The bible book of Hebrews 11, verse 1 defines faith as “the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen”.
This is the classic definition of faith that most preachers quote. Hebrews 11 is the chapter in the bible that gives us believers, the best examples of faith icons in the old testament.
I know that most of my readers are not Christians, so I have to deal with this subject from a general perspective. Faith from the biblical point of view is not just to trust someone, or believe a thing. That means faith is not about believing someone or trusting them.
As far as the bible is concerned, faith is righteousness. Abraham believed in God and it was accounted unto him as righteousness, according to the bible. The relevant references are listed at the end of this article.
Therefore, God’s kind of faith has to do with the righteousness of God. The righteousness of God is obtained today through faith in his son, Jesus Christ.
How? When you accept that Jesus died for your sin and that by the very act of his burial and resurrection, he has become your Lord and Saviour, and you believe that you are born again; you have demonstrated an act of faith that automatically makes you righteous.
Faith in the New Testament is a spiritual thing. Being born again is not something you can do physically. It’s a thing of the spirit. It’s not about a dress code, ascetic lifestyle, piety, rules of living that forbid you to do this or that.
The new birth experience is essentially believing what Jesus did on your behalf.
Some people try to live what they think is a holy life, by creating rules and regulations that guide their conduct. That’s not the way.
All those mentioned in Hebrews 11 were men and women of faith in a different dispensation. Their faith was recognized because they believed in God and did some marvelous work of righteousness, not because Jesus died for them at that time, for the Messiah hadn’t yet come.
So, we cannot claim to be the righteous the same way. But, God so did it that the blood of Jesus that was shed on the cross covered all the old testament saints who were involved in blood sacrifices. That is amazing grace.
Next week, we shall continue our teaching on faith by dealing with another aspect.
(Read the whole of Roman; John 3:16, Heb: 16)
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