Faith is the realization of what is hoped for
and evidence of things not seen.
Faith pertains to things that are not seen, realities in the future, or those things that are purely spiritual. But it is not about every invisible realities indifferently, not especially concerned with how many angels can dance on the head of a pin. It is rather specifically about those for which we hope, those that we desire at the deepest and most fundamental level of our hearts, for that which alone will fulfill us as creatures made in the image of God. It acts like evidence which assures us that those things are both real and possible to attain.
it should be noted that the act of faith is to believe, because it is an act of the intellect narrowed to one thing by the command of the will. Hence, to believe is to think with assent, as Augustine says in The Predestination of the Saints
Faith is therefore not a matter of mere curiosity. It is by definition related to the attainment of our greatest good, which is God himself.
But the ultimate end of faith in heaven, which we tend toward by faith, is happiness, which consists in the clear vision of God: this is eternal life: to know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent
The author of Hebrews goes on from the definition of faith to provide examples of the heroic figures of the Old Testament who lived lives marked by faith. They chose to think with assent to the promises of God, promises ordered toward the realization of their hopes. They had to go on existing in a world where these promises remained unseen, but to continue acting on the belief that they would be fulfilled.
By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place
that he was to receive as an inheritance;
he went out, not knowing where he was to go.
Those who lived by faith in the Old Testament can provide examples to encourage us as well. They lived with a posture of trust so absolute that if God was not there to support them they would have collapsed. We too are meant to be radical in our trust in what God has revealed to us. We are meant to be able to look past appearances and the opinions of the crowds, and to live lives that might even appear reckless when seen without faith.
They did not receive what had been promised
but saw it and greeted it from afar
and acknowledged themselves to be strangers and aliens on earth,
for those who speak thus show that they are seeking a homeland.
When those who are without faith in the world look at Christians they should see something mysterious and incomprehensible, because they should see a people set on a journey of pilgrimage toward a definite goal, progressing with the certainty of guidance, and yet themselves have no insight into the spiritual GPS that is leading them toward that goal. This could be another way in which faith can be considered evidence, just as the invisible wind is known when the leaves are moved and rustled as it passes.
Faith is meant to have real consequences in the lives of believers. Even though we may have to face storms and squalls in the circumstances of life, even if the very bark of Peter itself seems in danger of sinking, we can continue to live with the belief that nothing will ultimately be able to interfere with the Lord's ability to realize his promises in our lives.
He woke up,
rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, "Quiet! Be still!"
The wind ceased and there was great calm.
Then he asked them, "Why are you terrified?
Do you not yet have faith?"
If even the wind and sea obey Jesus what is force is there that could prevent him from achieving his purpose in our lives? Saint Paul was convicted that no such force existed or could exist.
For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord (See Romans 8:38-39).
All of this begins by thinking with assent about things for which we hope. But this itself is a gift and a grace that we ought not take for granted. It is something in which we can always seek to grow.
Lord, I believe; help my unbelief! (see Mark 9:24).
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