What is faith?

[yeshuaslavejeff]

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[JESUS=G.O.A.T]

Tolstoy said:
"Faith is a knowledge of the meaning of human life, the consequences of which is that man does not kill himself, but lives. Faith is the force of life. If a man lives, then he must believe in something...Without faith it is impossible to live." (from his book A Confession )

Faith is the substance of things hoped for the evidence of things not seen.

Faith is the substance of JESUS the evidence of the spiritual

Faith requires trust and conviction


and faith is essential because by faith we have access to his grace

 

[PeaceJoyLove]

Might say mustard seed size faith here, in lieu of BIG...
the disciples wanted MORE faith,
and JESUS told them - if you just have (and use) the faith already in your mouth to speak, the size of a mustart seed,
you can tell this mountain to be lifted up and cast into the sea.....

and "You are ALREADY IN THE KINGDOM, start living like it "

In the parable of the mustard seed, it must GROW...by faith. Otherwise, all who have faith and choose to follow Him would be doing amazing feats from day one of coming to HIM...right? As we use that little seed of faith (by doing what HE says) HE gives increase and we thereby grow as we continue to use each increase...

That tree it grows into?? The Tree of Life...no longer eating from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil...

Matthew 13:31 Another parable put he forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is like to a grain of mustard seed, which a man took, and sowed in his field:

32 Which indeed is the least of all seeds: but when it is grown, it is the greatest among herbs, and becometh a tree, so that the birds of the air come and lodge in the branches thereof.

 

[yeshuaslavejeff]

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[PeaceJoyLove]

That is the common worldly way of thinking apparently.

The disciples when Jesus sent them out 2 by 2, to various towns or cities He was going to,
did as He said, simply,
and came back excited and rejoicing - healing the sick was EASY! and casting out demons WITH A WORD TOO!

They did not get better later at it - there was no greater faith needed apparently.

With just a mustard seed of faith, everything we see done, or needing done,
trusting in
the Father in heaven ,
is just EASY ! (not hard) like in Galatians the warning against thinking like those who were trying to trick them ---- how did you do miracles BEFORE when FIRST SAVED ? by works of the law or some HUMAN AGENCY ?
no.
by grace, by faith in Jesus....

The Disciples had lived, walked and listened to Jesus's every word before He sent them out. He gave them instruction on what to take with them and do. They obeyed. That is genuine faith...and their tutor gave them the authority to do miracles.

Personally, I can say that my faith today has grown immensely to what it was when I came to Him many moons ago. Today, I rely totally and utterly on HIM for all things. And HE hears my prayers and answers them. There is nothing good in me but HIM in me. And that all came by faith by the grace of God. As "I" decreased, HIM in me increased.

Faith is steadfastness, enduring all things (not giving up) waiting for the promises, while there are also gifts given for healing and such...even those with little faith receive giftings. Only HE can give increase to faith...by our obedience to what HE has already given. If we don't use it to seek more of HIM...well scripture clearly tells us what will happen.

Scripture even tells us HOW to increase our faith (Romans 10:17) Faith comes by hearing and hearing by The Word of God. Babes in Christ have a mustard seed, but must grow. The SEED is The Word of God. 1 Peter 2:2

I have seen many become discouraged at what you are purporting and give up because they could not move the mountain...instead of enduring to find out why they could not...

 

[yeshuaslavejeff]

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[yeshuaslavejeff]

*** clean up ***

 

[yeshuaslavejeff]

*** clean up ***

 

[PeaceJoyLove]

Clean up

 

[The Brown Brink]

Hmmmm....if faith is lazy, then it is not faith...faith is an action word. By faith Noah built the ark. By faith Abraham left the land of Ur. By faith Abel offered God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain. And, without faith, it is impossible to please God.

Yes, I agree.
If faith is lazy, then it is not really faith.

 

[afishamongmany]

Tolstoy said:
"Faith is a knowledge of the meaning of human life, the consequences of which is that man does not kill himself, but lives. Faith is the force of life. If a man lives, then he must believe in something...Without faith it is impossible to live." (from his book A Confession )

The Bible says, "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen."
Hebrews chpt 11;
the substance - 'hupostatis' - In general something which has been put under; therefore, used for a basis or foundation, ... confident expectation.
the evidence - 'elegchos' - conviction ... It implies not merely the charge on the basis of which one is convicted, but also the manifestation of the truth of that charge. The results to be reaped from that charge and the acknowledgement of its truth on the part of the accused, are referred to as well.

If we think of The Lord's story of the wise and foolish house builders, Matthew 7:24-27;
The wise man put his faith in The Rock and built his house on it. Maybe the house itself was not the best of builds. Maybe he didn't use the best quality materials, or best building practices; Maybe its design could have been so much better. But because it stood on the rock it survived the floods and the winds that came upon it.
The foolish man had great faith. He had faith in the best of architects, the best of builders and the materials and technology used. He had faith in those who encouraged him and told him what a wonderful project he was involved in. Man! That house! It was a was really something.
But it was not built on the rock and great was the fall of it.
Build well, build wisely,
><>

 

[Halbhh]

Faith is what causes us to do this (even not knowing what He said) -> "You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart."

12 Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you.
13 You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. 14
I will be found by you,” declares the Lord, “and will bring you back from captivity."

