STUDY IN GALATIANS represent to everyone that our con fidence is in Christ's shed blood for our atonement. The Old Testament saints gained approval by their con fidence in Cod (Hebrews 11:2). It was not just a case of having a pleasing disposition or an intense interest in social projects. Total confidence in Cod was what was important then as well as now. Noah built an ark when there was absolutely no human reason for such a vessel. It is this same kind of supreme confidence in God which caused Abraham to leave his home, traveling to a new land as he was commanded. We, too, need to take Him at His word. We should live such a life that our commitment to Cod is a sign to others that we are His. This is the proof of our rela tionship. Since Cod commends to us such excellent Old Testament saints as examples, we should dem onstrate to others about us that we have placed our confidence in the Lord. Faith is both an act as well as a sign. Faith is complete confidence in God. "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen" (Hebrews 11:1). Carefully consider the words sub stance and evidence in this verse. First, faith is the substance of things hoped for. That is, faith is confi dence in God's leading for the fu ture. Most of us have questions about what is going to happen in the days ahead. There is uncertain ty about the unknown. Yet we need have no fears or unseemly concerns for our belief is firmly fixed on the One with whom there are no to morrows. What a tremendous testi mony to read, "As for God, His way is perfect; the word of the Lord is tried; He is a buckler to all them
who trust in Him" (Psalm 18:30). We repeat, faith, at its verse core, is a clear sign (substance) that we have placed our confidence in God concerning the future—to God and to those who observe us. This al lows us to face tomorrow without undue concern or worry. This was certainly what happened in Abra ham's case (Hebrews 11:8). The same was true with Joseph (He brews 11:22). He knew that he and his family were just strangers in Egypt and that God would bring them back to the promised land in His own time. He was so sure that he ordered his own burial to be back in Canaan. And this was hun dreds of years before the act finally was to be accomplished. Then, too, "faith is the evidence of things not seen." The focus here is not just the future but primarily the past. None of us were there at the cross or the grave when the Lord died and was resurrected. Our confidence is in the evidence of the Bible. We accept its record and know with a certainty that these things happened. This is what is meant when we read, "Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do ap pear" (Hebrews 11:3). This illus trates how faith is really confidence in the fact that God could do exact ly what He said He was going to do. It is evidence that is incontrovert- able. The Greek word for evidence in Hebrews 11:1 is no weak and vague term. It is solid and requires firm confidence in God's word. Faith is that which separates us from the agnostics and atheists of the world. It is a definite sign to God that we mean business. It is a
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