“Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen” (Hebrews 11.1).
As Paul writes to his own people, he does everything he can to wake them up and help them to realize they must stay with Jesus and not return to their former ways of worshiping under the Law of Moses.
In doing so, he defines the word that is basic to Christianity: faith. “Faith” is the “substance,” that is, the “assurance,” of all Christian beliefs, meaning it is the foundation for everything else that followers of Jesus Christ believe.
As well, faith is the “evidence” of things we cannot see, meaning it is “the conviction, the persuasion, the complete belief in” things we can’t see. Without faith, we would be limited to the narrow world comprehended by our five senses: smell, taste, see, hear, and feel.
With faith, we open an avenue to a complete conviction that both God and Jesus Christ, His Son, exist. Faith also allows us to know with assurance that Jesus lived on the earth at one time, even though we today have never experienced Him with any of our senses.