We all have heard that faith is spelled: RISK.
Is that correct or not? I don’t believe that saying faith is a risk is true.
- Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. For by it the elders obtained a good report. Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things that are seen were not made of things, which do appear. By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts: and by it he being dead yet speaketh. By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death; and was not found, because God had translated him: for before his translation he had this testimony, that he pleased God. But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.
To ask what faith is, is a very valid question to ask. I have asked people to explain to me what faith is, and I have found that most Christians struggle to answer it. Some have come up with great theological terms that do not make sense to an unbeliever while others have had simple one-word answers. Here are some of the responses I have encountered in my search to find out what faith is. I cannot mention all of them.
“It means to believe.” I have to play the devils advocate and ask: What if I don’t believe?
“It is trusting God to do the right thing.” Again I will play the part and ask: What if I don’t trust? There are a lot of people that have been hurt and have been pushed into a place where they find it hard to trust anyone let alone trusting God.
“It is to believe what your church believe.” No response.
“It is to not ask question.” Really?
So what is faith?
According to the book of Hebrew it is something tangible. It has substance. It is something that I can hope for. According to this scripture it is something tangible that God wants to give. So that said, I need to find out how to get what God has for me.
I have learned that God likes to make his kingdom really easy to understand. In the parable of the sower Jesus constantly refers to “he who hears and understands.” This might be hard to understand and agree but faith does not believe blindly without understanding! We need to develop the ears to hear what He is saying by the Spirit. Jesus liked to tell simple stories. I believe that God is hiding some spiritual concepts in His word that we need to find. We call these “nuggets” of the kingdom. I studied Hebrew 11 as the “Faith” chapter constantly asking God to show me what faith is. All these men and woman have captured something even if they didn’t see the fulfillment of what they believed for. Heb 11:39
“And these all, having obtained a good report through faith, received not the promise:”
What was it that they got that caused them not to waiver at the promises of God and that would make it the same for us? I believe verse six has the key.
But without faith it is impossible to please him:
The rest of this verse could stand on it’s own. Come to God; believe that He is and that He rewards those that seek Him. Yet God allowed the writer of Hebrew to add this one little phrase to the verse: Without faith it is impossible to please God. Now before you go ahead and disqualify yourself for not having faith, let me explain something. The word for “please” is a bad translation in English. That word in the Greek means, “To fully agree.” Here is the key. Stay with me as I give you a literal translation of this part of the verse.
Without faith it is impossible to “fully agree” with God.
So what is faith? If it is true that we cannot have faith if we don’t agree with God then it must be true that if we agree with God it is called faith. Now God calls it faith. Why?
If I say that I will give you a million dollars and you agree with me, in essence you are making a statement that says: “You must have it to be able to give it to me. You are saying that you agree with my ability to do it.” When we agree with God we are saying that we believe He has the ability to do it and give it. When that happens God calls it faith.
Faith is simply to agree with God and His plan for your life. In this chapter of Hebrew every one of these people agreed with God and His plan and it was called faith. Noah agreed with God’s plan. Moses agreed with God’s plan. They all agreed with His plan and it is called “faith.”
“For by grace we are saved through faith (Agreement) and not of ourselves, it is the gift of God. When you agreed with God’s plan for your life He saw that as faith and saved you. Faith is agreeing with God.
Faith is not taking a risk, it is agreeing with God. Doing anything with God is never considered to be a risk.
Next time people ask you about faith, let’s keep it simple. God wants people to agree with His plan for their lives. That is the message of the Gospel. God doesn’t want anyone to be lost but all men to be saved. It is not complicated and hard to get. Jesus accuses the Pharisees of making it hard when it is not.
I hope this helped you as much as it did me. I get up every morning now and say to myself: “Papa I agree with your plan for my life today!”
