In the first section, I argued that that true biblical faith is not mere hope, wishful thinking or believing what you know isn’t so. One huge reason is my opinion has to do with definition of faith we find in scripture. This definition entails concepts such as assurance and evidence which run contrary to the notions and ideas of mere hopes and wishful thinking. According to the scriptures, faith revolves around the very things (i.e. assurance/evidence) that most people will confidently proclaim have nothing whatsoever to do with faith. Assurance cannot be extracted from a mere hope and when we consciously characterize faith as such, we should pause and re-think.
Where does this assurance come from? It seems the second half of Hebrews 11:1 referred to in part I provides some insight. We find the phrases: “conviction of things unseen” (NASB) and “evidence of things unseen” (KJV). I would like to suggest that our assurance comes from the “conviction” and/or “evidences”. In other words, we gain assurance from the evidence. Is it really biblical to suggest such a thing……that evidence, maybe even proof is related to faith as opposed to more of a “jump off a cliff” approach? Let’s look at the scriptures.
Exodus Chapter 4:1-5
Then Moses said, "What if they will not believe me or listen to what I say? For they may say, 'The LORD has not appeared to you.' "
The LORD said to him, "What is that in your hand?" And he said, "A staff."
Then He said, "Throw it on the ground." So he threw it on the ground, and it became a serpent; and Moses fled from it.
But the LORD said to Moses, "Stretch out your hand and grasp {it} by its tail"--so he stretched out his hand and caught it, and it became a staff in his hand--
"that they may believe that the LORD, the God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has appeared to you."
It’s unmistakable in this passage; God is providing Moses with DIRECT PROOF for the very purpose that they (Israelites) may believe (Ex 4:5). Evidence…… then…….trust.
Exodus 4:28-31
Moses told Aaron all the words of the LORD with which He had sent him, and all the signs that He had commanded him {to do.}
Then Moses and Aaron went and assembled all the elders of the sons of Israel;
and Aaron spoke all the words which the LORD had spoken to Moses. He then performed the signs in the sight of the people.
So the people believed; and when they heard that the LORD was concerned about the sons of Israel and that He had seen their affliction, then they bowed low and worshiped.
Once again, unmistakable……WHAT came first, trust or evidence?
Exodus 14:26-31
Then the LORD said to Moses, "Stretch out your hand over the sea so that the waters may come back over the Egyptians, over their chariots and their horsemen."
So Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and the sea returned to its normal state at daybreak, while the Egyptians were fleeing right into it; then the LORD overthrew the Egyptians in the midst of the sea.
The waters returned and covered the chariots and the horsemen, even Pharaoh's entire army that had gone into the sea after them; not even one of them remained.
But the sons of Israel walked on dry land through the midst of the sea, and the waters {were like} a wall to them on their right hand and on their left.
Thus the LORD saved Israel that day from the hand of the Egyptians, and Israel saw the Egyptians dead on the seashore.
When Israel saw the great power which the LORD had used against the Egyptians, the people feared the LORD, and they believed in the LORD and in His servant Moses.
John 20:30-31
Therefore many other signs Jesus also performed in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book;
but these have been written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you may have life in His name.
In addition, faith couldn’t possibly be something that requires us to “check out our brains at the door” because according to Mark 12:29-30, when Jesus was asked by one of the scribes “What commandment is the foremost of all?”, Jesus reply was as follows:
“The foremost is, 'HEAR, O ISRAEL! THE LORD OUR GOD IS ONE LORD; AND YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND, AND WITH ALL YOUR STRENGTH.'
In least in matters concerning Him, God didn’t leave open the option of using or NOT using our minds. We are actually commanded to love God with not only some but ALL of our minds. Unfortunately, for some Christians, this isn’t appealing because punting to faith serves as a nice escape hatch to thinking critically.
In summary, from a biblical perspective it seems warranted and justified to hold the position that faith is built upon evidences and/or “good reasons”. A few passages seemed to indicate that God’s intervention with the Israelites was for the very purpose that people would believe. God proved himself to the Israelites in the Old Testament and God has proved himself to all of mankind through Jesus’ Christ proving his authority through the Resurrection. If the New Testament and Old Testament are true accounts, then there is no reason to suggest or believe that our hope is a “long shot” rather it is a hope buttressed with nearly irrefutable evidences and compelling reasons.
