21 And now as I said concerning faith—faith is not to have a perfect knowledge of things; therefore if ye have faith ye hope for things which are not seen, which are true.
What Is Faith in Jesus Christ?
A devotional dissection of Alma 32:21
Alma gives us a definition that is both simple and searching:
"Faith is not to have a perfect knowledge… if we have faith, we hope for things which are not seen, which are true.”
When we ask, “What is faith in Jesus Christ?”, this verse becomes a doorway into four living truths that shape how we walk, trust, and grow together.
1. Faith Is Choosing Trust Before
We Have Certainty
Alma teaches us that faith is not perfect knowledge—it is the courage to trust the Lord before we see the full picture.
This principle is echoed across scripture, forming a single, unified witness.
A. Jesus blesses those who trust Him
without seeing
“Blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed.”
Thomas believed after seeing.
Jesus blesses those who choose trust before certainty.
So faith in Jesus Christ means:
▪︎ We trust His voice even when we cannot
see Him.
▪︎ We walk His path even when the way is
dim.
▪︎ We let His character—not our sight—be
our confidence.
This is exactly what Alma means when he says faith is not perfect knowledge.
B. The Lord Himself affirms that believing
is a blessing
In Doctrine & Covenants 34:4, the Lord says:
“Blessed are you because you have believed.”
He does not say “because you have seen,”
or “because you have proof,”
but because we believe.
Faith is our offering.
Sight is His gift.
C. The scriptures show us a pattern:
Christ appears after faith, not before
The Topical Guide: Jesus Christ—Appearances, Postmortal shows a consistent pattern:
▪︎ Mary believes before she recognizes
Him
• "she turned … and saw Jesus standing
... She, supposing him to be the
gardener ... Jesus saith unto her, Mary
... She turned ... saith unto him,
Rabboni," (John 20:14–16).
▪︎ The disciples rejoice after He shows
Himself
• "because thou hast seen me, thou hast
believed," (John 20:20).
▪︎ Paul sees Him after years of sincere
seeking
• "I am Jesus whom thou persecutest ...
Ananias … to him said the Lord in a
vision ... he had seen the Lord in the
way," (Acts 9).
▪︎ The Nephites see and feel Him after
generations of faith
• "saw a Man descending out of heaven
... Jesus had spoken these words the
multitude fell to the earth ... did see
with their eyes and did feel with their
hands," (3 Nephi 11).
▪︎ Moroni teaches that witness comes
after the trial of our faith
• "faith is things which are hoped for and
not seen ... dispute not because ye
see not," (Ether 12:6), "I have seen
Jesus," (Ether 12:39).
We learn:
Christ reveals Himself in His own timing—
but He blesses us the moment we believe.
D. Hebrews 11: The great cloud of
witnesses who trusted before they saw
Hebrews 11 is the Bible’s grand testimony that faith always precedes sight.
It begins:
Then it gives us a gallery of disciples who trusted God before they had certainty:
▪︎ Abel offered his sacrifice without seeing
the future (v. 4).
▪︎ Enoch walked with God before seeing
heaven (v. 5).
▪︎ Noah built the ark before seeing rain
(v. 7).
▪︎ Abraham left home before knowing
where he was going (v. 8).
▪︎ Sarah believed God before she
conceived (v. 11).
▪︎ Moses chose Christ before seeing
deliverance (v. 24–27).
▪︎ The faithful “obtained promises” before
receiving the fulfillment (v. 33–40).
Hebrews ends by saying they “received not the promise” in mortality—
yet God honored their faith eternally.
Their lives preach the same truth Alma teaches:
We move before we see.
We trust before we know.
We walk before the way is clear.
E. Bringing it all together for our
discipleship
When we combine Alma 32, John 20, D&C 34, the Topical Guide, and Hebrews 11, a single truth emerges:
Faith in Jesus Christ is our choice to
trust Him before the evidence arrives,
before the miracle comes, before the
path is clear.
So we say:
▪︎ We trust Him even when we don’t see
the whole path.
▪︎ We move toward Him even when we
don’t yet understand everything.
▪︎ We let His character be our confidence
when our knowledge is incomplete.
Faith is not pretending we know—
it is choosing whom we trust.
2. Faith Is Hope Rooted in Christ’s Reality
Alma teaches that we hope for things which are not seen, which are true.
Hope is not fragile. It is not vague. It is not wishful thinking.
Our hope is anchored in Someone real—the living Christ.
Below are three principles, each strengthened with multiple scriptures from the Topical Guide Hope list.
A. We hope because He lives.
These scriptures testify that our hope is alive because He is alive:
▪︎ Acts 23:6 — the hope and resurrection
of the dead.
▪︎ Acts 26:6 — the hope of the promise
made of God.
▪︎ Acts 28:20 — for the hope of Israel I am
bound with this chain.
▪︎ 1 Corinthians 15:19 — If in this life only
we have hope in Christ…
▪︎ 1 Timothy 1:1 — Christ Jesus… our
hope.
▪︎ Titus 1:2 — In hope of eternal life, which
God… promised.
▪︎ Titus 3:7 — heirs according to the hope
of eternal life.
▪︎ 1 Peter 1:3 — begotten us again unto a
lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus
Christ.
▪︎ Jacob 4:4 — we had a hope of his glory
many hundred years before his coming.
▪︎ Moroni 7:41 — we have hope through
the atonement of Christ and the power
of his resurrection.
▪︎ D&C 42:45 — those that have not hope
of a glorious resurrection.
