SECOND QUARTER 2026
SABBATH SCHOOL INSIGHT #8
MAY 23, 2026
"HAVING FAITH".

 

Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen (Hebrews 11:1, NKJV).

Faith is described as substance and evidence in our memory verse.

Young’s Literal Translation puts it this way: “And faith is of things hoped for a confidence, of matters not seen a conviction” (Hebrews 11:1, YLT).

Here, faith is described as a confidence and a conviction.

And the wonderful thing is that substance, evidence, confidence, and conviction are all very visible in the one exercising that faith.  This visibility of the faith of those spoken of in the rest of Hebrews 11 testifies to the reality of their experience.

Hebrews 11:4-40 speaks of Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, Caleb, Joshua, and all the others who walked around Jericho.  Also Rahab, Gideon, Barak, Sampson, Jephtha, David, Samuel, and countless others, who all manifest very visible faithful responses to the word and promises of the One they saw as faithful.  They put full faith and trust in Him and His word to accomplish what He called them to do.

And then the author of Hebrews continues to give us a very important how-to for having this faith: “fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” (Hebrews 12:2, NASB). Notice that Jesus is the Author of faith itself. He is the Author of all the faith that Paul was talking about in chapter 11. Not only is He the Author, but He is also the Perfecter of that same faith. The Alpha and the Omega of faith, so to speak.

What faith would that be?  Well, clearly, if Jesus is the author and perfecter of this faith, then we are talking about Jesus’ faith. And this very visible faith of Jesus could be expressed like this: 

By faith Jesus made a covenant of peace with the Father in eternity past to give all they had and risk all for the sake of mankind, should man fall (Zechariah 6:13, Revelation 13:8).

By faith Jesus, who was one with the Father in eternity past and who created all things, made Himself one with humanity, taking the form of a servant, coming in the likeness of sinful flesh and making Himself of no reputation to become sin for us (Philippians 2:6, 7, Romans 8:3, 2 Corinthians 5:21).

By faith He turned water into wine at a wedding feast (John 2:1–10).

By faith He fed thousands on a hillside (Matthew 14:13–21, Mark 8:1–10).

By faith Jesus walked on water (Matthew 14:25).

By faith Jesus healed the multitudes (Matthew 15:31).

By faith He remained faithful to the Father in all things (Hebrews 12:2, Hebrews 2:13, Hebrews 5:7–9, 1 Peter 1:23).

By faith He was led by the Spirit (Matthew 4:1, Luke 4:18, Acts 10:38).

And we could make a list like this that would fill many books.  But the author of Hebrews went to the zenith of the faith of Jesus and said: 

By faith Jesus, “endured the cross, despising the shame” (Hebrews 12:2).

The faith of Jesus endures, and furthermore, it endures to the point of going to the cross—an endurance that would relinquish Himself for the sake of others, loving to the limit.  The faith of Jesus holds nothing back for Himself but relinquishes all in faithfulness to His Father, with full faith that those without strength would be restored to the heavenly family.  

And you and I were the joy set before Him. Stop, pause, and take that in. Our salvation was His joy because through it He could bring us back to safety and into His very presence—where we were always meant to be. We were more valuable to Him than life itself, so He willingly gave His life on the cross for us. With complete faith in His Father and steadfast love for us, He endured and gave Himself completely.

Now, the Bible teaches that faith itself is a gift from God: “God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith” (Romans 12:3, KJV). In the original Greek, the word μέτρον (metron) carries the idea of a standard of measurement by which all other things are measured. Therefore, in the context of Romans 12:1–3, it makes perfect sense that Paul understood the faith of Jesus to be that measure of faith.

Which is why in Hebrews 12, after listing all the champions of faith, Paul writes:

“Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” (Hebrews 12:1,2, NKJV).

He tells us to look to Jesus, not to the faith champions. For it was to Him they looked, and it was the faith of Jesus they possessed and exercised as He abided in their hearts by faith. Likewise, Paul urges us to run the race of endurance that Jesus ran, which would take us to the limits of self-sacrificial love, laying aside everything that holds us back and every sin that separates us from Him by beholding the faithful One and allowing Him to live His faith in us.

E. J. Waggoner puts these things together in a short study he wrote on Galatians 2:16.

“Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified” (Galatians 2:16, NKJV, emphasis supplied).

“Much is lost, in reading the Scriptures, by not noting exactly what they say. Here we have literally, ‘the faith of Christ,’ just as in Revelation 14:12 we have ‘the faith of Jesus.’ He is the Author and Finisher of faith (Hebrews 12:2). God has ‘dealt to every man the measure of faith’ (Romans 12:3), in giving Christ to every man. ‘Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God’ (Romans 10:17), and Christ is the Word. All things are of God. It is He who gives repentance and forgiveness of sins.

“There is, therefore, no opportunity for anyone to plead that his faith is weak. He may not have accepted and made use of the gift, but there is no such thing as ‘weak faith.’ A man may be ‘weak in faith,’ that is, may be afraid to depend on faith, but faith itself is as strong as the Word of God. There is no faith but the faith of Christ; everything else professing to be faith is a spurious article.

“Here is comfort. Whoever will accept the faith of Jesus, has that which is as sure to work righteousness in him, and to save him, as the victory of Christ over sin and death is assured. He gives to us His own tried and approved faith. It has not a flaw, and we need not fear to use it: it will not fail us in any contest. ‘By grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God’ (Ephesians 2:8). We are saved by nothing less than God’s unchangeable Word, and by Christ’s own personal confidence in that Word. We are not exhorted to try to do as well as He did, or to try to exercise as much faith as He had, but simply to take His faith, and let it work by love, and purify the heart.” — Ellet J. Waggoner, Signs of the Times, December 22, 1898, p. 805. 

May this be our experience today as we look to Jesus and let Him live out His faith in us.

 

-Kelly Kinsley