He sets us free.

 

[ChristianFromKazakhstan]

Tolstoy said:
"Faith is a knowledge of the meaning of human life, the consequences of which is that man does not kill himself, but lives. Faith is the force of life. If a man lives, then he must believe in something...Without faith it is impossible to live." (from his book A Confession )

Лев Толстой writes butifully.

 

[disciple1]

Tolstoy said:
"Faith is a knowledge of the meaning of human life, the consequences of which is that man does not kill himself, but lives. Faith is the force of life. If a man lives, then he must believe in something...Without faith it is impossible to live." (from his book A Confession )

Romans chapter 10 verse 17
Consequently faith comes from hearing the message and the message is heard through the word of Christ.

 

[JingshenBianxi]

Faith is waiting at the bus stop.
Losing faith is leaving the bus stop when the bus doesn't come.

If a person stays at the bus stop from sun up to sun down and the bus never came?
WOW!! That's great faith!!

 

[yeshuaslavejeff]

Faith is waiting at the bus stop.
Losing faith is leaving the bus stop when the bus doesn't come.

If a person stays at the bus stop from sun up to sun down and the bus never came?
WOW!! That's great faith!!

The father of the prodigal son,
might have been watching diligently EVERY DAY, all day,
for his son,
for years.... without giving up.

Likewise, we might watch for JESUS , for hope and faith and peace and joy and love and righteousness in HIM,
for years before YHWH accompishing this
...
.. without giving up

 

[Foxfyre]

The Charles Blondin story is a good illustration of faith. Not only was he a fascinating man, but the story of his pushing a wheelbarrow across Niagara Falls is one in which kids as well as adults can identify the difference between mere belief (head knowledge) and true faith (belief in action; heart knowledge).

Can you imagine a tightrope stretched over a quarter of a mile and spanning the breadth of Niagara Falls? The thundering sound of the pounding water drowning out all other sounds as you watch a man step onto the rope and walk across!

This stunning feat made Charles Blondin famous in the summer of 1859. He walked 160 feet above the falls several times back and forth between Canada and the United States as huge crowds on both sides looked on with shock and awe. Once he crossed in a sack, once on stilts, another time on a bicycle, and once he even carried a stove and cooked an omelet!

On July 15, Blondin walked backward across the tightrope to Canada and returned pushing a wheelbarrow.

The Blondin story is told that it was after pushing a wheelbarrow across while blindfolded that Blondin asked for some audience participation. The crowds had watched and "Ooooohed" and "Aaaaahed!" He had proven that he could do it; of that, there was no doubt. But now he was asking for a volunteer to get into the wheelbarrow and take a ride across the Falls with him!

It is said that he asked his audience, "Do you believe I can carry a person across in this wheelbarrow?" Of course the crowd shouted that yes, they believed!

It was then that Blondin posed the question - "Who will get in the wheelbarrow?'

Of course...none did.

This story of Charles Blondin paints a real life picture of what faith actually is. The crowd had watched his daring feats. They said they believed, but their actions proved they truly didn't.

It’s one thing to believe a man can walk across by himself. It’s another thing to believe he could safely carry you across. But it’s something else entirely to get into the wheelbarrow yourself. As well, it's one thing for us to say we believe in God. It's true faith though, when we believe God and put our faith and trust in His Son, Jesus Christ.

And don't worry, Jesus has carried many people safely across the great divide, and he has never lost anyone yet. You can trust in him!

That is the difference I think between faith and hope. Faith is being secure that what we believe/know is right even though we have not experienced that which we know/believe. For instance, at one time if anybody had offered me a chance to visit the space station or the moon, I would have jumped at the opportunity because I know/believe the trip could be made safely even though I have never experienced it.

But would I jump at the chance to take a much higher risk of going to Mars and thus risk missing out on raising my family, knowing my grandchildren, experiencing all I wanted to experience? I probably would not have jumped at that opportunity. And if I did it would not have been based on faith that we would survive the journey but on hope.

One time I was teaching a group of teenagers and we were on the topic of Heaven. And at one point I asked the class who wants to go to Heaven? All hands went up. And then I asked, "Who wants to go right now?" Nobody volunteered. Was it because of lack of faith? Not at all in my opinion. I just think they all all thought that could wait until they had had a chance to do all they wanted to do here first.

 

[Jether]

Definition of "Faith" is found in Hebrews 11:1.

 

[The Brown Brink]

I read the post describing faith as being similar to waiting at a bus stop.
This reminds me of one of Mr. Rogers' little songs...
"Let's find something to do while we're waiting..."

Sure, I can wait faithfully at a bus stop all day.
But I can do more than that.

 

[Mountainmike]

Tolstoy said:
"Faith is a knowledge of the meaning of human life, the consequences of which is that man does not kill himself, but lives. Faith is the force of life. If a man lives, then he must believe in something...Without faith it is impossible to live." (from his book A Confession )

It has always seemed to me that atheists who base their world view on an expectation that science will explain all, (a philosophy if scientific realism) - have as strong a faith as any Christian, they just hate it being called faith. But it is.

It is why most are not objective about many phenomena or branches of science - take abiogenesis, calling it hypothesis or theory, when it qualifies only as pure speculation, it is not even a valid hypothesis in science speak.