Faith Is The Evidence of Things Not Seen

I was reading chapter 7 of A.W. Tozer's classic The Pursuit of God, "The Gaze of the Soul." In it, Tozer says that "In the Scriptures there is practically no effort made to define faith," and then goes on to state that where faith is discussed, it is faith in operation rather than faith in essence. The story of Israel's unbelief and God commanding Moses to make a brass serpent in Numbers is brought up, and Christ's connection to it when he says "As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life" (John 3:14-15). Faith, Tozer says, is the gaze of the soul upon its Savior. No theoretical definition is offered; only the practical definition.

I think that it actually satisfies the theoretical definition of saving faith, too. Faith is trust in Jesus Christ's power and desire to save not just anyone, but specifically me. John Wesley's Aldersgate experience, from which he marked his life as a born-again child of God, saw his heart "strangely warmed, and I felt that Christ died for my sins, even mine."

Faith is not just the abstract "Jesus saves," but specifically, "Jesus saved me."