What Is Faith?

Today’s devotion is going to, hopefully, help us reach a more concrete definition of the word “faith.” The Bible tells us in Hebrews 11:6 “It is impossible to please God without faith. Anyone who wants to come to him must believe that God exists and that he rewards those who sincerely seek him.” and in Ephesians 2:8 “God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God.” If you grew up in church, you probably heard dozens of sermons on the topic of faith, and my task is not to convince you of how important faith is, or even show you what is possible once you have it. If you are curious about what faith can do, Elisha is a great place to start. All I am trying to do is unravel the mystery of the word faith, because if we don’t know what it really is, we cannot understand how to really use it or what it can do. Let’s begin with the foundation of faith that is given to us in Hebrews 11:1 “Faith shows the reality of what we hope for; it is the evidence of things we cannot see.” We are told that “faith” is two things: • Confidence in what we hope for • Assurance about what we do not see Faith is about the WHAT, and it can only be as reliable, powerful, and life-changing as its object or source. In order to define “faith” we must first define a few other words that closely relates to and represents faith. The first word I would like to define is “confidence”. Confidence is a feeling or belief of certainty or trust. The second word I want to define is “assurance”. Assurance is a positive declaration intended to give confidence or certainty in one's own abilities; a promise. This word is very closely related to confidence, so much that one of the top synonyms for assurance is “certainty.” Both of these words are evident in Hebrews 11:1-2. “Faith shows the reality of what we hope for; it is the evidence of things we cannot see. Through their faith, the people in days of old earned a good reputation.” The last word I would like to define is “expectation." When we look at history of the word expectation, we can trace its roots back to Latin words meaning to “await” and “look out for.” If we go on a little deeper, we see the root word “expect” means to “regard as about to happen.” Philippians 1:6 paints a great picture of the word expectation, “And I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns.” Maybe you’re starting to see a connection between the words confidence, assurance, expectation. All of these words have to do with one thing, being certain. If these words are related to faith, then faith must also be about what WILL happen. To have faith is to wait on God, to actively look for His intervention, and to regard His work as about to happen, this is expectation. Being a Christian requires us to have faith and to have faith we must have expectations. So here is what we have discovered about faith so far: • Faith is a confidence or assurance in WHAT God is doing • And faith requires our expectation that God WILL do something Aiden Wilson (A.W.) Tozer was an American Christian pastor, author, magazine editor, and spiritual mentor. Tozer believed that understanding faith was a critical part to living a powerful Christian life. Over his years of being a pastor, Tozer gradually refined his understanding of faith and boiled it down into these lines… “Faith is not a once-done act, but a continuous gaze of the heart at the Triune God…Faith is the last self-regarding of the virtues. It is by its very nature scarcely conscious of its own existence. Like the eye which sees everything in front of it and never sees itself, faith is occupied with the Object upon which it rests. Faith is a redirecting of our sight, a getting out of the focus of our own vision and getting God into focus.” (A.W. Tozer in The Pursuit of God) Tozer shows us the third and final piece to understanding faith is WHERE. Where is our focus? Where is God right now? Are we giving our lives to follow Him and keep our eyes on Him, no matter where He goes? Now we have three easy ways to remind us what faith means: • Faith is to believe in WHAT God can do • Faith is to expect that God WILL do something • And faith is to follow WHERE God is leading This should be the heart of the Christian life. John 14:12 says, “I tell you the truth, anyone who believes in me will do the same works I have done, and even greater works, because I am going to be with the Father.” The way forward into the better, greater, and more rewarding things Jesus has planned for us, both in this world and in the world to come, is to have FAITH. Having faith is not always going be easy, but it is definitely not an option. God is ready and able to do incredible things in your life. The question is…will your faith allow Him to do them? “What do you mean, ‘If I can’?” Jesus asked. “Anything is possible if a person believes.” -Mark 9:23