As Jesus said, in Matthew 6:33, we must seek first His kingdom and His righteousness [“But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.”]. In order to diligently seek God, we must diligently, with haste, seek His kingdom and His righteousness—the kingdom, which is God’s and the righteousness that He demands, and there is only one place where that knowledge can be found. There’s only one place where we should be looking to discover what we must do to be obedient to God so that we might be pleasing in His sight, so that we might demonstrate our faith through our obedience. [And that is] God’s Word.

How can we come to a certain belief that God exists? Through study of His Word. How can we come to know that God has promised us things, that He’s promised us rewards…and what those rewards are? Through the study of His Word. When we understand that true faith comes through studying the Bible, it should become clear that true Christian faith is not the kind of “faith” of which so many in the world speak.

For many, having faith in God means that they have blindly believed in God, thinking that one can have this faith without having any evidence to back it up. This is blind faith, and it’s completely contrary to what is taught in Hebrews 11, verse 1 [“Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”].

Many define faith as “a leap in the dark,” and they base their entire religious lives on this idea. They feel that becoming a Christian is only “a leap of faith.” But, we must object to this definition of faith by saying that faith is not irrational. True Christian faith is always supported by solid evidence. Basing one’s faith upon this “leap in the dark” philosophy is an indication that one has completely misunderstood the proper relationship between faith and reason.

It’s interesting to read what George H. Smith, an avowed atheist, wrote in his book, The Case Against God. He said the following:

Reason and faith are opposites, two mutually exclusive terms. There is no reconciliation or common ground. Faith is belief without, or in spite of, reason. If reason can tell us anything there is to know, there is no longer a job for faith. The entire notion of faith rests upon, and presupposes, the inadequacy of reason.

This whole atheistic attack on faith is itself based on faulty reasoning, which might be funny if it wasn’t so sad in its influence upon so many religious people in the world today.

Look carefully what Hebrews 11, and verse 1, says in its definition of what faith truly is. “Faith is the substance, or assurance, of things hoped for, the evidence, or a conviction, of things not seen.” Faith is not some “leap in the dark,” according to the Bible, but comes as a result of studying God’s Word. When a person diligently seeks God through his investigation of the Truths found in the Bible, that person collects evidence...evidence which convinces him that God exists…evidence that God will also reward those who make the correct interpretation and the application of that evidence. It is evidence which convinces a person of the existence of God and the Truths of the promises that He has made.

Belief and trust in God does not come about by some “leap of faith,” but as a result of conviction built on the basis of overwhelming evidence. Many misinterpret Hebrews 11:1 to mean that “faith is a belief in things hoped for, and a belief in those things not seen,” with no evidence whatsoever to support those beliefs. We are taught that we must “just have faith.”

This is completely opposed to what this verse actually teaches. Faith does not come first. Evidence comes first. Faith is BUILT UPON evidence. We investigate what the Bible teaches, and through that investigation we become convinced of the Truth of that which is taught. And when we become convinced if these things—convicted in our own minds—THEN…we…have…faith.

A wonderful example of this is found in Peter’s sermon on the Day of Pentecost. First, we read what he said in Acts 2, verse 22: “Ye men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a Man approved of God unto you by mighty works and wonders and signs which God did by Him in the midst of you, even as ye yourselves know…” Then, down in verse 36 of this same chapter: “Let all the house of Israel therefore know assuredly, that God hath made Him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus Whom ye crucified.”

Now, there are two different Greek words, which are translated as the word “know” in these verses. The first, in verse 22, means, basically, “I see, or perceive, and therefore, I know.” In other words, the Jews knew that Jesus was a Man approved of God by works, wonders and signs, because they were witnesses of these things which Jesus did in their midst. The second word translated as “know” in verse 36 refers to “the process of coming to know the truth of a thing through the presentation of a line of evidence.”

If we take these concepts together, we see that Peter, on the Day of Pentecost, offered the Jews two different types of proof. First, he offered them the proof of the evidence of their eyes. And then, he offered them the evidence of fulfilled prophecy. Now, they knew one thing about Jesus—that He was approved of God through the things that they had actually witnessed. They came to know something else about Jesus—that God had made Him both Lord and Christ—their hearing and understanding of the words which Peter spoke to them from the pages of Old Testament prophecies about Christ.