Scripture defines faith as: “…the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” Let’s talk about faith. I like the ESV translation for this verse because of two keywords that give us an idea what the author of Hebrews 11:1 was writing about: assurance and conviction. The keywords are great, but we also need to use context and the who, what, where, when, why, and how (5W-1H) of reading for meaning. (More on that in a separate post.)
Sounds hard, doesn’t it. But if we think of faith as understood by little kids, it helps: “God is real, God said it, I trust God, so I believe Him.” Kids can be brilliant!
But we adults are masters at making the simple complicated. So let’s go there.
God is the source of assurance and conviction
Have you ever put your hope into something that didn’t work out? That’s because without God’s direct involvement, hope and belief are just wishing really hard! But God’s plans never fail!
True assurance is something that is absolutely known, not just wished for. It’s something we can look forward to because it’s already done, already real. Only God can provide that kind of assurance.
Inner conviction only comes from God as well. We feel convicted because of the prompting of the Holy Spirit.
Let me illustrate with a personal experience. When my daughter was in the hospital several years ago, and after a night of white-hot prayer, I visited her surgeon. He gave me all kinds of reasons not to be even cautiously optimistic. But what he didn’t realize at the time was that I was convicted by faith that she would pull through. She did. In fact, she was the first one to survive who had sustained the type and intense of injury in the history of a major Texas hospital that served several states and countries!
Faith comes from God, not us
All this is to say that faith comes from God, not us. Ultimately, the author of Hebrews is referring to faith in the one true God and what He has done through His Triune being: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Our assignment is to exercise this faith on a daily basis to honor Him.
The Father calls us to faith through the Holy Spirit. Faith in what? Faith that God is God, we’re not, and that He knows what He’s doing. Faith to believe He loves us enough to receive His gift of salvation through the life, death, and resurrection of Yeshua HaMashiach (Jesus the Messiah). Faith that we believe and trust in God’s word, will, and ways. Faith that He made a way for us when we were out of control and constantly breaking promises with Him. Faith that once we do take Him at His word and receive His gift of grace, we also receive His Holy Spirit so we can be guided, directed, protected and corrected throughout our daily walk.
So when we adults think and talk about faith, we realize that faith is indeed pretty awesome! Now let’s find out in the next article what faith is not. OK? OK. Good.
