Now faith is the substance of things hoped for
The "faith" here spoken of is not a mere moral virtue, which is a
branch of the law; nor a bare assent to anything revealed,
declared, and affirmed in the Gospel; nor a faith of doing
miracles; nor an implicit one; nor a mere profession of faith,
which sometimes is but temporary; nor the word or doctrine of
faith; but that which is made mention of in the preceding
chapter, by which the just man lives, and which has the salvation
of the soul annexed to it: and it does not so much design any
particular branch, or act of faith, but as that in general
respects the various promises, and blessings of grace; and it
chiefly regards the faith of Old Testament saints, though that,
as to its nature, object, and acts, is the same with the faith of
New Testament ones; and is a firm persuasion of the power,
faithfulness, and love of God in Christ, and of interest therein,
and in all special blessings: it is described as "the substance
of things hoped for"; and which, in general, are things unseen,
and as yet not enjoyed; future, and yet to come; difficult to be
obtained, though possible, otherwise there would be no hope of
them; and which are promised and laid up; and in particular, the
things hoped for by Old Testament saints were Christ, and eternal
glory and happiness; and by New Testament ones, more grace,
perseverance in it, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal
life. Now faith is the "substance" of these things; it is the
ground and foundation of them, in which there is some standing
hope; in which sense the word (upostasiv) is used by Septuagint in ( Psalms 69:2 ) . The
word of promise is principal ground and foundation of hope; and
faith, as leaning on the word, is a less principal ground; it is
a confident persuasion, expectation, and assurance of them. The
Syriac version renders it, the "certainty" of them; it is the
subsistence of them, and what gives them an existence, at least a
mental one; so with respect to the faith and hope of the Old
Testament saints, the incarnation, sufferings, and death of
Christ, his resurrection, ascension, and session at God's right
hand, are spoken of, as if they then were; and so are heaven, and
glory, and everlasting salvation, with regard to the faith and
hope of New Testament saints: yea, faith gives a kind of
possession of those things before hand, ( John 6:47 ) . Philo the
Jew F5 says much the same thing of faith;
``the only infallible and certain good thing (says he) is, that faith which is faith towards God; it is the solace of life, (plhrwma crhstwn elpidwn) , "the fulness of good hopes"''It follows here,
the evidence of things not seen;
of things past, of what was done in eternity, in the council and
covenant of grace and peace; of what has been in time, in
creation, and providence; of the birth, miracles, sufferings,
death, resurrection, and ascension of Christ; of things present,
the being, perfections, love of God; of the session of Christ at
God's right hand, and his continual intercession; and of the
various blessings of grace revealed in the Gospel; and of future
ones, as the invisible realities of another world: faith has both
certainty and evidence in it.