Skip to content ↓

The Essential: Faith

Resources Collection cover image

This is the eighth installment in a series on theological terms. See previous posts on the terms theology, Trinity, creation, man, Fall, common grace, sin, and righteousness.

Unlike some terms such as Trinity and theology, the Bible itself provides a clear and concise definition of faith. Hebrews 11:1 says, “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” In other words, faith is a staking of our hearts and minds on a reality that is beyond us, both in time and comprehension. It is ahead of us (“hoped for”) and above us (“not seen”).

To guard us against failing to unpack the full meaning in this verse ourselves, the author of Hebrews makes his definition clear by filling the remaining 39 verses of chapter 11 with example after example of what this faith looks like when lived out. He does this to ensure that we understand that “assurance of things hoped for” and “conviction of things not seen” are not merely words. True faith cannot exist as only thoughts or feelings. Instead, it affects all of life, giving birth to works of obedience and endurance.

And it is important to remember that “things hoped for” and “things not seen” do not refer (at least in Christian faith) to things that are imagined or invisible. These phrases refer to those realities that we know of through the Word of God. Christian faith is inseparable from and unfounded apart from God’s Word. Thus Paul writes in Romans 10:17, “So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.” John Calvin is likewise careful to emphasize,

There is a permanent relationship between faith and the Word. He could not separate one from the other any more than we could separate the rays from the sun from which they come. … The same Word is the basis whereby faith is supported and sustained; if it turns away from the Word, it falls. Therefore, take away the Word and no faith will then remain. (Institutes, 3.2.6)


  • Are We Living in the Last Days

    Are We Living in the Last Days?

    The world is a mess. The world is a mess and seems to be getting messier. I could draw up an inventory of all the wars and conflicts, the diseases and disasters, the rise of immorality and decline of virtue, but that would be to tell you what you have already observed and already know.…

  • A La Carte Friday 2

    A La Carte (March 29)

    A La Carte: How to protect your kids from sexual abuse / Talk to God about what hurts / How’s your Bible reading plan going? / Resentment between men and women in the church / and more.

  • A Batch of New Books for Kids

    A Batch of New Books for Kids (and Teens)

    Every month I put together a roundup of new and notable books for grownup readers. But I also receive a lot of books for kids and like to put together the occasional roundup of these books as well. So today I bring you a whole big batch of new books for kids of all ages…

  • A La Carte Thursday 1

    A La Carte (March 28)

    A La Carte: The case against the abortion pill / What I’ve learned about grieving with hope / Heartbreaking deception: teen girls, social media, and body image / Could podcasts save the church from stupidity? / Count it all joy / and more.

  • What God Wants You To Forget

    What God Wants You To Forget

    We are never far from reminding God of our credentials, of providing him with a curriculum vitae that lays out all we are, all we have been through, and all we have accomplished for his sake. We are never far from making the subtle turn from grace to merit, from what is freely given to…

  • A La Carte Collection cover image

    A La Carte (March 27)

    A La Carte: New music / Millennials and GenZ / Scotland’s new hate crime law / Cate Blanchett, Easter is for you / Why the Reformed pray for revival / What truly happened to Jesus on the cross? / and more.