What is the true meaning of faith according to the Bible? Many Christians talk about faith and say they believe in God and Jesus Christ, while their lives prove otherwise. They know a lot about faith in the Bible, but they don’t live the faith they’re talking about. What is faith and what is faith not?
What is the definition of faith in the Bible?
Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen (Hebhere 11:1).
All Christians know that the faith chapter in the Bible is Hebrews 11. Hebhere 11 starts in verse 1 with the definition of faith. Let’s have a closer look at the meaning of the words of this definition of faith in the Bible.
- Ukholo (fistis):
Persuasion, yiyo i, credence; moral conviction (of religious truth, or the truthfulness of God or a religious teacher), especially reliance upon Christ for salvation; abstractly constancy in such profession; by extension the system of religious (Gospel) truth itself: – assurance, belief, kholwani, ukholo, fidelity.
- Substance (hypostasis):
A setting under (support), yiyo i, (figuratively) concretely essence, or abstractly assurance(objectively or subjectively): – confidence, confident, person, substance.Things hoped for (elpizõ): to expect or confide:- (have, thing) hope (-d) (for), trust.
- The evidence (elegchos):
Conviction: – evidence, reproof.
- Things (pragma):
A deed; by implication an affair; by extension an object(material): – business, matter, thing, work.
- Seen (blepõ):
A primary verb; to look at (literally or figuratively): – khangela, beware, lie, look (on, ukuya), perceive, regard, see, sight, take heed
We can say, that faith is an assurance, a conviction, and an expectation, to trust and believe, that ‘something’ that is not seen yet, will come to pass. You are absolutely sure about that, there is no doubt present.
The whole creation is established by faith
By faith we understand that the worlds have been framed by the word of God, so that what is seen hath not been made out of things which appear (Hebhere 11:3)
The first example of what faith is, is the creation of the heavens and the earth and all there is within. uThixo (El-Elohim) created the heavens and the earth and all there is within.
The earth was void and darkness hovered over the earth until God spoke His Word and by the power of the Holy Spirit creation came into existence.
Out of this chaos, God created a perfect heaven and earth and established peace and harmony. (Funda kwakhona: ‘Did God create the heaven and the earth in 6 days?).
If you have faith, you can understand the creation. Because the invisible became visible by the Law of faith; the Law of the Spirit of life, which you live by as a new creations in Christ.
As a born again Christian you no longer walk according to the law that reigns in the flesh, but you walk in the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus and operate by this law of faith on earth (Owu. AmaRoma 8:1).
When you have faith, you trust God. Faith is trusting in God. You believe that what God says is true and will come to pass. Therefore faith not only believes the words of God but also speaks the words of God and act according to the words of God. And by the power of the Holy Spirit it will come to pass.
No matter what the circumstances may look like. All you have to do is believe in God and His Word, stand on His Word and not give up.
The law of faith
And Jesus answering saith unto them, Yiba nokholo kuThixo. Verily I say unto you, Whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou taken up and cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that what he saith cometh to pass; he shall have it (Phawula 11:22-24)
Maybe you are sick, and you have been speaking to this illness and commanded it to go many times, but nothing happened in the natural realm yet or maybe it became worse. What you do next is very important. Because at this moment doubt could enter your mind. You may wonder, “Is this really working? Should I continue?”
The answer is yes! If you believe in God and His Word, you will continue and keep standing on the Word. Because the truth is, that By His stripes you were healed (umoya, umphefumlo nomzimba (1 UPetros 2:24)).
You only have to bring it into existence. How do you do that? By believing in Jesus Christ; the Word and by speaking the Word and believe and know that it will come to pass.
You have to be persuaded by the truth, you have to stand on the Word and don’t be moved and you certainly must not give up.
What do you do with doubt?
When doubt tries to enter your mind, it’s all about what you do, with this doubt. Will you believe this thought, act upon it, and stop believing and speaking? If you do that, you believe the devil, who has cast this thought in your mind, above God and His Word. By acting upon the thought of doubt, you will be a follower of the devil, even if you confess that Jesus Christ is your Lord.
Because if you really believe God’s Word and that Jesus is your Lord and Saviour, then you will tell this thought (that oppose the words of God) to go.
You tell this thought, it’s a liar, and that you were healed by His stripes. You will not give up, but keep confessing and believing the Word of God, above all.
Unfortunately I can’t tell you how long it will take, before the healing of God becomes visible in the natural. But the most important thing is, that you keep standing on the Word and not give up.
Don’t feel like a failure! You are only a failure if you quit
Walking by faith, is like planting a seed. When you plant a seed of a tree and look the next morning out of your window, to see if the tree is already there, you will find out, that the tree is not there yet. Kodwa… there is already a lot going on in the ground that you can’t see.
When you stop nurturing the seed, the seed will die. But if you keep believing in that tree and keep nurturing the seed, then one day, when you look outside of your window, you will see the beginnings of this marvellous tree.
All you have to do is keep nurturing the seed.
It is the same with the Word of God. Sometimes it takes a little bit of time, before the Word becomes visible in the natural realm. Often times, you don’t see what is taking place in the spiritual realm.
You don’t see, that the words you spoke are already causing something in the spiritual realm.
Now all you have to do is keep believing and keep speaking the Word of God (Funda kwakhona: The four kinds of believers).
Sometimes when you speak to circumstances, it may take a while, but don’t give up. Don’t feel like a failure. You are only a failure when you give up, and believe the lies of the devil and act upon these lies.
The Word encourages you
Therefore it is of faith, that it might be by grace; to the end the promise might be sure to all the seed; not to that only which is of the law, but to that also which is of the faith of Abraham; who is the father of us all, (As it is written, I have made thee a father of many nations,) before him whom he believed, even God, Who quickens the dead, and calls those things which be not as though they were (AmaRoma 4:16-17)
Look around you! Everything you see came into existence by a word of God. As Christians and sons and daughters of the Most High, we should walk by faith in Him, doing His will and calling those things which be not as though they were.
Do not give up and keep standing on the Word. Read and study the Word of God and build yourself up in the most holy faith. Encourage yourself with the words of God and the Word will encourage you.
‘Yibani yityuwa yehlabathi’
Umthombo: Strong’s Concordance
