Seeing is believing! Or so they say. But is it? The statement really contradicts itself. On the one hand having seen a thing there is no need for faith. On the other, believing has to do with things that are unseen. So what is faith? Where does it come from?

Faith’s INCEPTION.

 It comes from hearing the Word of God.1 First God speaks. Then having heard we believe it implicitly and act upon it. This calls for complete confidence in-

    The Bible. The Bible is God’s Word and if we doubt that in any way we can never have faith.

    God Himself. He is the Person behind His Book. Doubt Him and we doubt His Word.

Faith is INDISPENSABLE. 

 Without faith it is impossible to please God.2 We cannot substitute faith with something else. It is the only thing we can do to please Him. Unless we have faith there will be no forgiveness of sins. No salvation. No peace with God. No heaven.

INSTANCES of Faith. 

  Faith is not a recent thing, you know! The Bible tells of men and women who had faith.

    Abraham. A man in the prime of life who received a call from God to go to a land that he should after receive for an inheritance.  And he set off not knowing the name of the country or where it was.3

    His wife Sarah who was beyond childbearing age yet she had a son because she judged God faithful who had promised.4

    Moses. Adopted by the King of Egypt’s daughter and raised in the palace.     Yet when he was come to years, he refused the honour and linked himself with a nation of slaves.5  Why? Because he saw that all the glitter of an earthly court was not to be compared with the reward God would give.

Faith is an INSTRUMENT.

There is no value in faith. It is the means by which we can make the work of salvation all our own. It links us with the Saviour.

How? Well, here is an ILLUSTRATION of faith. Before the Israelites attained national identity they were held in slavery.  God told them that their deliverance was to be on the basis of sacrifice. 

 They were to take a lamb which was to die in the place of the firstborn. It was to be killed on a specific date and its blood caught in a basin. This blood had to be applied to the two side posts and the lintel above the door of the house to provide coverage for the firstborn. The method of application was by way of hyssop.6

What was hyssop? It was a little insignificant plant that had no value in itself. Yet it is a little picture of faith.

    It was created. The plant came from the hand of the Creator. If it had been manufactured some would not have had access to it. Others could not have afforded it. And those that made it could have boasted in their workmanship. But faith is not of our making. It comes from God. 

    Hyssop was common. So common that few would have placed any value upon it. Because faith seems so insignificant, I suppose that is why folk feel better trying to pay or work their way into God’s favour.

  Hyssop was convenient. It sprang out of the wall.7 And walls were very common in those days. Nobody had to make a pilgrimage to find hyssop. It was right at hand – like faith. And God said hyssop. Not important hyssop. Or large hyssop. Or special hyssop. Just hyssop. It is the same with faith. It is not great faith. Or special faith. Just faith. That means no matter how small our faith, it is enough for us to be able to apply the cleansing blood of Christ to our sinful life.

 Moreover, hyssop had no cost. Nobody had to buy it. The hyssop was the gift of the Creator to meet the need back in that day. Likewise, faith is the gift of God to enable us to receive the forgiveness of sins.8

 It is our faith, our trust, our complete reliance upon Christ, His death and resurrection that will secure for us the forgiveness of our sins. This is the word of faith … that if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. 9

1. Romans 10:17    2. Hebrews 11:6                 3. Hebrews 11:8

4. Hebrews 11:11    5. Hebrews 11:24 – 26      6. Exodus 12:21 – 23

7. 1 Kings 4:33        8. 2 Peter 1:1                     9. Romans 10 :8 & 9

Originally a leaflet for distribution

With permission from family of Bruce W Allen

Hastings, New Zealand.