“I’ve gotta have faith.” So admits pop singer George Michael in his 1987 mega-hit, “Faith,” from the album of the same name. What he is supposed to have faith in is another matter. The album cover has the singer sporting a cross-shaped earring, but I have my doubts that this represents a genuine faith in the Savior who died on the cross.

Still, I can state with certainty that he does have faith. Everyone has some sort of faith. Each and every one of you reading this arti­cle has faith in something or other. The question is, though, what do you put your faith in?

We all believe in something. But, is the focus of our faith true?

Does everyone have faith?⤒🔗

If you were to inform the common person on the street that he has faith, there is a chance that he would deny it. He might say that he is not a religious person, so he does not put his faith in anything. Perhaps these faithless folks would define faith as trying to be­lieve in something without having any real proof. I imagine the word ‘proof’ here means: concrete veri­fication in terms of empirical evi­dence. If you cannot prove it this way, but you still choose to be­lieve it, then you have no choice but to accept it on faith.

For some, this is not a good thing. If you cannot touch it, see it, hear it, smell it, or taste it, if no instru­ment of science can help you ob­tain verifiable observations of it with your physical senses, then you can’t know that it is real. And having faith in something you can­not prove to be real is foolish and backwards.

Here is the problem: this is incon­sistent. This thinking itself re­quires faith.

If you say you can’t know anything exists aside from that which you can perceive with your senses, then you are making a faith state­ment about the nature of the uni­verse, and about the nature of knowledge. Or, to put it another way: to say that we should only believe in that which can be verifiably perceived, this in itself is a statement that cannot be verifiably perceived. Really, people who say they have to see it to believe it, are in essence putting their faith in their senses, and ultimately, in themselves.

All this may seem a bit compli­cated, but the basic point is sim­ple: it is not a question of whether or not we have faith, but what are we going to have faith in. Everyone lives by faith. If you live as if there is something else be­yond the physical realm, then that demonstrates your faith. If you live as if the physical universe is all that exists, then that too dem­onstrates your faith.

What faith should we live by?←⤒🔗

This is a Christian magazine. If you are reading this article, chances are good that you are a Christian. So you know well enough to say that we should have faith in God. Or, more spe­cifically, we should have faith in Jesus Christ.

However, here is where it gets complicated: saying we have faith in Jesus, and actually having it, are two different things. Anyone can say that he believes in Jesus. In fact, a surprising number of people in our day would still say this. But does this mean that all of them actually have a true faith? Sadly, no.

The question then becomes, how do we know if our faith in Jesus Christ is true or not?

Hebrews 11:1 can help us here. “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” Now, the writer of Hebrews is not trying to give us a full-blown theological definition of faith. But what this verse does do is describe certain as­pects of faith that are important to keep in mind.

Faith is the conviction of things not seen←⤒🔗

Let us consider the second half of the verse first: “the conviction of things not seen.” Faith in­volves conviction. Faith involves a certainty that says, “I know that this is true. I am convinced it is true.”

And what is it that we are con­victed of? Things not seen. What things? Well, shortly be­fore this verse, in Hebrews 10:32-36 we read,

But recall the former days when, after you were enlightened, you endured a hard struggle with sufferings, sometimes being publicly ex­posed to reproach and affliction, and sometimes being partners with those so treated. For you had compassion on those in prison, and you joyfully accepted the plundering of your property, since you knew that you your­selves had a better possession and an abiding one. Therefore do not throw away your confi­dence, which has a great re­ward. For you have need of en­durance, so that when you have done the will of God you may receive what is promised.

What is promised. When the writer of Hebrews talks in chap­ter 11:1 about things not seen, he is referring to these promises of God. These promises are an abiding possession. We can be certain of them.

And what are these promises? Well, God promises His people forgiveness. God promises His people salvation. God promises His people a future of blessed eternal life. God promises that Jesus Christ will return. God promises a future in which all the suffering of his people will be ended, and they will never again have to endure suffering.

