Now Faith Is!
Scripture: Hebrews 11:1, 6
Introduction
This morning I am starting a series on Faith. Faith is something that we all have and use, something we are commanded to walk in. In this series of messages, my hope is that you will come to understand faith and its role in your life. Let’s examine just what faith is according to our dictionaries. Webster’s dictionary defines faith as “An unquestioning belief specifically in God, religion, etc. Complete trust and confidence.” In Webster’s definition, I want you to examine two words that are used, unquestioning and complete. The word unquestioning means that you do not question, dispute or doubt. As it pertains to your belief, based on what you know about God, you come to the point where you accept it, believe and receive it without doubting, disputing what you do not understand or having doubts based on your own intellect. The second word I want you to focus on from Webster’s definition is complete. This word carries the meaning that something is finished, nothing more can be added to it. As it pertains to faith, our trust and confidence in our faith should be complete – meaning there is no more room for anything else to be added – you have complete confidence in your faith.
The International Bible Encyclopedia explains that in the New Testament the word faith means to trust or rely upon. When used in this sense, the verbal form (believe) of the word is used. The Greek word used in the New Testament expresses the movement of confidence committed to the object of faith. In many cases it is a person on whom or towards whom there is faith, namely God or Jesus Christ. Now here is where it gets interesting. This usage in the New Testament brings out very strongly the “trust” aspect of faith, for this kind of reliance or committal signifies much more than intellectual belief. It is directed primarily not to facts but to God Himself in Jesus Christ. The intellectual element is included however. To have faith in a person is to believe certain things about this person, his nature, word and work. One does not need to know everything, but it is essential to know and believe something.
Let me give you an example. Alex weighs all of 30 pounds. If I was to place her on a table, blindfold her eyes and ask her to jump off of the table into my arms, she would do it. Why? Because she knows and trusts that I would catch her. Now for you sitting there, that would require very little of your faith. You have done the intellectual calculations in your head. Alex weighs 30 pounds and Rodney weighs 250 pounds which means he can easily catch her. Once you quickly do the calculations you know intellectually that I can catch her – no faith required there. Now the question becomes this, although I am able to catch her, will I actually do it? That requires some faith. But based on what Alex and each of you know about me, you know that I would catch her so although you must use faith, believing this does not require much of your faith. This is where many Christians are with their faith in God. They have some level of faith based on them intellectually processing “something” which led to them believing something about God. But let me show you where God wants us. Reverse the situation, I will stand on the table and jump off in Alex arms. Intellectually our minds tell us that this cannot be done, but if we had the faith, it could be. When we lived in Little Rock I was told the story about the mother of one of our church members. A car jack had slipped and the car fell on her child. In that moment, without processing or thinking about it, she reached down and lifted the back end of the car up to free her child. Intellectually she could not have done so, but she acted in faith without processing or asking whether it was possible. God wants us to have this type of faith. When it comes to faith in Jesus, one cannot really trust in Jesus Christ without believing that He is the Messiah, the incarnate Son, the crucified and risen Savior. The words and works, the essential being of Jesus, are all part of His person. You cannot know just a little about Jesus and imagine the rest and call that true faith. In this series, we will examine our faith so that each of us will understand what faith is and if we are truly walking in faith. If you are not currently walking in faith, I pray that you will come to realize how through this series. Now let’s get started by going to a very familiar verse of Scripture found in Hebrews 11:1.
I. Now Faith Is
“Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.”
Hebrews 11:1 (NIV)
Paul starts this verse out with the word “Now”. This word gives identification to a point in time – now, the present. In the 10th chapter of Hebrews, Paul talked about Christ’s sacrifice and what that meant for us. He explained the history, the problem with the Law of Moses and the problem with sacrifices. Then he comes to his main point of how Christ solved the problem and how we should persevere because of Jesus. He requested that we draw near to God with a sincere heart in the full (complete) assurance of faith. He also warns us stating that if we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of truth, no sacrifice can be made for us and hell is our goal. Paul was pushing his readers to be aware of their history, what Christ did for them, and the new expectation that was upon them since they now have the knowledge of Christ. Finally Paul reminds them of what they have been through and encourages them more to continue on. He tells them that they are not like those who fall back and are destroyed, but those who believe and are saved. Having said all of this, he starts his next sentence with “Now Faith Is”. Using the word “now” Paul was saying, “today, right here, in this present moment” faith is…. He wanted the readers to know that for all intent and purpose, the faith they were to walk in was no different than the historical figures that he would tell them about shortly. Paul wanted to make sure they understood that he was no longer talking about the past or the future; he was talking about what their faith needed to be right now, in the present.
So what did Paul say faith was? He said in verse one that “…faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.” I really like how the Amplified Bible reads for this verse. It says “Now faith is the assurance, the confirmation, the title deed, of the things we hope for, being the proof of things we do not see and the conviction of their reality, faith perceiving as real fact what is not revealed to the senses.” As you know, the Greeks had several words, for each one of our English words, which carried different meaning depending on how it was used. The Amplified Bible takes this into consideration in its translation so it reveals any clarifying shades of meaning that may be concealed by traditional word-for-word method translation. When you read this verse in the Amplified Bible, you begin to see just what real faith is and its importance in our Christian walk. Paul was telling us that faith is our assurance, or title deed, that guarantees that we will receive what we hope for. How many of you own a car or house that you owe no payments on? When you pay off car or house, you receive the title or deed. That title/deed tells anyone that the car or house belongs to you and you can do with it whatever you please. Your faith functions like the “title or deed” to your car or house. Whatever you are believing God for (believing within God’s promises) your faith gives you title of assurance that you will receive it. The last part of the verse says that our faith gives us the proof that the things we do not see really does exists. Our faith gives us conviction of the reality of what we are hoping for. Have you ever believed something so strongly that although others did not understand your beliefs, they could not talk you out of it? That is conviction. Our faith gives us the conviction we need to stand firm in our belief when everyone around us tells us that it does not make sense. The last part of that verse says that our faith perceives as real what has not yet been revealed to our senses. In other words, our faith sees what is real and then our senses come into the knowledge of it. Many times we operate opposite of this – our senses tells us what is real and then and only then will we have faith. Our faith sees the reality of things that our senses do not yet see or comprehend. For this reason our senses are not necessarily the most trusted resource for what is going on in our reality.