Together they teach:
We hope because Christ rose.
We hope because He keeps His promises.
We hope because eternal life is real.
B. We endure because His promises hold.
These scriptures show that hope strengthens endurance, patience, and steadfastness:
▪︎ Psalm 33:22 — mercy… according as we
hope in thee.
▪︎ Psalm 38:15 — in thee, O Lord, do I
hope.
▪︎ Psalm 42:11 (43:5) — hope thou in God.
▪︎ Proverbs 10:28 — the hope of the
righteous shall be gladness.
▪︎ Proverbs 14:32 — the righteous hath
hope in his death.
▪︎ Jeremiah 17:7 — Blessed is the man…
whose hope the Lord is.
▪︎ Romans 5:5 — hope maketh not
ashamed.
▪︎ Romans 8:24 — hope that is seen is not
hope.
▪︎ Romans 12:12 — rejoicing in hope;
patient in tribulation.
▪︎ Romans 15:4 — through patience and
comfort of the scriptures we might have
hope.
▪︎ Romans 15:13 — abound in hope,
through the power of the Holy Ghost.
▪︎ Hebrews 3:6 — rejoicing of the hope
firm unto the end.
▪︎ Hebrews 6:11 — full assurance of hope
unto the end.
▪︎ Hebrews 6:18–19 — hope… an anchor of
the soul.
▪︎ 2 Nephi 31:20 — a perfect brightness of
hope.
▪︎ Alma 7:24 — see that ye have faith,
hope, and charity.
▪︎ Ether 12:4 — hope for a better world…
which hope cometh of faith.
▪︎ D&C 128:21 — confirming our hope.
Together they teach:
We endure because His promises are steady.
We endure because His mercy is sure.
We endure because hope anchors our souls.
C. We press forward because His
redemption is already at work in us.
These scriptures show that hope is not passive—it moves us, purifies us, and transforms us:
▪︎ 1 Corinthians 9:10 — plow in hope.
▪︎ Galatians 5:5 — wait for the hope of
righteousness.
▪︎ Colossians 1:23 — be not moved away
from the hope of the gospel.
▪︎ 1 Thessalonians 5:8 — the hope of
salvation.
▪︎ 1 Peter 1:21 — your faith and hope
might be in God.
▪︎ 1 Peter 3:15 — a reason of the hope that
is in you.
▪︎ 1 John 3:3 — every man that hath this
hope in him purifieth himself.
▪︎ Jacob 2:19 — after ye have obtained a
hope in Christ…
▪︎ Alma 32:21 — ye hope for things which
are not seen, which are true.
▪︎ Ether 12:28 — faith, hope, and charity
bringeth unto me.
▪︎ Ether 12:32 — man must hope, or he
cannot receive an inheritance.
▪︎ Moroni 7:40 — how is it that ye can
attain unto faith, save ye shall have
hope?
▪︎ Moroni 8:26 — the Comforter filleth with
hope and perfect love.
▪︎ Moroni 10:20 — if there must be faith
there must also be hope.
and love… qualify him.
▪︎ D&C 18:19 — if you have not faith, hope,
and charity…
▪︎ A of F 1:13 — we hope all things.
Together they teach:
We press forward because Christ is already redeeming us.
We press forward because hope purifies us.
We press forward because the Spirit fills us with hope and perfect love.
In One Sentence
Hope is the living power of faith—rooted in Christ’s resurrection, sustained by His promises, and active in our transformation.
3. Faith is the beginning of spiritual growth,
not the end
Alma’s definition is intentionally humble.
Faith is not the finish line—it is the seed.
Faith in Jesus Christ means:
▪︎ We begin with desire.
▪︎ We act on the little light we have.
▪︎ We let Him grow something in us that
we could never grow alone.
Faith is the doorway through which Christ transforms our hearts, our habits, and our hopes.
6 And now, I, Moroni, would speak somewhat concerning these things; I would show unto the world that faith is things which are hoped for and not seen; wherefore, dispute not because ye see not, for ye receive no witness until after the trial of your faith.
4. Faith is relational, not abstract
Alma doesn’t say faith is belief in an idea.
He says faith is hope in something true—
and the truest thing in the universe is the Lord Himself.
Faith in Jesus Christ means:
▪︎ We trust His voice.
▪︎ We rely on His mercy.
▪︎ We follow His way.
▪︎ We bind our lives to His life.
Faith is not merely believing that He exists.
It is learning to walk with Him, lean on Him, and become like Him.
In One Sentence
Faith in Jesus Christ is our trusting, hopeful, growing relationship with the living Savior—before we see, before we know, and before the harvest comes.
Faith in Jesus Christ
As we walk through Alma 32:21 and the full witness of scripture, a single, steady truth rises: faith in Jesus Christ is not about certainty—it is about relationship, trust, and hope rooted in His living reality. We learn that faith begins before we see, grows as we act, and deepens as we bind our lives to Him. We discover that hope is not fragile or abstract; it is anchored in Christ’s resurrection, sustained by His promises, and active in our transformation. And we remember that faith is the seed, not the harvest—an invitation to begin, to trust, to grow, and to become.
I testify that as we choose to trust Jesus Christ—before the evidence, before the miracle, before the clarity—He meets us with mercy, strengthens us with hope, and shapes us into something more than we could ever become alone. His promises hold. His redemption is real. His love is steady. As we walk with Him, our faith becomes a living relationship that carries us through uncertainty and leads us toward eternal life.
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