It is obvious that the fulfillment of these promises has not yet been completely seen. God’s people were, and still are, living in a time of suffering.

And yet, God’s people have faith. They are certain that God will keep his promises. We do not need to see the fulfillment of those promises right at this moment; be­cause we trust, we are positive, that God will do everything he has said he will do.

This certainty goes beyond just God’s promises. We also know, we are convinced, that everything revealed in the Scriptures is true. As Jesus prayed to his Father in John 17:17, “Your Word is truth.” God had a purpose in giving us the Bible, the whole Bible. God had a purpose in giving us every­thing in His Word. There might be parts that we do not fully under­stand. Still, we can know and be convinced that everything God has to say to us is truth.

True faith focuses on what is true←⤒🔗

It’s essential that when we talk about true faith, we talk about be­lieving everything God reveals in His Word. This reminds us that true faith focuses on the truth. So many people these days act as if it doesn’t really matter what you believe, it does not matter what you have faith in, so long as you are sincere. What’s important is the quality of faith, rather than the object of faith.

Of course, quality of faith is impor­tant. But here’s the kicker: you can have the strongest faith possi­ble, you can be totally convinced that something is true, but if you do not believe in the God of the Bible, if you do not believe in the God who sent his Son to die on the cross, then your faith is not a true faith at all.

Faith involves conviction, but it does not mean a thing if you are not committed to the truth. We must be convicted that the re­vealed promises of God which have yet to be fulfilled, are true. We have to be convicted that eve­rything that God reveals in his Word is true. We have to be con­victed that Jesus Christ is the only way to salvation. If we are not convinced of these things, then our faith is meaningless. Worse than meaningless, because we would be holding to a lie.

Faith is the assurance of things hoped for←⤒🔗

Getting back to Hebrews 11:1: the first part of the verse states, “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for.” Things hoped for: this too refers to the promises of God. The promises of God are what give us hope for the future. But now, note the word ‘assurance.’ Not only do we have conviction, but we also have as­surance. This is an important dis­tinction.

The Heidelberg Catechism in Lord’s Day 7 beautifully expresses this assurance.

True faith is not only a knowledge and conviction that everything God reveals in his Word is true; it is also a deep-rooted assurance, created in me by the Holy Spirit through the gos­pel that, out of sheer grace earned for us by Christ, not only others, but I too, have had my sins for­given, have been made forever right with God, and have been granted salvation.

This is the confidence of the Christian who has faith. We have a deep-rooted assurance that we have been made forever right with God. We have a heart-felt confi­dence that we are recipients of the wonderful grace earned for us by Christ.

This confidence is important. Having faith in someone means trusting in that someone. But can you really say that you trust in God, if you are not assured of His promises for you? You can be­lieve the right things, but if you do not have confidence in what you believe, then what is the point of believing? You might sit in church every week, you might hear the message of the gospel all the time, you might know all the right doctrines, but if the message of the gospel does not fill your heart with assurance, then your faith is very weak, at best. Mind you, because of the ongo­ing reality of sin, there will be times of struggle, times when we wrestle with our faith. The devil, the world, and our own sinful nature attack us. We feel these attacks, and it clouds our hearts with uncertainty. We might even begin to question whether or not we have any faith at all.

In such times, only the Spirit strengthening our fundamental assurance can enable us to en­dure. As we see expressed in the Psalms so often, it is in the midst of struggle that we need even more to put our trust in God, and know that He will de­liver us.

No matter what our trials may be, we should learn to always put our trust in God. If we can say, “I’m really hurting, but I still know that my hope is in the Lord, and I look to Him to deliver me,” then we can have assur­ance.

The God in whom our hope lies, He is ultimately faithful. He will deliver us. It’s not a matter of if He will save us or not. Having faith means we can know He has indeed saved us.

I pray that each one of you read­ing this may have this faith. This is the faith you gotta have. This is the faith you can have, thanks to the faithful and true God.