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Faith and Its Importance
by Fr. Reid Hensarling
Hebrews 11:1-16
The author encourages his readers by reminding them of examples of faith in earlier days. In Old Testament times, there were many men and women who had nothing but the promises of God to rest upon, without any visible evidence that these promises would ever be fulfilled. Yet so much did these promises mean to them that they regulated the whole course of their lives in their light. The promises related to a state of affairs belonging to the future; but these people acted as if that state of affairs were already present, so convinced were they that God could and would fulfill what he had promised. These people were men and women of faith. Their faith consisted simply in taking God at his word and directing their lives accordingly.
Physical eyesight produces conviction or evidence of visible things; faith is the organ that enables people to see the invisible order. Faith is a conviction or proof of things not seen. Belief in God carries with it necessarily belief in his word. It is not belief in the existence of a God that is meant, but belief in the existence of the God who once declared his will to the fathers through the prophets and in these last days has spoken in his Son. One cannot please God apart from faith - the faith that not only believes that he exists but waits patiently and confidently for the reward promised to those who seek him. Those who put their trust in God receive a full reward, and that reward must belong not to this transient world-order, but to the enduring order which participates in the life of God.
Faith is the title-deed of things hoped for. Faith is a guarantee of the heavenly realities for which we hope; not only does it render them certain for us, but it envisages them as rightfully belonging to us; it is, in itself, an objective assurance of our definite enjoyment of them. Though the blessings promised are not yet revealed, the man of faith is convinced of their reality. Good works spring from faith as their source and provide the evidence of a genuine faith. Faith and revelation belong together, and revelation inevitably involves, on the part of the believer, the activity of one's mind for by faith we understand. The origination of all things by the creative word of God is a truth that can be known to us only through revelation, and accordingly its disclosure demands the response of faith.
It is hard to overemphasize the importance of faith in the process of salvation. Believing in Christ is that which God commands us to do. Faith is the disposition which should be characteristic of the believer in relation to his Creator, for faith is that trustful reliance which finds expression in willing obedience and submission to the sovereign word of God, in grateful acknowledgment of the great goodness of all his works, and in confident recognition of the complete trustworthiness of his promises.
Faith involves both the acceptance of a body of truth on the basis of the testimony of the apostles or of others who transmitted that testimony, and a personal trust in Christ as Savior. Faith is a going away from ourselves to Christ, no longer trusting in self, but trusting only in him. Christ becomes our hope in salvation, our deepest joy, and our main purpose in living. Faith in Christ satisfies life's deepest needs. Our spiritual thirsts are permanently quenched in our relationship with Jesus. Faith means resting in Christ, leaning on him, drawing strength from him moment by moment, and living in constant fellowship with him. Christ is in us. What a glorious Gospel we believe!
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