THE STARTING POINT
Faith is not hoping harder.
It is acknowledging that what God has said and done is true,
and accepting His accomplished facts as facts.
FACT
⬤
What God has accomplished
→
FAITH
◉
What I acknowledge as true
→
EXPERIENCE
○
What is worked out in my life
SUBSTANTIATION — NOT WISHFUL THINKING
The Greek word in Hebrews 11:1 is hypostasis — variously translated substance, assurance, reality. One way to hear it: faith gives present substance to what God has promised — not wishful optimism, but real apprehension of what is unseen.
Eyes substantiate colour. Ears substantiate sound.
Faith substantiates God's facts.
BUT WHAT PASSES FOR FAITH?
FAITH
Begins with God's fact
Acknowledges what is done
Rests on a finished work
Based on promise
Independent of feeling
Cashing a cheque
THE COUNTERFEIT
Begins with my desire
Tries to secure what God has not promised
Strains toward an outcome
Based on wishful thinking
Dependent on intensity
Writing yourself a cheque
If God has not promised it, then believing for it is not faith — it is religious imagination dressed up as trust. You can be utterly sincere and still be dreaming.
NOT MORE FAITH — A CLEARER SIGHT
Faith is not produced from within. It is a trust that arises from the character of the One trusted.
We do not ask, "Is my faith sufficient?"
We ask, "Is God reliable?"
What is often lacking is not more intensity of faith — but a clearer sight of the God who is faithful.
SCRIPTURE REFERENCES
GOD'S ACCOMPLISHED FACTS
THE NATURE OF FAITH
FAITH WITHOUT A BASIS
Faith does not create God's facts. They are true whether you believe them or not.
Faith does not make them real — it receives them,
so that they become lived reality in you.