A DEFINITION OF FAITH

Heb. 11:1

Morning Meditation 1/6/16

I have been reading Watchman Nee’s book on the Normal Christian Life. I have come to the place in the book where he writes on faith. My soul is stirred within me this morning by his treatment of this subject. So I want to share with you a few thoughts on faith. The great text on the definition of faith is Hebrews 11:1. So, here is where we will start.

Hebrews 11:1: “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” Without faith it is impossible to please Him (Heb 11:6). Our calling into the Christian life is to a walk of faith (Heb 10:38). So we need to concentrate on “what faith is.”

This text says “faith is the substance.” “Faith” is the noun and “believe” is the verb form of that noun. Faith identifies something that God is pleased with in His children. In fact, it is impossible for us to please Him without the exercise of faith. The word “substance” is an adjective that is connected to the noun “faith” by the linking verb “is.” So “substance” is a word describing faith. This word "substance" (hypostasis) means “foundation or substructure.” This same word has already been used in Hebrews 1:3 where Christ is said to be the express image of God's person (hypostasis). God is invisible and though He exists in that state, He has substance. That substance is manifested in the person of Jesus Christ. So, faith is substance.

Jesus is the visible image of the invisible God. That is a fact. Let me state right now that faith does not create. Things do not become real because we believe them. They are real whether we believe them or not. God is a Fact. He was a fact before Jesus became His visible image on this earth. So, in this illustration we see God’s use of the word “substance.”

Faith rests on facts. When God says something is true, faith says, “Amen. It is true.” So faith is the visible image of a truth that God has declared. It is the substantiation of that truth. I believe God created the heavens and the earth. My faith does not make that truth real. It makes that truth real to me and others.

Faith is not only substance but it is also “evidence.” “Evidence” is also a descriptive adjective. It describes faith. My faith in God’s facts is the evidence of its (the facts) existence. The unseen things of God need to have a visible manifestation. The way God manifests His unseen truths is through the faith of His people. We want God to come down and do something miraculous to prove these things exist. But God’s way of their assurance is faith. God’s way to evidence their existence is faith. Who’s faith? The faith of His people.

Here is where Satan attacks. He makes us doubt God’s facts. He is constantly accusing God of being a liar and unfair. He is the one who is a liar. He is the father of lies. He has been practicing in the human race since Eden. He is an artist at this matter. This is the reason He is successful in casting doubt upon what God has said. If Satan can get us to doubt God and what He has declared to be true (His Word and His promises) then Satan has accomplished a great work from his standpoint. He has hindered the manifestation of Truth. He has proven to those in his kingdom that God does not really exist and that His promises are not really facts; He is not there to fulfill those promises.

Have you ever found a promise that you believed was one being personalized to you and you “claimed that promise,” and, after that, everything went wrong? I have to confess that is a common problem for me. This is where the fight of faith takes place. Am I going to believe the fact or facts declared in God’s word, or, am I going to believe Satan’s lie that it is not really true? Am I going to believe what God has promised me, or, am I going to believe contradicting circumstances?

Science says God did not create the world. Fact: Hebrews 11:3: “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.” We can’t prove that scientifically. Does it bother me that it cannot be proved scientifically? Absolutely not. God’s way of proving it is for me, His child, to believe it. He has stated the fact of it. After all, He was there when it happened. The scientist wasn’t. Who am I going to believe the scientist who wasn’t there or God who was there? It seems reasonable for me to take the Eye Witness. Have you ever thought that God was giving the evidence of the Genesis account of creation through the faith of our believing children as they sit in the class room and simply state that they do not believe in evolution but believe that God created the heavens and the earth? You say, “That is not really evidence that it took place.” That is what Satan says and you have bought into it. God says, “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” Are we going to believe God or Satan’s lie?

This is not only true of creation but also of all those promises we live by. When God states a fact in a promise it is true. Faith treats it as true and begins to walk in the truth of it.. As we walk in the truth of it, it becomes the visible manifestation of that truth before it becomes a visible reality. The raising of Lazarus was a fact before he was raised from the dead. All physical manifestations are true in the invisible world of God before they become real in the physical world. The things that are seen were not made out of things that do appear (v 3).

The Unseen God is operating in the natural world. I think all of us would agree on that. The way His facts are manifested are through His believing people. The fact that He is still alive and well is seen as we believe His promises and those promises become facts in the physical world. Here is where faith reaches into the invisible world of God and brings into the visible world the things He has promised. This is substantiating and evidencing what faith sees to be as true though it cannot be seen to the natural eye.

May God bless these truths to your heart. Thank you for letting me visit with you today.

In Christ

Earl White