What exactly is Faith?
Apostle Paul in his eleventh chapter of
his epistle to the Hebrews gave a simple but detailed definition of the word
“faith”
“Now
faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen”
Hebrew
11 : 1
“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”
Hebrew 11 : 3
In summary, the two verses above tell us
that:
ü Faith
is when you believe that God has done it, even when he has not do it, because
you know that he will do it.
“Through
faith also Sara herself received strength to conceive seed, and was delivered
of a child when she was past age, because she judged him faithfully who had promised?”
Hebrew 11 : 11
ü It
is the ability to trust God with all your heart and your soul.
“By Faith Abraham when he was called to go
out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed; and he
went there not knowing whither he went”
Hebrews
11 : 8
ü It
is the ability to believe that all that the scripture said God had done and
will still do is true even if you were not or will not be there when he did or
will do it.
“These
all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar
off and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were
strangers and pilgrims on the earth”
Hebrew
11 : 13
ü It
is when you believe that Jehovah is the Supreme Being who created everything in
ü It
is when you believe that God is holy and he wants you to be holy like him.
“So God created man in his own image, in
the image of God created he him; male and female created he them”
Genesis
1 : 27
ü It
is when you trust him as God and not do all the bad things, which lead to sin
that he ask you not to do.
“What shall we say then? Shall we continue
in sin, that grace may abound?
God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to
sin, live any longer therein?
Romans
6: 1---2
We cannot step into the world of faith
without mentioning the names of those who had demonstrated this great gift.
They are; Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Sarah, Joseph, Moses,
Rahab, Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jepthae, David, Samuel, Job, Deborah and other
prophets.
In examining the lives of all these
individuals who are exemplary examples in the demonstration of “FAITH” in God, these questions
should to mind;
1.
Did they ignore the commandments of God and choose
to what they like because they had faith in God?
2.
Did they neglect the laws of God because they
had faith in him?
Of course not. Is it not written that
Abraham believed in God and it was accounted to him as righteousness? Is it not
written that Job was perfect and upright because he feared God and eschewed
evil?
The patriarch Abraham believed God and
followed all his instructions to the letter. He kept the commandments of God on
the platform of his heart and meditated on them every seconds of his life
making sure he did not ere in any way. The same can be spoken of Abel, Jacob,
Job, Moses, Enoch and Noah.