"Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." (Heb 11.1). The writer of Hebrews gives us a definition of faith. It is, however, more than that. It also defines the life of those who seek to be faithful to God. Faith is that which causes us to seek answers for spiritual questions within the word that God has given to us. The faith of God is revealed in that same word. It is that word that tells us how we must come to God in obedience, the conditions for salvation, and how we must live after rendering obedience. Faith has come to mean many things to folks in our day and time, as it did when the word was revealed. To be acceptable to God we are obligated to come an understanding of what we must do to serve him, and to serve him in his way, not ours. Faith can be thought of in many ways, but we must understand how God wants us to understand it since it is He who will include us in the book of life, or condemn us eternally.
Faith can be understood as the body of knowledge that forms the content of that which one believes. That same body of knowledge directs one to act in certain ways by providing instructions concerning the way in which we should conduct ourselves. When one acts in accordance with the conditions specified in God's word then one acts faithfully. Faithfulness can be understood to mean adherence to the commands of God.
The generation of Christ's day wanted proof of things before they would accept them. Christ based his claim to be the son of God on those things that had been written concerning Him, and acted faithfully as our example of service to God. That word has been delivered to us in the form of the written word, the Bible (Jude 3) and gives us the proofs of God's existence, mercy, provisions for salvation and eternal blessings to those who will be faithful to Him. The writer of Hebrews summarizes the lives of the faithful when he states, ""And these all, having obtained a good report through faith, received not the promise: God having provided some better thing for us, that they without us should not be made perfect. (Heb 11.39-40). These servants of God accepted the Lord's word even though the fulfillment of those things promised was not to come during their lifetime.
There are many today who not accept the truthfulness of the Gospel message because they have not seen, or been able to put God to the test in ways that they would like to. Since God no longer strikes those down who practice falsehood, as he did in times past, leads many to believe that what they teach and practice is acceptable. The scriptures reveal that God recognizes those who accept his authority, base their hope on His word and live in the present world with an eye on the eternal home that God has promised (Col 3.1-2). This is what it means to be faithful as God would define it. What we all need to understand is that to believe, act or teach anything that is not in harmony with the word, and therefore the will of God, is to live unfaithfully. While we may steep ourselves in our own opinions and ideas of what faith is, and seek to please ourselves by following man's doctrines, we do not act in true faith toward God. The appeal of the scriptures is to accept what God has given us, no more and no less. Only then will God accept us as faithful to Him.
TLC