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Second Step

“We came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.”

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FAITH

These beautifull words ".....to believe..." have brought to my heart chapter the ten of the Epistle to the Hebrews, it reveals a God's principle: "The just shall live by faith." We can see that the following chapter, the eleven one,  provides a definition of faith along with illustrations of its works:
"Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen" (NKJV: 909). Biblical history is essentially the story of those who live by faith and those who cannot thrive because they lack faith. However, this chapter contains the only definition of faith found in the Bible.

Two spheres of action.

This definition references two spheres of action: one of "things hoped for" and the other of "things unseen." The first encompasses those not yet possessed but desired and anticipated. " Things unseen " are those beyond the realm of possible demonstration by the senses.

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Qualities of Faith.

The definition refers to two qualities of faith. The KJV states, “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”
The writer's chosen words to describe the qualities of faith are translated as:
“substance, nature, essence, reality, confidence, conviction, assurance, certitude, immutability, resolution; demonstration, proof, inward conviction, or evidence.”

a. Now, let's start with the first of these words in Greek. This term can be translated as certainty or as that which certainty fosters, namely, confidence. “Faith is confidence in things hoped for.” Certainty signifies absolute assurance, a clear knowledge of something.
b. The second of these words, translated as demonstration or evidence, highlights the
fact that faith itself serves as the proof that cultivates conviction.

A simple definition of faith according to this can be expressed as follows: "Faith is the confidence of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." (NIV) Conviction means conviction; an idea to which one strongly adheres.

Cause-Effect.

In Hebrews 11, the writer transitions from effect to cause: the confidence in things hoped for stems from the conviction regarding things not seen. If we express this in the order of experience, we would say that the cause is the evidence of things not seen, while the effect is the confidence in things hoped for.
Theologically, faith is a virtue of God that makes us believe what God says. It is trust, a promise, a belief in religious truths.

Faith is:
a. The trust that believers place in God to fulfill His Word.
b. A free gift from God.
c. It is received through the work of the Spirit when the gospel is preached.

What are the unseen things? We could speculate on this question, but it's better to look for the answer in the chapter, which is summed up in two statements. The first is in verse 6: "For he who comes to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him."
In verse 27, Moses is described as having "studied as seeing him who is invisible." The unseen things represent the reality of God and His activities. “No one has ever seen God with their senses, but faith is the conviction that He exists and works for our benefit. This belief in things unseen fosters hope, and the essence of such hope is “things hoped for.”

We reiterate, what are the things hoped for? Our answer is not speculative; we possess it here as we discuss the activity of faith that generates hope within the context of human history.

It is said of Abraham: "For he looked forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God." When this was written about Abraham, it did not refer to the afterlife. The end of the chapter clearly indicates that those who have acted in faith have not yet attained the fulfillment of the promises; it also states that they long for a better homeland, namely, a heavenly homeland.

Faith, then, is the certainty of God and the resulting conviction that this noble hope has

yet to be realised.

"The only saving faith is that which casts itself on God, for life and for death."

Martin Luther.

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"Faith is believing in what we cannot see, and the reward of this faith is seeing what we have believed." Saint Augustine.

 

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