What is faith? Can anyone please God without it? Let us go to the Bible to define, “What is faith? Let us find out if anyone can please God without faith. Hebrews 11:1-6 “1 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. 2 For by it the elders obtained a good report. 3 Through 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. “Substance” in verse 1, means "confidence, assurance." The faith we have in Jesus Christ is the full confidence, assurance that the salvation of our souls is reality and “the evidence of things not seen.” Even though we cannot see God, Jesus Christ God’s only begotten Son and the Holy Spirit, we know they exist because of all the eye witness accounts and reports from Genesis to Revelation. The mighty acts of God are recorded in the Bible, i.e., God’s Word, from the creation of heaven and earth and the entire universe, to the worldwide flood, to the parting of the Red Sea, to the giving of the Ten Commandments to Moses and the children of Israel, to the conquering of all the nations that the children of Israel inherited from God, to the coming of His only begotten Son Jesus Christ, to the Revelation of how God is going to destroy this world by fire and replace it with a “new heaven and earth” and a “New Jerusalem,” where rivers of living waters flow and where the tree of life is. Genesis 1,2; 6-9; Exodus, John 3:16-17; Matthew 28; Acts 1,2; Revelation. The elders of the children of Israel received a good report, i.e., divine approval, Revised Standard Version. They believed God and what follows in the rest of the verses in Hebrews 11 is a long list of the faithful to God, in the Old Testament. Hebrews 11:4-5 - Two examples of faith are given in these verses. “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. 5 By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death; and was not found, because God had translated him: for before his translation he had this testimony, that he pleased God.” Our second question is answered in verse 6. Hebrews 11:6 “6 But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.” The second part of faith is that we must believe that God exists. The third part of faith is that we must believe that God “is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.” The verses that follow gives many examples of men and women of faith who believed and obeyed God. God rewarded all of them for their faithfulness to Him. It is no different today, God still rewards them that diligently seeks Him. Matthew 6: 24-34 A further note: Hebrews 11:7-40, tells of the faith of the great men and women of faith. Noah, Abraham, Sarah, Jacob, Joseph, Moses and his parents, Rahab, and “Gedeon, and of Barak, and of Samson, and of Jephthae; of David also, and Samuel, and of the prophets:” all were faithful to God and were rewarded for their faithfulness. Let us grow in our faith towards God by accepting, believing and following the commandments of God’s only begotten Son Jesus Christ and God will reward us for our faithfulness to His only begotten Son Jesus Christ. John 3:16-17, John 14:15; Mark 9:1-7; Matthew 28; Acts 1,2. References: King James Version Bible Gateway - Thank you for public access to Bible verses. By Public Domain Vine’s Complete Expository Dictionary of Old and New Testament Words - Published by Thomas Nelson, inc., Publishers - Copyright 1985 - Thank you for the definition of “substance.”
Posted on: Sat, 24 Aug 2013 15:49:42 +0000
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