Faith is the ability to believe God: both to trust His character and to take His Word as true and reliable. Faith is our response to the persuading, convincing work of the Holy Spirit as He enables us to hear God’s Word. Such persuasion results in an unshakable conviction or confidence that God’s Word is true.

Faith is a persuasion.

Faith comes from the Greek word pistis (pis-tis) which means “firm persuasion; strong and welcome belief; conviction of the truth of anything.” 

“. . . for I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day” (II Tim. 1:12). 

 Faith is substance and reality.

Faith is not imagination, or the wishing of things into being. It is the conviction of truth by the inner working of the Holy Spirit, who only persuades us to believe what actually exists. If God gives us the faith for some- thing, we can be sure that in the mind of God that thing really exists and is as good as ours. 

“Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen” (Heb. 11:1). 

 Faith is a gift from God.

We cannot work ourselves up into believing. It is not the result of mental gymnastics. The Holy Spirit must place the ability to believe God within our hearts. 

“For by grace are ye saved through faith: and that [faith ] not of yourselves: it is the gift of God “(Eph. 2:8). 

 Faith is the response to hearing.

God communicates His thoughts through His Word. When He enables us to hear what He is saying to us by the Spirit, this creates within us the response of believing, of being persuaded that what He is saying is indeed true and directed to us. 

“So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God” (Rom. 10:17).