The Substance and Evidence of Faith

A couple weeks ago, Cindi and I returned from a week long, first time trip to Cancun Mexico on an all inclusive AAA organized vacation. There would be so much to write here concerning the details of that trip, but I wanted to mention just one highlight at this time. While enjoying one of the pools in the resort, they had a free scuba dive try out. Since this is something I wanted to do for years, I introduced myself to Nicholas, who proceeded to put scuba gear on me, a mask and flippers, and instruct me how to breath underwater!! What a unique experience! Then we proceeded to swim underwater in the pool for about 10 min. or more.  After that, I signed up for a beginner lesson for the next day.

 

When the next day came I went to the place on the beach where the Dressel Dive shop was, and after classroom instruction, and safety practice in the pool, we were taken by boat to a spot on the ocean, and the open water dive began. There was a photographer who came on the dive and took pictures and made a video, which I purchased, and can be seen Here .I am including this in part to share this experience, and also as an illustration to discuss the subject of faith.

 In the book of Hebrews, chapter 11 and verse 1 it has this enigmatic phrase: " Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." I say it is enigmatic, or mysterious because no matter how many times I have heard it preached, I was still confused as to how faith can be considered a substance. The two did not seem to be compatible. Faith is what you believe in your mind and heart, and a substance to my way of thinking is the make up of something physical; something tangible, like soil is the substance of the earth. But I think I got some more insight recently that helps me to understand it better. 

Let's not take that verse alone, but also look at where Paul tells us in Eph 2:8-9 " For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast." In other words, faith is the means by which grace is applied to save us, and the part that most people miss is that it is imparted faith!! "And THAT not of ourselves.." and what is not of ourselves? That FAITH is not of ourselves, THAT (faith) is a Gift of God, otherwise, faith becomes a work in which you can boast!

But you might wonder how can you boast about your faith, until you realize Christians do it all the time! "Just have faith." Just believe". "I put MY faith in Jesus, and He saved me." Get the point? The fact that you have faith to believe in Jesus as your savior in the first place is because IT IS A GIFT OF GOD. The very faith that allows you to believe has been given to you in order for you to believe, and so it makes it impossible for you to boast in something that was never your doing in the first place!

I will quickly say here, that like the scuba lesson, I could say all I want about having faith and believing that I could breathe underwater and scuba dive, but until I applied that belief to actually doing it, then it is dead faith. I could stand by the pool all day long and talk about scuba diving, but until I entered into the experience of that realm of existence, Then there is no evidence that I actually believe what I am saying. Faith that is not acted on is feckless, impotent, and questionable faith. Thus James says in 2:26 “For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.”

 

So, now onto Hebrews 11. "Faith is the substance..." Here is how I presently understand it. The fact that since faith is not something you conjure up for yourself, but that it is a gift of God, then it stands to reason that if you have faith, that faith is the very evidence you need...the very proof, the invisible make up, substance, that you can know you have received the gift of Grace from God. Even though you cannot see it. Does that make sense to you? How do you know you are saved? Do you believe in Jesus Christ as your savior? Well then that belief, that faith is your very evidence... the invisible substance by which your belief is founded, of the things you cannot see.

 

Now let me add one more verse to this mix. Romans 8:24-25 “For we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for? “But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it.”  Try exchanging the word faith for the word hope in this verse, and see if it doesn't pair with Hebrews 11.

"For we are saved by faith: but faith that is seen is not faith: for what a man sees, why does he yet have faith for? But if we have faith for what we don't see, then do we with patience wait for it."

A word study for both faith and hope could open up even more revelation, but perhaps, even this limited blog post can provide some measure of understanding The Substance and Evidence of Faith.