The Apostle Paul reminds us who are Christians that while we are 'at home in the body' we are 'absent from the Lord' (2 Cor. 5:6). That does not mean that we in this life (at home in the body) do not enjoy the presence of Christ or are unable to enter into fellowship with him. The believer enjoys communion with his Saviour in worship, prayer and the study of his Word. But while we remain here on earth we are away from heaven, where we will worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness with nothing of sin to cloud our joy. There we shall gaze in adoring wonder, heartfelt gratitude and love into the blessed face of our Redeemer, speaking and singing of the greatness of his salvation. We are confident of this, for at a time already determined by God we will depart this life to 'be with Christ, which is far better' (Phil. 1:23). Then we will be 'absent from the body', and we will forever be 'present with the Lord' (2 Cor. 5:8). Until then we must 'walk by faith'.

What is Faith?⤒🔗

To this question most Christians would turn in their Bibles to Hebrews 11:1, where we read, 'Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.' Another translation prefers the word 'assurance' for 'substance', and 'conviction' instead of 'evidence'. The Greek word hypostasis, translated here as 'substance', is used five times in the New Testament. Two of these references are in 2 Corinthians, where it is translated as 'confident boasting', or simply 'confidence', and 'confidence of boasting' (2 Cor 9:4; 11:17). The other three references are in the letter to the Hebrews.

In Hebrews 1:3 it is rendered as 'image of his person' in the objective sense that the Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, is of the 'substance' or 'real essence' of God, in contrast to being like God. In other words, the Lord Jesus is God, 'upholding all things by the word of his power'.

In Hebrews 3:14 the word is translated 'confidence'. Hebrews 11:1 has, as we have noted, 'substance'. Moulton and Milligan suggest the rendering 'title-deed' and tell us that 'hypostasis' was used for 'the whole body of documents bearing on the ownership of a person's property, deposited in the archives and forming the evidence of ownership'. Underlying all these suggested translations is the idea of something which is real and true, something certain and assured, something guaranteed. The second part of Hebrews 11:1 ('the evidence of things not seen'), seems to be a confirmation of what the writer states concerning faith in the first part of the text.

How does one obtain this kind of faith? It certainly is not anything which we can generate in and of ourselves. The biblical teaching is that faith is always the gracious gift of God (Acts 18:27, Eph. 2:8-9, Phil. 1:29, Rom. 12:3, 1 Con 12:9). At the same time the Scriptures make it clear that the exercise of faith is our moral responsibility (John 1:12, Acts 11:21; 16:31; 1 John 3:23).

Now faith is never exercised in a vacuum. There must always be an object of faith. Who or what is the object of faith? Faith believes that God is and that he is a rewarder of all those who diligently seek him (Heb. 11:6). But it is not enough just to believe that God is, for as one writer puts it, 'We cannot be said to believe or to trust in a thing or person of which we have no knowledge.' 'Implicit faith' in this sense is an absurdity. Of course, we cannot be said to believe or trust the thing or person to whose worthiness of our belief or trust assent has not been obtained. And equally, we cannot be said to believe that which we distrust too much to commit ourselves to. In every movement of faith, therefore, from the lowest to the highest, there is an intellectual, an emotional, and a voluntary element, though naturally these elements vary in their relative prominence in the several movements of faith. This is only as much as to say that it is the man who believes, who is the subject of faith, and the man in the entirety of his being as man. The central movement in all faith is no doubt the element of assent; it is that which constitutes the mental movement, called a movement of conviction. But the movement of assent must depend, as it always does depend, on a movement, not specifically of the will, but of the intellect; the assensus issues from the notitia. The movement of the sensibilities which we call 'trust' is, on the contrary, the product of the assent. And it is in this movement of the sensi­bilities that faith fulfils itself, and it is by it that, as specifically 'faith', it is 'formed'.

What then is faith? Faith is 'a conviction respecting the veracity (truth­fulness) of God, a believing acceptance of his Word, and a heartfelt trust in him for the salvation of the soul'. There is essentially no difference between what is called 'saving faith' and the 'faith' exercised by the believer in living the Christian life. We believe the teaching of the Word of God concerning the Person and Work of Christ and commit ourselves to him for our sal­vation, and we continue to believe and commit ourselves to the teaching, commands and promises of God's Word as we live the life of faith. The teaching, commands and promises of the Scriptures are the believer's lamp' to his feet and the 'light' to his path (Psa. 119:105).

What does it mean to Walk by Faith?←⤒🔗

To 'walk' can mean literally to walk from one place to another (Mark 1:16). But the Greek word rendered 'walk' is also used in the New Testament in a figurative sense to denote the way a person conducts his life. The Apostle Paul tells us that Christian believers continue to live ('walk' is in the present tense) their lives 'by faith, not by sight' (2 Cor. 5:7). We might say that the Christian life is a life of faith. The Apostle writes, 'I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me' (Gal. 2:20).

When Paul writes that Christians 'walk by faith, not by sight', he is not saying that Christians walk or live by faith while those who are not Christians walk or live on the basis of sight. This may be true in and of itself, but it is not Paul's emphasis in 2 Corinthians 5:7. The Greek word eidos, translated 'sight', does not refer to the faculty of sight as such but to the object of what is seen. For this reason some translations suggest the trans­lation 'appearance'. So we can say that Christians live by faith and not by how things appear to them. We become Christians by faith alone in Christ alone, who died for our sins and rose again. We are meant to go on living the Christian life 'by faith'. But there are so many Christians who, having believed on the Lord Jesus Christ, leave 'faith', as it were, at the entrance to this new life and go on to try to live the Christian life on the basis of 'appearance'.

