Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. 2For by it the elders obtained a good report. 3Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear.
Hebrews 11:1-3
Our faith, our belief, and trust in God is what makes what we hope for real, gives it substance. Our faith in God and his word: living it, giving all for it, willing to die due to it, is the evidence of those things we preach that are yet unseen.
Hebrews 11:4 By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts: and by it he being dead yet speaketh.
Hebrews 11:8 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.
It is our faith, belief, that gives us confidence in the unseen.
2 Corinthians 5:6-8
6 Therefore we are always confident, knowing that, whilst we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord:
7 (For we walk by faith, not by sight:)
8 We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord.
Why are we confident and unafraid of death? Because of our faith, belief in, and trust, in God and his word.
Faith, a believing heart, is what is required of us to bring to God, “faith toward God.”
Psalms 50:15 And call upon me in the day of trouble: I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me.
Our testimony has everything to do with our faith in Christ Jesus. It is our standing upon that faith, no matter what, no matter how bad the circumstance, that is the evidence, the substance, of the truth of the faith we preach.
Philippians 1:27-28 Only let your conversation be as it becometh the gospel of Christ: that whether I come and see you, or else be absent, I may hear of your affairs, that ye stand fast in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel; 28Andin nothing terrified by your adversaries: which is to them an evident token of perdition, but to you of salvation, and that of God.
Our witness and testimony proclaimed by living godly, holy, honestly, soberly, before the world is our greatest gift to mankind.
1 Corinthians 16:13
- be strong.
- Watch ye,
- stand fast in the faith,
- quit you like men,
There are a few who have trouble reading and deciphering these verses. It is not that the KJV is difficult to read, it is that our education system has dumb us down. I have taken the liberty to diagram Hebrews 11:1-3.
Part of the problem is the mistake of thinking “it” (faith) is the subject of the sentence in verse 2; it is not. It is being used a part of an adverbial phrase modifying the verb “obtained”.
If you are going to understand the Scriptures, brushing up on grammar is a necessity.
Back To: Verse Insights
3 Responses
What we believe is not what makes something evidence or substance but we Believe the evidence or the substance which is God’s word. Faith is not belief but what we Believe. In Romans chapter 3 it is the oracles of God that are not made of none effect by someone’s unbelief not or belief by someone’s unbelief. It is the sayings of God that make God true and not or belief or unbelief, God is true. If there was never a man that believed God God would still be true and what he has done or had done would still be true and exist. Thus believing is not what makes something so. Our belief is a witness to others of God’s truth but is not God’s truth.
“Faith is not belief but what we Believe”
I believe this; this is my faith. This is what I believe in; it is what my faith is in.
What I believe, my faith, does not prove that it is real. Whether it is real or not it is what I am trusting in, putting my faith in, believing.
Our faith, more precisely, acting upon our faith is the substance of what we believe. It is the evidence of those things that are unseen that we hope in. It is not saying that it is proof positive, but the evidence of what we believe in. Our willingness to sacrifice even unto our lives is strong evidence of that which we hope for and is unseen. Especially when dozens, hundreds, thousands, have faith and a willingness to sacrifice for the same thing.
Hebrews 11 does not say faith is absolute proof, but it is evidence of. Our faith is one piece of evidence people look at in considering the gospel. This is why the failure of Christians to live their faith impedes and obstructs others from finding Christ Jesus.
It was the acting on their faith by which the elders obtained a good report, “Faith without works is dead”. It is our acting on our faith that makes it a lively hope, evidence that can be seen.
What you say is true, but you are not rightly dividing the topics.
What is baptism a similitude, piture, of? It pictures being dead and bury and rising in newness of life in fellowship with God.
The Lord did not just pluck that out of the air. It is a similitude of a physical fact of creation. The world is dead, buried under the Great Deep, and we must come up through it to be in heaven with the Lord.
The only reason I am pursuing this is because a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump. Your wrongly dividing and mixing apples with oranges will lead to false teachings.