2 Corinthians 5:7 NIV “For we live by faith, not by sight.”
Our memory verse this week is taken from the Fifth Chapter of Second Corinthians. In this chapter, Paul is writing to the church at Corinth regarding the confidence they can enjoy because of the promised hope in Christ Jesus.
Confidence is the state of being certain of something; it is firm trust or faith. Therefore, having confidence in God’s promise of heaven, we live our life in the body with full reliance on God’s testimony. In exchange for our faith, God gives us a down payment of the glory seen through the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit—the pledge, or deposit on the fulfillment of God’s glorious promise. We have this treasure in earthly vessels.
So, when we live by faith, or as the King James Version says, “walk by faith”, our faith “supplies the place of direct vision.” Our faith in God’s testimony becomes the evidence of what we do not see; our direct vision is the supernatural ability to see with our heart what our eyes cannot see.
The same applies when God speaks to us from His Word or by His still, small voice. When God speaks to us, He creates a vision in our hearts; and when we believe it, our faith becomes the evidence of what we do not see. Therefore, our confidence is not in what we see with our eyes, but in the testimony of God.
For example, God spoke to David about Goliath; and David spoke to the Philistine, “You come to me with sword, spear, and javelin, but I come to you in the name of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies—the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. Today the Lord will conquer you, and I will kill you and cut off your head.”
David’s words painted a picture of the direct vision he’d seen by faith; His faith was all the evidence he needed. David walked out his faith, and Israel was rescued. We, too, can put confidence in the God’s Word and walk out our faith.