
Originally Posted by
Dywyddyr

Originally Posted by
dedo
Faith produces things hoped for (substance), because God acts on the believer's behalf.
Perhaps you didn't actually read the quote.
I'll post it here:
faith is the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen.
Not "faith produces..." or even "faith leads to..." but "faith IS...".
Therefore your interpretation would appear to be a purely personal one.
You may be right in that my interpretation is too narrow.
I think this site explains it better:
Hebrews 11:1 Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.
In the other translations, the word "assurance" or "confidence" is substituted for "substance".
Then faith becomes a state of "confidence".
My personal theory is that this confidence is directly related to time spent with God, and acting on your beliefs / direction over time.
However, I think that this thread is a reminder for me to learn more about this subject.
For example, the last time I took time to listen to some CD's on faith, shortly thereafter we were placed in some circumstances where we had an opportunity to test what we learned, and the results were amazing. My recollection is that twice in the same winter while traveling it appeared as if we would be stranded away from home due to bad weather. Whole screens of flights were being cancelled. Within minutes of making a faith affirmation we were re-routed, and on a plane. It was surreal. Experiences like that occurring right after taking time to learn something about faith, tend to make you believe in what you learned.
It is only natural to attribute a positive outcome to God when a believer takes a specific action after receiving a religious instruction and a unpleasant situation reverses itself in a matter of minutes.
Anyway, I need to review this material again so I get it right.