Faith Has Substance
The Bible tells us that “faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen” [Hebrews 11:1]. But what does that mean? Some translations use “assurance” instead of “substance”. The original Greek word means both of these and also “foundation”. We can say that faith is the real solid foundational assurance of things hoped for.
I Sure Hope So
In our culture and language, hope is usually view as a wish. Something hoped for may happen and it may not. However, the original Greek word caries much more weight. Biblical hope means to expect with an attitude of confidently looking forward to what is good and beneficial.
Seeing is Believing?
That brings us to the last part of Hebrews 11:1, “the evidence of things not seen”. We have all heard the saying, “I’ll believe it when I see it”, but faith is exactly the opposite. Faith is proof, the conviction, the evidence of what can not be seen. If we wait until we can see something, its too late to believe, to have faith.
Believing is Seeing!
The Amplified Bible does a good job of conveying the meaning of this scripture: “Now faith is the assurance (the confirmation, the title deed) of the things [we] hope for, being the proof of things [we] do not see and the conviction of their reality [faith perceiving as real fact what is not revealed to the senses].” Faith is being convinced that what we are believing for is already a reality, is already true before we see change in the natural realm.
Believe AND Speak
Romans 10:10 says that we need to believe with our hearts and speak with our mouths to be saved. This is what all Christians have done to become born again. The same principle holds for believing for anything that God wants us to have. Jesus told His disciples that whoever ” does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says will come to pass, it will be done for him [Mark 11:23]. Faith is released when we believe in our hearts and speak it with our mouths.