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What is faith?

Copper25

Member
Joined
Nov 9, 2008
Messages
137
Hebrews 12:13) These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.

Now aren’t we called to be a peculiar people that God has reserved for himself? Exodus 19:5-6) “Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people: for all the earth is mine; And ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation. These are the words which thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel.” Aren’t we as a people, as God’s people driven by faith and are persuaded by the promise of eternal life, by the hope of the world to come, by our desire to please God to live by our faith? Someone can talk faith saying I have it, but (James 2:20) “faith without works is dead” and talk is cheap, but when we let our actions and our life, the way we carry ourselves, act, speak, and think to pleasing God, then we are headed toward the right direction. When Israel decided not to stand against the Amorites, when they did not put there trust in God, what type of faith was being shown? When Caleb took courage and boldness willing to stand against odds and adversity saying, Numbers 14:9) “Only do not rebel against the LORD; and do not fear the people of the land, for they will be our prey. Their protection has been removed from them, and the LORD is with us; do not fear them.”, what faith was being shown? One, the children of Israel fainted in the time of adversity and at the same time disobeyed God. Caleb on the other hand, trusted in the Lord and obeyed willing to fight though others were not. Hebrews 11:7) “By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house; by the which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith.” He obeyed God and built the ark, he did not just sit while the flood was about to come, he took action and hearkened unto the voice of the Lord.

Hebrews 11:7) “By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed; and he went out, not knowing whither he went.” He was uncertain of the destination, yet when God said to him (Genesis 12:1-3) “Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will shew thee: And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.” Abraham obeyed and left in hope of the promise. Part of faith, what develops from faith, are works, fruitfulness, after time develop, leaning to God results in works. 1 Corinthians 3:6) “I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase.” John 15:5) “I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.” By the Lord’s working upon us only can we bring forth spiritual fruit and it all starts with, but not only having faith. But one’s faith must be active and put into motion in order to achieve success. Can we only have faith and hear THE END, I think not. But when we push to seek our Maker, our Father, our Lord, each and every day with diligence striding for (but not justified by) obedience (for by works no man is justified, Revelation 3:2) “I have not found thy works perfect before God.”), then can we thrive producing spiritual fruitfulness (Matthew 13:8) “some an hundredfold, some sixtyfold, some thirtyfold.
 
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Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.
Without faith it is impossible to please God.

Being assured of what we have not seen yet......my own words
Good Post copper25
 
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I once read. . .

Faith is the bird, that sings, when its still nighttime :love:
 
Here is a poem that someone shared:


Faith To Face

Looking through a glass darkly,
I find many things hard to explain,
But as I steadfastly gaze within God's Word,
The Lord makes all things plain.

Faith to faith is what I'm living.
Day by day, I learn to see,
In a life that's so uncertain,
I know that Jesus still walks with me.

Faith means I learn to trust Him
And forget walking by sight.
As I'm filled with His peace and wisdom,
God's Word lights up the night.

Faith to face, it's a tiring journey,
Walking through this pilgrim land.
Though I cannot see around every corner,
I'm clinging tightly to my Saviour's hand.

He's preparing me for service,
Enabling me to walk through open doors;
I fight the battles that Christ gives me,
Knowing that He's already won the war.

Face to face, the day of His return is coming,
Until then, there are mountains to climb.
I will keep looking for that blessed hope -
Someday soon - It's just a matter of time.

Faith to face, I look forward to seeing Jesus -
What a glorious day that will be.
It will no longer be by faith,
Because, face to face, my Lord I will see.

Faith to face.

Poem written November 23rd, 2002
Study written September 22nd, 2004
Jerry Bouey
 
I really like that, for I have experienced it in my life.
He truly knows what is around every corner, and says simply, Go through.

One day I will see him face to face, by faith unto faith, and what a glorious day that will be.

Wonderful, and Thank you!
 
True faith always produces action.
In the Old Covenant the people were called upon to have faith. In the New Covenant they entered into the Faith .




From the Vines Expository Dictionary of the Bible:

Faith

pistis (G4102), primarily, "firm persuasion," a conviction based upon hearing (akin to peitho, "to persuade"), is used in the NT always of "faith in God or Christ, or things spiritual."
The word is used of

(a) trust, e.g., Rom_3:25 [see Note (4) below]; 1Co_2:5; 1Co_15:14, 1Co_15:17; 2Co_1:24; Gal_3:23 [see Note (5) below]; Phi_1:25; Phi_2:17; 1Th_3:2; 2Th_1:3; 2Th_3:2;

(b) trust-worthiness, e.g., Mat_23:23; Rom_3:3, RV, "the faithfulness of God"; Gal_5:22 (RV, "faithfulness"); Tit_2:10, "fidelity";

(c) by metonymy, what is believed, the contents of belief, the "faith," Act_6:7; Act_14:22; Gal_1:23; Gal_3:25
[contrast Gal_3:23, under
(a)]; Gal_6:10; Phi_1:27; 1Th_3:10; Jud_1:3, Jud_1:20 (and perhaps 2Th_3:2);

(d) a ground for "faith," an assurance, Act_17:31 (not as in KJV, marg., "offered faith"); (e) a pledge of fidelity, plighted "faith," 1Ti_5:12.

The main elements in "faith" in its relation to the invisible God, as distinct from "faith" in man, are especially brought out in the use of this noun and the corresponding verb, pisteuo; they are (1) a firm conviction, producing a full acknowledgement of God's revelation or truth, e.g., 2Th_2:11-12;

(2) a personal surrender to Him, Joh_1:12; (3) a conduct inspired by such surrender, 2Co_5:7. Prominence is given to one or other of these elements according to the context. All this stands in contrast to belief in its purely natural exercise, which consists of an opinion held in good "faith" without necessary reference to its proof. The object of Abraham's "faith" was not God's promise (that was the occasion of its exercise); his "faith" rested on God Himself, Rom_4:17, Rom_4:20-21.
See ASSURANCE, BELIEF, FAITHFULNESS, FIDELITY.

Notes:
(1) In Heb_10:23, elpis, "hope," is mistranslated "faith" in the KJV (RV, "hope").
(2) In Act_6:8 the most authentic mss. have charis, "grace," RV, for pistis, "faith."
(3) In Rom_3:3, RV, apistia, is rendered "want of faith," for KJV, "unbelief" (so translated elsewhere). See UNBELIEF. The verb apisteo in that verse is rendered "were without faith," RV, for KJV, "did not believe."
(4) In Rom_3:25, the KJV wrongly links "faith" with "in His blood," as if "faith" is reposed in the blood (i.e., the death) of Christ; the en is instrumental; "faith" rests in the living Person; hence the RV rightly puts a comma after "through faith," and renders the next phrase "by His blood," which is to be connected with "a propitiation." Christ became a propitiation through His blood (i.e., His death in expiatory sacrifice for sin).
(5) In Gal_3:23, though the article stands before "faith" in the original, "faith" is here to be taken as under (a) above, and as in Gal_3:22, and not as under (c), "the faith"; the article is simply that of renewed mention.
(6) For the difference between the teaching of Paul and that of James, on "faith" and works, see Notes on Galatians, by Hogg and Vine, pp. 117-119.

 
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