{"id":88604,"date":"2025-07-12T08:51:29","date_gmt":"2025-07-12T13:51:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/?p=88604"},"modified":"2025-07-12T08:51:29","modified_gmt":"2025-07-12T13:51:29","slug":"faiths-opposites","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/faiths-opposites\/","title":{"rendered":"Faith\u2019s Opposites"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\t

by David Gibson<\/p>\n

Light is the opposite of dark. Good is the opposite of evil. Hope is the opposite of despair. Zeal is the opposite of apathy. What then is the opposite of faith?<\/p>\n

Faith Is the Opposite of Sight<\/h2>\n

“For we walk by faith, not by sight<\/em>” (II Corinthians 5:7 NASB). “Now faith is… the evidence of things not seen<\/em>” (Hebrews 11:1). Our five senses detect the physical world around us. But with the eye of faith, “we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen<\/em>…” (II Corinthians 4:18; see John 20:29; I Peter 1:8).<\/p>\n

Faith Is the Opposite of Fear<\/h2>\n

“Why are you afraid?<\/em>” Jesus asked His frightened disciples. “How is it that you have no faith?<\/em>” (Mark 4:40). Faith and fear are on opposite ends of the seesaw. When faith is down, fear is up; when faith is up, fear is down.<\/p>\n

Faith Is the Opposite of Unbelief<\/h2>\nJesus said to Thomas, who at first refused to believe Jesus had risen, “… do not be unbelieving, but believing<\/em>” (John 20:27).
\nUnbelief is the root cause of faith’s other opposites: walking by sight and fear.\n

To Illustrate All Three Opposites:<\/h2>\n

Israel, on the edge of Canaan, chose to believe the ten spies who said, in essence, “We can’t take the land-the giants are too big.” Israel refused to believe Joshua and Caleb’s report: “With God on our side, we can do it!”<\/p>\n

In other words:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. They walked by sight-they could see the giants, but failed to look with eyes of faith to a far bigger God.<\/li>\n
  2. They feared the giants instead of trusting in their all-powerful Protector.<\/li>\n
  3. They didn’t believe that God would keep His promise to give them the land. “So we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief<\/em>” (Hebrews 3:19).<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Israel’s failure serves as a warning to us not to miss out on our Promised Land (Hebrews 3:12-14; 4:1-11). “Therefore let us be diligent to enter that rest<\/em>…” (Hebrews 4:11).<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    by David Gibson Light is the opposite of dark. Good is the opposite of evil. Hope is the opposite of despair. Zeal is the opposite of apathy. What then is the opposite of faith? Faith Is the Opposite of Sight “For we walk by faith, not by sight” (II Corinthians 5:7 NASB). “Now faith is……<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[49,352],"class_list":["post-88604","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-faith","tag-fear"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":50872,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/faith-is-the-evidence\/","url_meta":{"origin":88604,"position":0},"title":"Faith is the Evidence","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 31, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"by\u00a0Doy Moyer \"Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen\" (Hebrews 11:1, NASB). Some translations say that faith is the \"evidence\" of things not seen (KJV, NKJV). What does this mean? We often point out that faith is not blind. Because of the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":28215,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/can-fear-be-a-sin\/","url_meta":{"origin":88604,"position":1},"title":"Can fear be a sin?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 28, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I am trying to change my ways and live a better Christian lifestyle (a life more pleasing to the Lord). I know temptation will always be hounding me, but I know the Lord will provide me a way out. However, I want to know if fear can be considered\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":25215,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/what-is-faith\/","url_meta":{"origin":88604,"position":2},"title":"What is Faith?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 24, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Text: Hebrews 11:1-6 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Imagine a tight rope stretched across Niagara Falls. A crowd gathers around a man who pulls a unicycle out of a box. \u201cLadies and gentlemen,\u201d the man announces, \u201cmay I have your attention! In my hands is a unicycle. How many of you believe that I\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":45711,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/on-drifting-away-from-the-faith\/","url_meta":{"origin":88604,"position":3},"title":"On Drifting Away from the Faith","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 26, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"by Terry Wane Benton If we surveyed churches that declined in attendance because of COVID, we may find an alarming number of brethren who fell or are in process of drifting further away. I remember thinking a long time ago that should persecution arise in our country, and it was\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":54857,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/o-for-a-faith-such-as-this\/","url_meta":{"origin":88604,"position":4},"title":"O for a Faith Such as This!","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 16, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: Psalm 56 \u00a0I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Read the song \u201cO for a Faith That Will Not Shrink\u201d by W. H. Bathhurst (#462) II.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A faith without fear \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Most of our fears of our own imagination - Psalm 53:5 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a01.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0When our dreads are elusive, we make things up, and what we\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":88181,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/faith\/","url_meta":{"origin":88604,"position":5},"title":"Faith","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 27, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by Terry Wane Benton Biblical faith is believing in God, believing what His word (the Bible) says, trusting Him enough to be refreshed and reassured by His promises, yielding and submissive to His Sovereignty, and active in obeying His commands. When any of these ingredients are fading or missing, then\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/88604","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=88604"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/88604\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=88604"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=88604"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=88604"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}