"Melchizedek"

"Bill" <wmech@bellsouth.net> wrote in message
news:3dkcg.23008$qd2.16797@bignews6.bellsouth.net...

The best definition for the thousands of religious beliefs is;

Things hoped for but not seen.

--
Bill

http://bibleweb.info/

The Triumphs of Faith
1 Now faith is the ?1??a?assurance of things ?2??b?hoped for, the
?3?conviction of ?c?things not seen.
2 For by it the ?a?men of old ?1??b?gained approval.
3 By faith we understand that the ?1??a?worlds were prepared ?b?by the
word of God, so that what is seen ?c?was not made out of things which are
visible.

The phrase "things not seen" is literally "things not yet seen." Faith is the
substance of what you know is coming your way, even though it is not yet seen.
Faith isn't wishful thinking. No, based upon the Word of God, faith says,
"Whether I see it presently, understand it intellectually, or experience it
immediately, I know what God says He'll do, He will do."

Courson, J. (2003). Jon Courson's Application Commentary (1493). Nashville, TN:
Thomas Nelson.



Verse 1 is not really a formal definition of faith; rather it is a description of
what faith does for us. It makes things hoped for as real as if we already had
them, and it provides unshakable evidence that the unseen, spiritual blessings of
Christianity are absolutely certain and real. In other words, it brings the
future within the present and makes the invisible seen.
Faith is confidence in the trustworthiness of God. It is the conviction that what
God says is true and that what He promises will come to pass.
Faith must have some revelation from God, some promise of God as its foundation.
It is not a leap in the dark. It demands the surest evidence in the universe, and
finds it in the word of God. It is not limited to possibilities but invades the
realm of the impossible. Someone has said, "Faith begins where possibilities end.
If it's possible, then there's no glory for God in it."
Faith, mighty faith the promise sees,
And looks to God alone;
Laughs at impossibilities
And cries, "It shall be done."
-Author unknown.

MacDonald, W., & Farstad, A. (1997, c1995). Believer's Bible Commentary : Old and
New Testaments (Heb 11:1). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.



1 Or substance
a Heb 3:14
2 Or expected
b Heb 3:6
3 Or evidence
c Rom 8:24; 2 Cor 4:18; 5:7; Heb 11:7, 27
a Heb 1:1
1 Lit obtained a good testimony
b Heb 11:4, 39
1 Lit ages
a John 1:3; Heb 1:2
b Gen ch 1; Ps 33:6, 9; Heb 6:5; 2 Pet 3:5
c Rom 4:17
New American Standard Bible : 1995 update. 1995 (Heb 11:1-3). LaHabra, CA: The
Lockman Foundation.

The phrase "things not seen" is literally "things not yet seen." Faith
is the substance of what you know is coming your way, even though it
is not yet seen.

Faith isn't wishful thinking.

No, based upon the Word
of God, faith says, "Whether I see it presently, understand it
intellectually, or experience it immediately, I know what God says
He'll do, He will do."