“Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” (Hebrews 11:1). We are faith-inspired to serve as Christ would serve, this means real depth in relationships of all kinds. This requires strong belief and trust in God.
What is faith? Wikipedia defines it as follows:
“Christianity: The word translated as “faith” in English-language editions of the New Testament, the Greek word πίστις (pístis), can also be translated as “belief”, “faithfulness”, or “trust”. Christianity encompasses various views regarding the nature of faith. Some see faith as being persuaded or convinced that something is true.[In this view, a person believes something when they are presented with adequate evidence that it is true.
The 13th-century theologian Saint Thomas Aquinas did not hold that faith is a mere opinion: on the contrary, he held that it represents a mean (understood in the Platonic sense) between excessive reliance on science (i.e. demonstration) and excessive reliance on opinion. Triumph of Faith over Idolatry by Jean-Baptiste Théodon (1646–1713),” Main article: Faith in Christianity”
The writer of Hebrews defines it as follows: “Now faith is assurance of things hoped for, proof of things not seen.” (Hebrews 11:1)
These can be seen as manifestations in another quote from Hebrews (the whole book is good for studying faith!): “let’s hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering; for he who promised is faithful. Let’s consider how to provoke one another to love and good works, not forsaking our assembling together, as the custom of some is, but exhorting one another; and so much the more, as you see the Day approaching.” (Hebrews 10:23-25)
We must, therefore:
• Hold fast to our confessions
• Consider each other to stir up Christ’s love
• Exhorting one another
There are many Theological and Apologetically arguments concerning the Christian faith, but the crux of it is, if you are not convicted to follow Christ doing so in a faithful manner, trusting that He knows everything, even if you cannot comprehend something at any point in your life, you will probably never have faith in Jesus and His resurrection Gospel that bring eternal life.
What is the difference between being faithful and having faith? “Faithful is a derived term of faith. As a noun, the difference between faithful and faith is that faith is the practising members of a religion or followers of a cause while faith is a feeling, conviction, or belief that something is true or real, assent that is not contingent upon reason or justification.” Wikidiff
How does faithfulness tie into the picture?
“Yahweh passed by before him, and proclaimed, “Yahweh! Yahweh, a merciful and gracious God, slow to anger, and abundant in loving kindness and truth,” (Exodus 34:6)
The word “truth”, here, is translated from the Hebrew word “Emet” which also means faithfulness. It is also connected to the word “Amen” which means “that’s truth”. This brings to us the concept of steadiness and dependability. The concept can be seen in the story of Moses when he has to hold up his arms to defeat Israel’s enemies: “But Moses’ hands were heavy; and they took a stone, and put it under him, and he sat on it. Aaron and Hur held up his hands, the one on the one side, and the other on the other side. His hands were steady (“Emet”) until sunset.” (Exodus 17:12)
In human context this is translated as “trustworthiness” as seen in the following: “Moreover you shall provide out of all the people able men which fear God: men of truth (“Emet”), hating unjust gain; and place such over them, to be rulers of thousands, rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens.” (Exodus 18:21)
God never expects us to be or do something He is not doing Himself. God doesn’t just tell the truth and always speak the truth but He is also always faithful and trustworthy. David describes it as follows: “and he said: “Yahweh is my rock, my fortress, and my deliverer, even mine; God is my rock in whom I take refuge; my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my high tower, and my refuge. My savior, you save me from violence.” (2 Samuel 22:2-3)
In the verb for “Emet” is “He’emin”. This word can be translated as “to believe” or “to have faith”, but at its core, it means to consider someone trustworthy. Abraham is the first person in the Bible who considers God as being trustworthy: “He believed in Yahweh, who credited it to him for righteousness.” (Genesis 15:6). This means that he trusted God to make a way forward even though he could not see the way himself.
The next person to show this kind of trust in God is David: “Solomon said, “You have shown to your servant David my father great loving-kindness, because he walked before you in truth (Emet), in righteousness, and in uprightness of heart with you. You have kept for him this great loving kindness, that you have given him a son to sit on his throne, as it is today.” (1 Kings 3:6). David considers God to be faithful and his response to this is faithfulness.
As a result of David’s faithfulness, God promised the following: “Your house and your kingdom will be made sure forever before you. Your throne will be established forever.” (2 Samuel 7:16) foreshadowing the coming Messiah, becoming the source of trust and stability for all mankind.
But just like the Israelites lost their kingdom and accuse God of abandoning the promises He had made to Abraham, we too lose sight of God and His faithfulness. The very first line of the New Testament reminds them, and us, that God is ever faithful: “The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.”
-Matthew 1:1
Paul describes it as follows: “Now I say that Christ has been made a servant of the circumcision for the truth of God, that he might confirm the promises given to the fathers, and that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy. As it is written, “Therefore I will give praise to you among the Gentiles, and sing to your name.” (Romans 15:8-9). This means that Jesus came on behalf of God’s faithfulness, the faithful King, whose kingdom will endure forever.
The Challenge
How do we trust?
If there is one thing that is for sure, is that this concept of trust has been the cause of much pain and suffering. But the Biblical concept of trust or “Emet” shows us that God has always been trustworthy and that His promises have been fulfilled in Jesus.
We can then, as a result of what Jesus has done, take that same risk that Abraham and David have and trust that God is overflowing with faithfulness.
May you take this leap of faith and become a faithful servant of the Servant God who has never been unfaithful!
Bible Project’s Take Faithfulness.
