The Oxford Dictionary defines ‘faith’ as ‘strong belief in the doctrines of a religion, based on spiritual conviction rather than proof’. This is correct in that we cannot prove 100% that God exists, or that the Bible is His word to us. Yet we cannot prove anything in this life 100%. Take COVID information for example. Like in a court of law, all we can do is weigh up the evidence and make a judgment call ourselves as to what we trust (i.e. have faith that is true and accurate information).
So how does the Bible define faith? The author of Hebrews provides us with a simple (not exhaustive) definition at the beginning of chapter 11. He tells us Christian faith is based on 3 basic principles:
Firstly, Christian faith is based on evidence. The word translated as ‘certain’ in v. 1 refers to validating something through evidence, while the word ‘understand’ in v. 3 refers to thinking or reasoning. Christians don’t believe God created the universe ‘ex nihilo (out of nothing) in spite of what neo-atheists like to ague. We look at how far-fetched it is to believe our universe just popped into existence with no prior matter, properties or cause, and reason that it is more logical to believe there is an unmoved mover behind it all.
Second, Christian faith stems from a right attitude. Serving God for the purpose of putting him in our debt, so he will have to answer our prayers, is not what pleases God. This is why Cain was ‘angry’ (Gen 4:5); he expected his offertory would please God enough to bless him in return. Abel on the other hand brought his offertory as a token of praise and thanksgiving, for all God had already done for him.
Thirdly, Christian faith leads to obedience. This is not the kind of obedience that stems from trying to put God in our debt. As established above, that type of attitude is not true faith. True believers will be so thankful for what God has done for them that they will want to obey our Lord. True faith will wish to please our God, because we are so blown away by all he has done for us.
