Faith vs Fear (Part 1)

This week we are going to begin a series on faith vs fear. In this series we are going to dissect the spiritual battle between faith and fear. What is faith? What is fear? How do they work? How should we respond to fear? These are the kinds of questions we are going to work through and attempt to answer.

Let's start be defining these two terms. We can find the definitions of faith in Hebrews 11:1.

“Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”

So, what exactly does that mean exactly? Faith is a substance. The Greek word used here is hupostasis, which means: that which has foundation, and that which has actual existence. It means we can be confidant in the things we hope for because they have a strong foundation of faith.

Faith is also evidence. But evidence of what? The Amplified Bible puts it this way:

“Faith comprehends as fact what cannot be experienced by the physical senses.”

Faith turns our hopes into our reality! How awesome is that? So, faith is the strong foundation upon which our hopes lie. Faith is real and it gives us confidence, and it literally turns our hopes into reality!

Now that’s the basic Bible definition of faith. So, what is the definition of fear then? It pretty simple actually, fear is just the opposite of faith. If faith is the substance of things hoped for, then fear is the substance of things not hoped for. Another way to say that is, fear is the substance of things not desired.

We can find an example of this in Matt. 14:30, when Peter desired to walk on the water with Jesus. He had the faith to walk on the water, and he did for a short time, but when he looked around at the waves surrounding him, fear crept in and he sank.

Here, Peter shows us a great example of both faith and fear manifesting. His faith in Jesus allowed him to walk on the water, while his fear caused him to sink. That is the situation we find ourselves in every day, and we must make a decision. We can either allow fear to creep in, and sink us, or we can act in faith and walk on the water with Jesus.

In part 2 we will walk through how faith and fear operate.