what is faith

Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things unseen."

Looking at the 2nd part of that verse, in what way is faith evidence of things we can't see? The word "evidence" means indication, proof, confirmation or validation of something. And we know from Ephesians 2:8-9 that faithis the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. In other words, I can't take credit for having faith because I'm not able to make my own. If I have faith, it's only because it was given to me by God. And Hebrews 11:1 is telling us that the gift is evidence of The Giver.

The first half of the verse tells us that the faith we've been given is tangible. We can experience it, and know we have it. It is a small but already manifest part of Spiritual Reality, here on earth, in us, now. The idea is similar to Ephesians 1:13-14 where the Holy Spirit is said to be like a down-payment or "earnest money." I can know that all the promises of God - the things we hope for - will be fulfilled, because I carry a part of them already, this very real thing, this substance called faith.