What faith is not.
1. Faith is not equal to a creed.
2. Faith is not wishful thinking.
3. Faith is not a blind leap.
4. Faith is not a sincere devotion to something.
I. Faith confirms God's unseen promises.
-faith = pistis = faith, trust, belief, conviction
a. It is the assurance of things hoped for.
-assurance = hupostasis = essence, reality, substance, foundation, confident assurance, guarantee, attestation
b. It is the conviction of what is not seen.
-conviction = elenchos = evidence, proof, verification, certainty
-MacArthur "Faith, then, provides the firm ground on which we stand, waiting for the fulfillment of God's promise. Far from being nebulous and uncertain, faith is the most solid possible conviction. Faith is the present essence of a future reality."
-Kent Hughes "It is a solid conviction resting on God's words that makes the future present and the invisible seen."
II. Faith motivates trusting obedience.
a. By faith the people of old received God's approval.
-gained approval = martureo = bear witness; passive verb
b. By faith we know God created by His Word.
-understand = noeo = to understand, perceive, discern
-worlds = aion = age
-word = rhema = that which is spoken
-Guthrie "Faith is confidence that results in action carried out in a variety of situations by ordinary people in response to the unseen God and his promises, with various earthly outcomes but always the ultimate outcome of God's commendation and reward."
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