2 Corinthians 5:7 : “We walk by faith, not by sight.”
In Second Corinthians 5:7, Paul emphasizes the importance of walking by faith rather than by sight, encouraging believers to continually trust in Christ for guidance and provision, even amidst uncertainties rather than depending exclusively on what can be physically perceived, logically understood, or immediately observed. This faith walk is rooted in what the Word of God accomplishes within us and how we, in turn, engage with that Word.
Walking in Faith involves relying on Christ for:
Divine guidance
Protection
Provision
Overall well-being
This reliance remains necessary even when circumstances are uncertain or appear not to make logical sense.
The Word of God creates profound effects in our hearts when we hear it, including conviction of truth, enlightenment, persuasion, and assurance of God's promises, leading to joy and peace. These impressions transform into faith as we recognize and embrace the truths about Jesus Christ and His redemptive work.
Our faith walk has two connected dimensions:
What the Word of God does in us ( When God’s Word produces convictions, enlightenment, persuasion, and assurance in the heart).
What we do with the Word of God (When People respond to the truth through belief, confession, prayer, giving, praise, and the way they live).
This first part of the teaching focuses on what God’s Word does internally, the practical response; while the second aspect, what believers do with the Word—is reserved for the second part.
Whenever people hear the Word of God, it creates an effect or impression in their hearts. This effect can come as;
Conviction
The Word of God produces a conviction concerning a truth that has been heard. Conviction means that the heart becomes firmly persuaded of the truth communicated through God’s Word.
Enlightenment
The Word brings understanding or light to an area of our life. This enlightenment helps a person take a stand on the truth being communicated rather than remain uncertain about it.
Persuasion
The Word persuades the heart that God is able and faithful to do what He has promised. Abraham is used as the biblical example: Romans 4 describes him as persuaded that God could fulfill what God had promised.
Assurance
The Word creates assurance concerning God’s promises. This assurance produces joy and peace because the person becomes confident in what God has promised.
These effects are not merely intellectual impressions. They are inward responses that can arise while a person hears teachings about Christ and His work.
The impressions created by God’s Word become faith when a person receives, embraces, or accepts from the heart the truth or light that God’s Word sheds on us.
This becomes faith in our hearts.
Now, this faith, is what Paul talks about in Romans 10:17, faith comes by hearing the Word of God. Some translations express this as hearing the message or words concerning Christ.
The Word of God brings the truth about Jesus Christ.
Faith arises as people hear the truth about Jesus, all he has done for us, all he has provided for us, all he has accomplished for us, In his redemptive or finished work.
The Greek term for faith as pistis, transliterated in the recording as “pieces.” The emphasis remains that faith comes through hearing the Word or truth about Christ and His completed redemptive work.
Faith vs. Belief
Faith(noun) is the effects produced within us when the heart receives and embraces the conviction, enlightenment, persuasion, or assurance created by God’s Word.
Belief(verb) is the act or operation by which the heart receives, embraces, accepts, and responds to the truth brought through God’s Word.
Both belief and faith are intertwined, functioning as two sides of the same coin, and together they drive our response to God's teachings, manifesting in our confessions, prayers, and actions.
They are inseparable because each contributes to the complete operation of responding to God’s Word. They walk hand in hand.
Faith and belief function as driving forces that move people toward a response to what God has said.
If you believe your belief is a driving force, praise God!
Your faith is also a driving force.
They motivate and propel a person to act on the truth of God’s word received rather than leave it as passive information.
Bible translations and preachers may use the terms interchangeably because they are closely related.
In practical terms, faith is the inward confidence produced by God’s truth, while belief is the heart’s act of accepting and responding to that truth. And they are both manifested or expressed in our confessions through spoken acknowledgment of the truth, they are also expressed in our actions, such as our prayer, our giving, Singing praises. These are all ways of expressing faith and belief in the Lord Jesus Christ.
What It Means to Live by Faith
To walk or live by faith means to base one’s life on the convictions, truth, enlightenment, assurance, and persuasion that God’s Word creates in our heart concerning Christ. This includes what the Word says about:
Christ Himself, What Christ has done, What Christ has provided, What Christ accomplished through His redemptive work, What the Word says about believers in Christ.
To walk by faith is to live according to the truth, conviction, assurance, enlightenment, and persuasion produced in the heart by God’s Word concerning Christ and His completed work, rather than relying only on physical sight or logical comprehension.
Walking by faith is therefore a continuing pattern of life.
(A Prize Chukwuka Teaching)
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