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NASB | Hebrews 11:1 Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | Hebrews 11:1 Now faith is the assurance (title deed, confirmation) of things hoped for (divinely guaranteed), and the evidence of things not seen [the conviction of their reality--faith comprehends as fact what cannot be experienced by the physical senses]. |
Bible Question:
Hello, I am a Mathematician. My Faith is thin at best. Below I proposed a conjecture, it seems that my faith hinges on it. Please help. First lets state a definition. Faith, in the general case, can be defined as belief not resting on logical proof or material evidence. I have often heard friends claim God has spoken to them, or that they have felt his presence. But how can you "feel" god, and maintain that faith is a necessary condition for belief. This contradiction is really puzzling me. Please, help. |
Bible Answer: Greetings talklikebees and welcome to the forum. Being a mathematician has a way of putting a damper on the facts of faith; now if you were a language major it might be easer. The word faith, as we have it in the English language translations of the New Testament, comes from the Koine Greek word PISTIS, that being the root form. I will use as my example the following verse; Acts 16:31 And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house. The word believe in this verse is the verb from the root word PISTIS and in the Greek it is PISTEUO being used as a verb. Faith or believe as it is used here is a “transitive verb” and it has an object as well as a subject. Faith in and of itself has no merit in this case so all of the credit is imposed on the object of the faith, which in this case is Jesus Christ, God’s Son. It would be like you crossing a huge bridge that is hundreds of feet high. You could place all the faith that you could muster up by crossing the bridge but if the object of your faith is faulty your in deep trouble; you see it isn’t your faith that holds you up; it’s the soundness of the bridge which is the object of your faith. Many have faith in the religion that they practice to get them to heaven but God’s word tells us the following through the person of His Son, John 14:6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. Jesus paid the price that God demands for our redemption because the fact is, we are sinners and the price for sin is death. When Jesus was on the cross God imputed our sins to His beloved Son and he died in our place; the moment we have trust in or faith in the finished work that Christ performed personally for us, God imputes the righteousness of His Son to us. How is that for a trade! 2 Cor. 5:21 For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. It gets even better; the very second we put our “faith” in Jesus, God does something else for us which is eternal in nature and fantastic in scope when it comes to confidence. I.e. promises we can claim! Ephes. 1:12-13 That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ. 13In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise, Couple that with this next group of verses and it’s a winning story for those that put their faith in Jesus Christ, God’s Son. 1 John 5:10-13 He that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in himself: he that believeth not God hath made him a liar; because he believeth not the record that God gave of his Son. 11And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. 12He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life. 13These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God. This is a promise from God Himself and it all starts with “FAITH” in the person of Christ. I hope this helps and that you enjoy the forum, CDBJ |