What is Faith?

“Now faith is the assurance (title deed, confirmation) of things hoped for (divinely guaranteed), and the evidence of things not seen [the conviction of their reality—faith comprehends as fact what cannot be experienced by the physical senses].” – Hebrews 11:1 Amp Bible

The amplified Bible gave some synonyms to faith:

The Assurance- a positive declaration intended to give confidence (Dictionary.com)
Title Deed– a deed or document containing or constituting evidence of ownership(Dictionary.com)
Confirmation – a statement or proof that something is true (Cambridge Dictionary)
Evidence– a sign which shows that something exists or is true(Merriam-Webster)
Conviction– a fixed or firm belief (Dictionary.com)

Faith has one unique characteristic:

It comprehends as fact what cannot be experienced by the physical senses.

That is to say:

Faith is having an assurance that something is in existence when it is not physically present.
Faith is being able to prove ownership of what is being expected before it arrives.
Faith is that which gives you a statement or proof that something is true
Faith is that sign that shows that something exists or is true
Faith is a fixed or firm belief in something or somebody.

What leads to the exploits of faith is the application of that faith.

Faith is a substance

Faith is also called a substance, as stated in the KJV of Hebrews 11:1.

So if it is a substance, it means it can grow. FAITH is a substance that can grow or die.

The disciples asked Jesus to increase their faith- Luke17:5-6

5 The apostles said to the Lord, “Show us how to increase our faith.”

6 The Lord answered, “If you had faith even as small as a mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, ‘May you be uprooted and be planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you!

Our exploit of faith is determined by the level of growth of our faith.

A basic faith is different from an advanced faith.

Jesus described some categories of faith as Great Faith and Little Faith (Matthew 8:10; 15:28; Luke 7:9 Matthew 8:26)

Jeremy Myers, in his blog, states that

The terms “Great faith” and “Little faith” mean this: Some truths are easy to believe while others are difficult. If you believe something difficult to believe, then you have great faith. If you do not believe something that is relatively easy to believe, then you have little faith. Since faith is the conviction or persuasion that something is true, people who have little faith have not been persuaded or convinced of even the basic truths, whereas people who have great faith have been persuaded or convinced of some of the difficult truths which few people come to believe. Great faith and little faith have nothing to do with the size, amount, or degree of faith.

We do not need to increase the size of our faith but rather make our faith grow. So when the disciples ask Jesus to increase their faith, he made them realize that faith is not measured by size but by growth, hence, the use of the mustard seed.

How then can we make our faith grow?