Faith is Evidence

Faith is Evidence of the Unseen. The writer of the letter to the Hebrews says that,

Faith is the substance of things hoped for,
the evidence of things not seen (Heb 11:1 NKJV).

Faith is not the same as hope. Hope is uncertain, whereas faith is certain. Many Christians hope that God will heal them, but that is not faith. Faith gives substance to hope. The word “substance” refers to a title deed, so faith gives us ownership of what we hope for. The Greek word for sub-stance (hupostasis) is related to the word for submit.

Faith is evidence or proof of things that we cannot see. The Bible tells us that there are two types of “things” in this life: seen and unseen.

We do not look at the things that are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal (1 Cor 4:18).

The things that we can see are temporary. The unseen things come from God and are eternal. Faith is being certain of things that are not seen. God may have promised them to us, but we need faith because we cannot see yet seem them. When we receive them, we no longer need faith, because we can see them. Faith is only required for things that are unseen.