for a reason, one day we will know the rest of the story.

Then Hebrews 11:6 gives us an insight into the mind of God. It says, “But without faith it is impossible to please Him: for he that cometh to God must believe that He is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.” How many in our world today do not believe that God exists at all? No one can have faith in something or someone they don’t believe exists. And if God doesn’t exist then neither does Satan. And Satan would have us all believe that it is all just a fairy tale told to scare children and keep them in line.

Our next example of faith is Noah. Unlike Enoch, his story gets a little more coverage. But remember, Enoch’s story may not be over yet. Noah was told by God that something was about to happen that had never before been seen in the world. Many theologians agree that until the great flood, rain had never fallen on the earth. Hebrews 11:7 says “By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house; by the which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith.” God told Noah what he was going to do. He was going to wipe out the evil of mankind from the earth and start over again with just Noah and those he took with hin on the ark he was told to build. Obviously Noah believed him and set in constructing a boat that was bigger than ever seen before. They may have never even seen a boat before. God gave him the design for the ark and how to stock it for what was coming. Genesis 6:9 says that “Noah was a just man and perfect in his generations, and Noah walked with God. And V22 says that Noah did all that God had commanded him. For probably around 120 years Noah built an ark and was 600 years old when the flood came. What kind of faith did it take to work for 120 years building something no one had ever seen before in preparation for an event that had never happened before. We know from a passage in 2 Peter 2:5 that Noah was a “preacher of righteousness”. That leads us to believe that, like Enoch, God told Noah that He was going to judge the world, Noah believed Him and told others.

Now we come to a name that everyone should know. Abraham. He was told by God to go out from his place and his family to a place God would show him. Hebrews here cites the faith Abraham demonstrated in the land God had promised him. Verse 10 says “For he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God.” But we know from other passages that Abraham demonstrated faith in many ways that I don’t know if I could have done. We looked at Gal. 3:6-7 last week where it says “Even as Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness. Know ye therefore that they which are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham.” As “children of Abraham” we are in line for some of the promises God made to Abraham. But notice what it says, “they which are of faith” are the children of Abraham. In order to be one of the children, you have to believe what God says is true. First you have to believe that He Is, that He exists. After that you start working on believing what He has said. Starting with Genesis 1:1 all the way through to Revelation 22:21 we are to believe that what God says is true. If we are going to believe what He said, we have to know what He said. We have to believe that the Bible is God’s Word to us. It reveals the heart of God, the plan of God, and the salvation of God that is offered to all mankind. It is a lamp to our feet and a light to our path. It tells us how we can walk with God as the faithful always have. But we have to read it. In its pages we can find God. We go back to Hebrews 11:6. Believe that He is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.”