Hebrews 11:1-6
Faith Defined
1 Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. 2 This is what the ancients were commended for.
3 By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible.
4 By faith Abel brought God a better offering than Cain did. By faith he was commended as righteous, when God spoke well of his offerings. And by faith Abel still speaks, even though he is dead.
5 By faith Enoch was taken from this life, so that he did not experience death: “He could not be found, because God had taken him away.” For before he was taken, he was commended as one who pleased God. 6 And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.
In the Book of Hebrews faith is defined as “the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen”...Our faith is something we cannot see...Faith is considered a belief and trust in God based on this evidence not seen, so we do not have complete faith, like Jesus had, but our faith comes with some doubts...Thomas is an example of this doubting...He was with Jesus and listened to His Teachings for three years, but after His crucifixion did not believe He was still alive, even after the other disciples told Hm that He had risen and was, in fact, alive again...Jesus told Thomas after Jesus proved He was still alive, 'Because you have seen Me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed...And thus He was called the Doubting Thomas, a phrase we still hear today two thousand years later...
Faith is this strong belief that God exists...Without faith it is impossible to please God...Enoch desired to find God and had faith in seeking Him...And he did not experience death, because he pleased God and was taken away with Him...Those who come to God must believe that He exists...And they must believe that He rewards those who seek Him...Through our seeking and our search for God, we learn through faith that we are to put our trust in Him...Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding...His wisdom is eternal and all knowing, while man's wisdom is limited and learning each and every day...In all our ways we should acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight and narrow...Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, and who does not turn to the proud, or to those who go astray listening to a lie or a bed of lies...Behold, as for the proud one, His soul is not right with God; but the righteous will live and be rewarded by his faith in God...
Our faith gives us a foundation to our salvation... Through Jesus the forgiveness of sins has been proclaimed to all...Through Jesus everyone who believes and has faith in Him is set free from every sin, a justification we were not able to obtain following the law of Moses or through our own good deeds...Take care that what the prophets have said does not happen to you: “‘Look, you scoffers, wonder and perish, for I AM going to do something in your days that you would never believe, even if someone told you.’”...God sent His Son to come and dwell on earth...God chose His Son before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in His sight...In His LOVE God predestined us for adoption to sonship and be His children through Jesus Christ, in accordance with His pleasure and will— to the praise of His Glorious Grace, which He has freely given us in the One He LOVES...In Jesus, we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s Grace that He lavished on us...God so LOVES the world that He gave His One and Only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life...For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn us of our sins, but to save the world through Him, and be our Savior....With all God's wisdom and understanding, He made known to us the mystery of His Will according to His good pleasure, which He purposed in His Son, to be put into effect when the times reach their fulfillment—to bring unity to all things in heaven and on earth under Christ...
Let us feel blessed because we believe that we have faith in Jesus, who we cannot see, yet still believe...