Subject: What is the "Force of Faith"? |
Bible Note: Greetings Graceful! One quick correction if I may! Heb. 11:3 does not say 'By faith God spoke the worlds into existence'. It says that 'By faith, we believe...'. What is it that we believe? We believe that 'the ages were completed by the Word of God'. I did a quick scan of the Greek and I could not find a single verse where God was said to do anything 'by faith'. If I may also go on to Heb. 11:1, there is nothing in this verse which teachs that faith is a force capable of creating reality. Examine the context. The NIV translates Heb. 11:1 - "Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see." Literally, the Greek says, "And faith is assurance of what is being hoped for and deed of proof of what is not being seen." The words 'assurance' (# 5287) and 'deed' (# 1650) are both used in Greek in contexts dealing with contracts. So, what do they mean in this context? Simply this: Those who act in faith, act as though they have already received the promise. Chapter 11 goes on to list all of those who acted in spite of the fact that they had not yet seen what they hoped for. For instance: By faith, we believe that God created, even though we never saw it - v. 3. By faith, Noah built an ark, even though he had not see the rain - v. 7. By faith, Abraham went when he did not know where he was going - v.8. Verse 13 is one of the key verses in this chapter. Listen to what it says. Heb. 11:13 - "All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance. And they admitted that they were aliens and strangers on earth." Notice, that it does not say 'By faith, they created the things they wanted'! It says that they did not receive the things promised, yet they acted as though they had. Faith is not a power, but simply a trust or confidence in God. Faith doesn't create reality. Faith ignores reality, and believes God. By this, I don't mean 'positive confession'! ;-) I simply mean that reality doesn't cause me to doubt God's promises even if reality seems to be in opposition to God's promises. My favorite example is Abraham. Abraham didn't go around and speak a position confession, denying that he was too old to have kids. He believe in spite of reality, because God said it. Rom. 4:19 - "Without weakening in his faith, he faced the fact that his body was as good as dead?since he was about a hundred years old?and that Sarah?s womb was also dead. 20 Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, 21 being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised." Faith is powerful, but it is not a power. It is our complete and absolute trust that God will do what He has promised. Your Brother in Christ, Tim Moran |