Faith the Title Deed

In the King James Version of the Bible, Hebrews 11:1 reads: “Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” The word translated as “substance” here is the Greek word hupostasis. When the New Testament was translated into English from Greek nearly 400 years ago, the translators were puzzled by this word hupostasis. It seemed to be some kind of business terminology not found in classical Greek literature, and all they could determine was that it meant something fairly substantial. So they translated it as “substance.”

Hundreds of years later, archaeologists uncovered the charred ruins of an old inn in northern Israel. There they found a small iron chest containing the valuable papers of some Roman noblewoman who had apparently been staying in the inn while visiting properties she owned in the area. Most of the papers in the chest had the wordhupostas is written in large Greek letters across the top. They were all title deeds to her properties. Perhaps this Roman woman had never seen her properties, but she knew they were hers and could prove her ownership because she had the title deeds.

So what is faith? It’s the title deed. Had those translators known what we know now, that verse might instead read, “Now faith is the title deed to things hoped for.”

If you’ve asked God for something but haven’t seen the answer yet, don’t worry. If you have real faith, then it’s like having the title to it in your hands, with your name written on it. It’s yours and you will see it eventually.

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Matthew 9:2 NIV Some men brought to him a paralytic, lying on a mat. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, “Take heart, son; your sins are forgiven.”

Matthew 9:22 NIV Jesus turned and saw her. “Take heart, daughter,” he said, “your faith has healed you.” And the woman was healed from that moment.

Matthew 9:29 NIV Then he touched their eyes and said, “According to your faith will it be done to you”;