The Scriptures provide many examples of those whose lives were con­trolled by appearances rather than faith and who suffered for doing so. An Old Testament example which comes to mind is that of the twelve spies whom Moses sent out to look over the land of Canaan, which God had promised to his people Israel. The spies went out and returned to Moses, Aaron, and the congregation of the children of Israel. They even brought back 'the fruit of the land' (Num. 13:26). They then gave the following report:

 We went to the land where you sent us. It truly flows with milk and honey, and this is its fruit. Nevertheless the people who dwell in the land are strong; the cities are fortified and very large; moreover we saw the descendants of Anak there.Num. 13:27-28

Ten of the twelve spies 'gave the children of Israel a bad report of the land' (Num. 13:32). They made it clear that Israel was no match, in their opinion, for the people of Canaan, even though they knew that God had promised to give them the land. These ten spies were governed by what they saw and not by faith in the covenant promises of God. In contrast, Caleb and Joshua the son of Nun (the other two spies) declared, 'The land we passed through to spy out is an exceedingly good land. If the Lord delights in us, then he will bring us into this land and give it to us, a land which flows with milk and honey' (Num. 14:8). All twelve spies saw the land, but Caleb and Joshua walked by faith in the living God and in what he had promised. They knew that even though the people of Canaan were strong and their cities fortified, God was able to give the land to his people. God's promise, of course, was fulfilled when Israel did enter the land of Canaan under Joshua, but the ten spies did not live to see this. They had died under the judgement of God.

There is a further important example in the Gospel of Mark (Mark 4:35-­41). Here we find the Lord Jesus Christ and his disciples crossing the Sea of Galilee in a boat, when suddenly 'a great wind-storm' terrifies them. The Lord rises and by a command quietens this storm so that there is 'a great calm'. He then turns to these frightened disciples and asks, 'Why are you so fearful? How is it that you have no faith?' or 'Have you still no faith?' This is a significant question. It points to the fact that these disciples were fearful because they were controlled by appearances and not by faith. Without doubt, the disciples (apart from Judas Iscariot) were regenerate men. They had left all to follow the Lord Jesus. But their understanding of who Jesus was needed to be enlarged. Their exclamation, 'Who can this be, that even the wind and the sea obey him!' clearly points in this direction. If their knowledge of Christ had been greater they would have been able to sing, as John Newton did centuries later:

Begone unbelief my Saviour is near,
And for my relief will surely appear;
By prayer let me wrestle, and he will perform;
With Christ in the vessel, I smile at the storm.

In contrast to these disciples, let us look at another disciple of Jesus, another sea, another ship, and another storm. Paul the apostle was on his way to Rome under guard, where he was to appear before Caesar. Ignoring the apostle's warning not to set sail, the Roman centurion and others on the ship set out hoping to reach a safe haven. But a powerful storm overtook them and threatened their lives. In the midst of it, Paul was able to stand up and encourage all on board stating that no life would be lost, only the ship would be broken up. How was he able to be so certain? He certainly was not a mere optimist. Neither did the apostle exercise what is called 'the power of positive thinking'. Paul's confidence arose from a faith rooted in God's Word. He said,

For there stood with me this night an angel of the God to whom I belong and whom I serve, saying 'Do not be afraid, Paul, you must be brought before Caesar; and indeed God has granted you all those who sail with you'. Therefore take heart, men, for I believe God that it will be just as it was told me.Acts 27:23-25

Here, then, is a man who took to heart what God told him, believed the message and acted upon it. The last two chapters of the book of Acts make it clear that things turned out exactly as God had revealed it to the apostle.

As Christian people, we are called by God to live our lives by faith in his blessed Word. It is here that God reveals himself and his sovereign purposes to us. Here we read of his everlasting love for us; a love that sent his blessed Son to be our Redeemer. Scripture teaches us that there is absolutely nothing that can separate us from the love of Christ (Rom. 8:35). Here are given to us 'exceeding great and precious promises' that will encourage, strengthen and sustain us both in the present and in the future. The future may seem to be bleak at times. We may face a situation like that faced by the prophet Habakkuk. He supposed the fig tree to be failing to blossom; no fruit to be on the vine; the labour of the olive to be failing; the fields to yield no food; the flock to be cut off from the fold; and no herd in the stalls. Such a prospect is calculated to bring despair to anyone if they are living on the basis of appearance. It is a scene where in modern terms the stock market is collapsing, our savings wiped out, our retirement benefits lost, and all visible supplies of sustenance removed. Even so, Habakkuk can say, 'Yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation. The Lord God is my strength; he will make my feet like deer's feet, and he will make me walk on my high hills' (Hab. 3:17-19). Here is a man who looks by faith at the future and expects to be more than a conqueror.

Can we not be the same through Christ and his Word? Of course we can! Let us conclude with some words of C. H. Spurgeon. Basing his thoughts on Jeremiah 39:18 ('for I will surely deliver you, and you shall not fall by the sword; but your life shall be as a prize to you, because you have put your trust in me, says the Lord') Spurgeon writes,

Behold the protecting power of trust in God! The great men of Jerusalem fell by the sword, but poor Ebed-melech was secure, for his confidence was in Jehovah. Where else should a man trust but in his Maker? We are foolish when we prefer the creature to the Creator. Oh, that we could in all things live by faith, then should we be delivered in all times of danger! No one ever did trust in the Lord in vain, and no one ever shall.