Faith means abandoning all trust in our own resources, abilities and reasoning – the things we see. It means relying instead on things we cannot see – God’s promises, provisions and His concern for us. An inner attitude alone does not define faith, though. For faith to be present, action is required. Faith proves itself by its obedience to the Lord. Paul expressed faith in two directions: faith toward future things (what we hope for) and faith toward invisible things (what we do not see). When we are certain God is in control of these areas (and we live like He is in control) that’s faith. There are two types of faith I want to introduce you to in preparation for the remaining messages. One speaks to how the foundation is set while the other the results.
II. Historical & Saving Faith
Historical faith is a belief in the truthfulness and accuracy of the scriptural narrative and teaching. Jesus spent a lot of time teaching His disciples, both history and more important, application of Scripture. Paul did the same thing with his readers, teaching the history as a means of building and establishing their faith. In the 11th chapter of Hebrews, Paul takes his time in walking his readers through the history of those who walked in faith. He gave them a history lesson starting with Abel and finishing by saying that there were many others who had walked in faith. The whole purpose of his message was to build their faith by showing examples of others who had walked in faith. History is important. Paul used the truth of historical figures to demonstrate the faith that is needed now to walk as Christians. Whenever we open and read our bibles, we are reading history. This history is the foundation for our faith. When we read of the exploits of others through faith, knowing that we serve a God who is unchanging, we begin to understand that what God was willing to do in the past for those who walked in faith He is willing to do now. The beginning of our faith walk is when by faith we accept Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior. This brings me to the second faith – saving faith.
Saving faith is the acceptance by the intellect, affection and will of God’s favor extended to man through Christ. Paul wrote in Romans 5:1 that we are justified by faith. We have been declared innocent, acquitted of our sins, made righteous before God because of our faith. Our faith saved us. Although faith and intellect can sometimes be polar opposites, they can also work hand in hand, complementing each other. With my intellect I can do historical searches and find evidence of the truth in the Bible. With my intellect I can witness the move of God in my life, things taking place that I could not do alone. With my intellect I can reflect back on the proof of Christ’s existence in the world and my need for dependence upon Him. All of this I can do with my intellect. However, saving faith is accepting God without being able to intellectually explain everything about Him and His grace. We accept the historical facts and the truth about His grace extended to us. The proof is in the history which we accept leading to us being saved by faith accepting the history as true.
III. Why Faith Is Important
“And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarded of those who seek Him.”
Hebrews 11:6
I want you to first notice the word “impossible”. By definition this words means “it cannot be done”. So to please God we must have faith for without it, it cannot be done. The Greek word translated “without” means to be “outside of something (i.e. someone who lives outside of the city limits.)” When I was growing up as a child, my grandmother lived “outside” of the city limits. I remember walking to a spring up the road to haul her water. Since they did not have running water “out in the country” at that time, they did not have indoor plumbing or bathrooms which presented a whole new set of circumstances for someone from “in town”. Where I lived “in town”, we had indoor plumbing and restrooms – very convenient. This was one of the “benefits” of living “in town” verses living in the country. Well our faith works the same way. It is possible to be saved and not ever walk in the faith that God desires us to walk in – we see it everyday. A person can by faith accept Christ and be saved without ever really allowing faith to fully operate in their life.
Paul lets us know that we can live in faith or out of faith. This means that faith must be a real place that has borders and boundaries. Just as you can live in town or in the country, you can live in faith or out of faith. Paul is especially talking to those who cannot by faith accept God’s existence or His Son Jesus Christ. But we can also apply this to our own faith walk. Every Christian finds it easier to walk in faith in some things while not in others based on their own experiences and intellect. Remember my earlier example with Alex? The faith it took for you to believe that I could and would catch Alex if she jumped off of the table is the amount of faith it takes for most of us to accept Christ. Once we have accepted Christ and we begin to start our faith walk, when it comes to our personal situations, our jobs, our finances, then the role switches and our faith is challenged just as it was when you thought about me jumping into Alex arms. God wants us to develop our faith so that we can by faith believe and witness me jumping in Alex arms and she being able, at her age right now, to catch me by faith. Impossible you say? That is what Thomas felt when the disciples told him Christ had risen. Remember he said unless he could see for himself, he would not believe. Jesus admonished him for his unbelief. God wants us to walk in faith and receive all of the benefits of that faith walk. Just as living in the city offers different benefits than living in the country, walking in faith offers different benefits that walking without faith – in every area of your life. It is impossible to please God without faith.
Next week we will start into some examples of those who Paul listed as men and women of faith and why God commended them for their faith. I hope and pray that this series will challenge your faith. May God bless and keep you.
