Belief-Trust-Hope, The Foundation of Our Faith

Today, we are going to talk about Belief, Trust & Hope.  Belief and trust are interchangeable here. How and what we believe about our God will determine our level of trust.  If we believe our God is a loving God, we will trust Him. If we believe that His word is true, we will trust what the word says.  If we think God is someone who is ready to pounce on us at the first sign of a mistake, we won't trust him.  So the manner in which we believe will determine our level of trust.

Let's look at our foundational scripture for today. Hebrews 11:1 - ¹ Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. Verse 6 says, But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe/trust that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.

Previously, we discovered that the word "faith", as I heard one preacher say, "isn't something we do, it is something that happens to us".  The word "faith" in this passage comes from a root word meaning "a persuasion as of an argument to the extent that this persuasion changes how we see a matter". To explain this I used the example of my salvation experience to define more clearly this word, "faith". When I first came to be persuaded that God's word told me that Jesus paid the price for my sins; that He laid down His life so that I could be reconciled back to God, I did as the Word of God said in Romans, chapter 10. I believed in my heart and confessed with my mouth that Jesus was the Lord of my life. This changed my life forever. Faith [in God's word] happened to me.

Then in another blog, I quoted from the first chapter of John, "Jesus was the Word who became flesh":.  The word "word" in this passage is the Greek word logos which means a reasoning or computation.  So, faith is a persuasion and that persuasion must be based on God's Word or His reasoning and computations about a matter.

It doesn't matter what I believe about eternal life. What mattered was God's reasonings about eternal life. I could have all the faith in the world that my good deeds outweighing my bad deeds and having water sprinkled on me at birth would guarantee me eternal life. But that is not God's reasoning on the matter.

I also referred to Romans 10:17 that faith (these persuasions) come by hearing and hearing by the word (rhema - spoken word of God).  Jesus knew the reasoning’s and computations of God and came in the flesh to reveal and testify to the Father's love.

That being said, "now faith" or "now the persuasions of God's reasoning’s and computations of His word is the substance of things hoped for"...  The word hope here is best defined as "a joyful, confident, expectation of good". So we could read Hebrews 11:6 this way, "Now the persuasions of God's reasoning's and computations of His word is the substance of our joyful, confident, expectation of good"!
You see, I used to think that faith was my ability to be confident of God's promises coming to pass in my life. The more confidence I had, the more faith I possessed. To make matters worse, that confidence was based on my ability to do all the right things and avoid doing all the wrong things. .  Talk about "missing the mark" on this one.

 Here is what I have come to find out.  What is pleasing to God is when we look to Him with His reasoning’s and His computations on a matter. My faith is now based on God's reasoning on a matter and His reasonings are that all of His promises are "Yes" and "Amen" in Christ Jesus.  This means that because I am in Christ Jesus; because I have made Jesus the Lord of my live, my faith is based on the fact that I have been made to be in right standing with God. Jesus has qualified me through His sacrifice. I am not qualified based on my works but on the Work of the Cross.  

Let's go on with this verse.  "for he who comes to God must believe/trust that He is... let's pause there and look at Webster’s definition of "believe".  Believe is a reliance or a resting of the mind on the integrity; veracity, justice, friendship or sound principle of another person.

If I am going to believe God it means that I must rest on God's integrity, God's veracity (authenticity or truth) God's justice (by one man's sin all were condemned and so too by one man's righteous act, many were made righteous), God's friendship with me and God's sound principles.  Are we sensing some more GOOD NEWS here?  Better buckle up those dancin' shoes, Emma.

So let's break this verse down further.  Now being persuaded of God's reasonings and computations of His Word is the substance of a joyful, confident expectation of good; the evidence of things not seen.  vs. 6 but without God's reasoning’s and computations of His word which were exhibited in the person of Jesus, it is impossible to please Him because he who comes to God must rest on God's integrity, God's authenticity and truth, God's justice; God's friendship with me and God's sound principle brought about by us diligently seeking to understand His reasoning’s and persuasions. I call this the New, Living, Amplified, Holy Ghost Translation of the verse.

Sit and meditate on that for a while and you will learn that this faith spoken about in Hebrews comes about in a more restful manner that what we may have believed in the past. Remember, faith isn't something we do; it is something that happens to us as we discover more of God's love, His Grace, His Mercy- all that He has accomplished through the obedience of one, Jesus Christ.  There isn't anything we must do to earn this or work towards it. Ask the Holy Spirit to open up this verse to you and me in a truer and living way today.  

Oh what love the Father has towards you- be blessed in all you put your hand to today.