Volume 25: Bible-based Faith

BIBLE-BASED FAITH

Are you confusing the fruit of faith with faith itself? Many believers have unknowingly shifted their confidence away from God and onto the things they hope He will do.

Somewhere along the way, modern faith stopped being about seeing God and became about getting “things” from God.

But Scripture paints an entirely different picture. Biblical faith never begins with the visible. It begins with God — “the evidence of things not seen.” (See Hebrews 11:1)

The miracles, blessings, victories, healings, provisions, and breakthroughs are the fruit of faith—not its object.

FAITH WAS NEVER ABOUT THINGS

When the writer of Hebrews defines faith nearly 2,000 years ago, he immediately directs our attention away from the visible world.

“Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” (Hebrews 11:1)

Faith concerns itself with realities beyond human sight, just as it did when Hebrews was first written nearly two thousand years ago.

Just a few verses later we are told, “Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God…” (Hebrews 11:3).

Notice what Hebrews does not say. It does not say faith is believing hard enough that something natural will happen. That is where many people become misguided in their understanding of faith.

It says faith gives us revelation and understanding concerning realities that exist beyond human sight.

That is why Paul declared, “For we walk by faith, not by sight.” (2 Corinthians 5:7)

If your faith depends upon what you can see, it ceases to be faith altogether.

THE FRUIT IS NOT THE OBJECT

Throughout Scripture, faith certainly produced natural results.

Abraham became a father.
Sarah conceived.
Noah built an ark.
Jericho’s walls fell.
The Red Sea parted.
Blind eyes opened.
The dead were raised.

Yet none of those people placed their faith in children, boats, walls, seas, healing, or even resurrection itself. Their faith was fixed upon God.

The visible miracle was simply the fruit of an invisible trust. Jesus settled this question with one simple command. “Have faith in God.” (Mark 11:22)

He did not say, “Have faith in your miracle.”

He did not say, “Have faith in your mountain moving.”

He did not say, “Have faith in your faith.”

The object of faith has always been God Himself. When our eyes become fixed on the blessing instead of the Blesser, we have unknowingly exchanged biblical faith for spiritual optimism.

The object of faith is always God. Everything else is merely fruit.

FAITH IS MEASURABLE, BELIEF IS PLIABLE

One of the clearest distinctions Scripture makes is that faith can be measured.

Jesus spoke of:
Little faith (Matthew 6:30)
Great faith (Matthew 8:10)
Increasing faith (Luke 17:5)
Weak faith (Romans 4:19)
Strong faith (Romans 4:20)

Faith has substance. It grows. It matures. It strengthens. It can also be neglected, weakened, or abandoned.

Belief, however, is different. Belief is remarkably pliable.
People change what they believe every day. A person may believe a rumor about the Bible until new evidence appears.

Someone may believe a false doctrine until Scripture corrects them. Belief bends. Belief adjusts. Belief can be manipulated.

Even demons believe that God exists. “Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble.” (James 2:19)

Yet nowhere does Scripture say demons possess faith. Why? Because biblical faith is more than intellectual agreement.

True faith responds to divine revelation with obedient trust.
Belief may acknowledge truth. Faith enables us to walk according to spiritual sight.

EVERY HERO OF FAITH SAW THE INVISIBLE

Hebrews 11 never celebrates people who merely believed facts. It celebrates men and women who saw what God revealed before anyone else could see it.

Noah built an ark after being warned of things “not yet seen.”

Abraham left a homeland heading to a city he had never seen.

Moses endured “as seeing Him who is invisible.”

None of them manufactured confidence in an outcome. They responded to what God revealed.

Even when the outcome appeared entirely natural, its source was supernatural. Faith calls us to see beneath the surface, read between the lines, and perceive the unseen.

Elijah expected rain because God had already spoken. Isaac was born because God had promised. Jericho fell because God had instructed.

Faith did not create God’s Word. God’s Word created faith. The visible simply followed the invisible.

KEEP YOUR EYES ON THE OBJECT

Many believers spend their entire lives chasing material things and physical outcomes. People pluck the fruit while neglecting the tree.

We pray for provision. God says, “Know Me.” We seek healing. God says, “Trust Me.”
We pursue success. God says, “Follow Me.”

The greatest reward of faith has never been the miracle. The greatest reward has always been God Himself.

Every miracle eventually passes. Every healing eventually gives way to mortality. Every earthly blessing fades. But the One in whom our faith rests remains forever.

Do not confuse what faith produces with what faith pursues. The fruit of faith may be healing. The object of faith is Christ.

Never allow the gifts to replace the Giver. Never allow the miracle to become more precious than the Messiah.

Faith has never been about convincing yourself that something will happen.

Faith has always been seeing the God who reveals Himself. Keep your eyes on Him, and let Him determine the fruit.