Kingdom ways

LESSON 10: The Nature of Faith

Within the Scripture there are two definite, distinguishing features of faith. First, faith always originates directly in Gods Word; second, it is always directly related to Gods Word. Faith is one of the few words actually defined in the Bible. This definition is found in Hebrews 11:1. Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. This verse might also be translated: Now faith is the ground, or confidence, of things hoped for, a sure persuasion, or conviction, concerning things not seen.

Distinguished From Hope

This important verse brings out various facts about faith. First of all, it indicates a distinction between faith and hope. There two main ways in which faith differs from hope. The first is that hope is directed towards the future, but faith is established in the present . Hope is an attitude of expectancy concerning things that are yet to be, but faith is a substance a confidence, something real and definite within us that we possess here and now. The second main difference between faith and hope is that hope is anchored in the realm of the mind; faith is anchored in the realm of the heart (see 1Thess.5:8). In this verse, faith together with love - is found in the region of the breast; that is the region of the heart. But hope is pictured as a helmet, in the region of the head, or mind. Thus, hope is a mental attitude of expectancy concerning the future: faith is a condition of the heart, producing within us here and now something so that it can be described by the word substance. In Romans 10:10, Paul again associates the heart with the exercise of faith or believing. Many people make a profession of faith in Christ and the Bible, but their faith is only in the realm of the mind. It is an intellectual acceptance of certain facts and doctrines. This is not true scriptural faith, and it does not produce any vital change in the lives of those who profess it. On the other hand , heart faith always produces a definite change in those who profess it. When associated with the heart, the verb to believe becomes a verb of motion that is , to believe in a way that produces a transformation of habits, character and life. We must believe into Christ we must be moved by heartfelt faith out of ourselves and into Christ, out of sin and into His righteousness, out of our weakness and into His power, out of our failure and into his victory, out of our limitations and into His omnipotence. This scriptural faith of the heart always produces change. It is always believing into Christ and into righteousness; and the result is always something definite, experienced here and now, not something merely hoped for in the future. So many people have a religion which they hope will somehow do them good when they reach the threshold of eternity. But true Bible faith gives the believer a here and-now experience and assurance of everlasting life already within him.

Based Solely on Gods Word

Let us turn back now to the definition of faith given in Hebrews 11:1 and note one other important fact about faith. Faith is the evidence of things not seen, or a sure conviction concerning things not seen. This shows that faith deals with things not seen.

Faith is not based on the evidence of our physical senses but on the eternal, invisible truths and realities revealed by Gods Word. Paul brings out this contrast between the objects of faith and the objects of sense perception when he says, For we walk by faith, not by sight(2Cor.5:7). Faith is here contrasted with sight. Sight, along with other physical sense, is related to the objects of the physical world. Faith is related to the truths revealed in Gods Word. Our senses deal with things that are material, temporary and changeable. Faith deals with the revealed truths of God which are invisible, eternal and unchanging. If we are carnally minded, we can accept only that which our senses reveal to us. But if we are spiritually minded, our faith makes the truths of Gods word more real than anything which our senses may reveal to us. We do not base our faith on that which we see or experience; we base our faith on Gods word. Thereafter, that which we see or experience is the outcome of that which we have already believed. In spiritual experience sight comes after faith, not before it (see Ps.27:13; John11:3940). Quite often in our experience we find an apparent conflict between the evidence of our senses and the revelation of Gods Word. For instance, we see and feel within our bodies all the evidence of physical sickness. Yet the Bible reveals that Jesus Himself took our infirmities and bore our sickness (Matt.8:17) and by whose stripes you were healed (1Pet.2:24). Here is an apparent conflict. Our senses tell us we are sick. The Bible tells us we are healed. This conflict between the testimony of our sense and the testimony of Gods Word confronts us, as believers, with the possibility of two alternative reactions. On the one hand, we may accept the testimony of our senses will in due course be brought into line with the testimony of Gods Word, and we shall then be able to say we are healed, not merely on the basis of faith in Gods Word, but also on the basis of actual physical experience and the testimony of our senses. The scriptural pattern of this kind of faith is found in the experience of Abraham (see Rom.4:17-21). In the analyzing nature of Abrahams faith, we have seen that there were 3 successive steps. 1. Abraham accepted Gods promise as being true from the moment it was uttered. 2. Abraham refused to accept the testimony of his senses as long as it did not agree with the statement of God. 3. Because Abraham held fast to what God had promised, his physical experience and the testimony of his senses were brought into line with the statement of God.

Expressed by Confession
We come now to another important feature of scriptural faith. We have already considered the words of Paul in the first half in Romans 10:10. With the heart one believes to righteousness. In the second half of this verse, Paul adds: And with the mouth confession is made to salvation. Paul here brings out the direct connection between faith in the heart and confession with the mouth. This connection between the heart and the mouth is one the great basic principles of Scripture. Christ Himself says: For out the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks (Matt.12:34). We might express this in modern phraseology by saying: When the heart is full, it overflows through the mouth. It follows, therefore, that when our hearts are full of faith in Christ, the faith will find its proper expressions as we confess Christ openly with our mouths. A faith that is held back in silence, without any open confession, is an incomplete faith which will not bring the results and the blessings that we desire. What, then, are the main features of faith as defined and described in the Bible? Scriptural faith is a condition of the heart, not the mind. It is in the present, not the future. It produces a positive change in our behaviour and experience. It is based solely on Gods Word and accepts the testimony of the senses only when this agrees with the testimony of Gods Word. It is expressed by confession with the mouth. 2