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Faith is the substance of things hoped for;
the evidence of things unseen. Heb11:1 The word for substance in the Greek is hypostasis. It means to undergird or make stationary or to make firm or concrete. In the above passage faith makes present and real what has been deferred to the future. It condenses what is in the spiritual realm and puts it in the physical realm. In Hebrews 1:3 Jesus is the hypostasis of the person of the Father. He is the express image of the Father. He is the concrete representation of the Father. In Hebrews 3:14 we are made partakers of Christ, if we hold the beginning of our confidence (hypostasis) steadfast unto the end. We are partakers of Christ, the anointing, the promise of the Father through faith, through this hypostasis. In Ephesians 1:13 we are sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise after we believe. We are partakers of Christ, the anointing, the promise of the Father through faith. The promise of the Father, what is in the future, is made present and real through faith. Thus faith enables us to receive the Holy Spirit. Now the purpose of faith and the purpose of the Holy Spirit are very similar. Faith puts into the present and makes real what is hoped for and relegated to the future. All the promises of God are accessed by faith. Similarly the Holy Spirit’s work is to make Jesus present and real to the believer: his truth, his healing, his deliverance and his wisdom. Faith and the Holy Spirit are working together to accomplish the purposes of God. After we receive the Holy Spirit, it is faith working by love that makes manifest the power and promises of Christ in our lives. Faith without works, works of love is dead being alone. This ‘aloneness” is the absence of the Holy Spirit working with our faith to bring about all that Jesus promised he would do. Faith without compassion is dead being alone. The work of the Holy Spirit and the work of faith are one. Their purpose is to make a present reality what Jesus came to do. Jesus came to bring salvation to the world that all who believe in Him would not perish but have eternal life and faith and the Holy Spirit accomplish what Jesus set out to do. Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God and the Holy Spirit is what makes the word of God come alive. By being doers of the word and not hearers only our faith comes alive and it is the power of the Holy Spirit which makes our faith come alive in love. Faith enables us to receive the Holy Spirit and the Holy Spirit working with our faith is what makes Jesus manifest in the world: faith working by love. Thus be ye doers of the word and not hearers only deceiving yourself. Faith and the Holy Spirit are intimately connected to Jesus and without them we are none of His. So realize the connection between faith and the Spirit. Read the word to make your faith grow and receive all the promises of God and the first promise we need to realize is the Holy Spirit to bring about the kingdom of God. Amen |