What is Faith?

Hebrews 11:1-3

September 2, 2001

 

Faith is the most prominent word in religion. Often used to describe one's entire religious persuasion, faith can get lost in the shuffle of religious jargon and have little meaning in daily life. One's faith might vaguely refer to his conception of spiritual realities but have nothing to do with the way he lives his life.

 

Not so with our text. Here the writer shows that faith must be more than mental assent to a few religious propositions. Faith lives, breathes, and exercises in dependence upon the living Lord.

 

Hebrews 11 is known as "the faith chapter," and rightly so. But it is not disconnected with the teaching before and after-or its context. Chapter divisions are sometimes helpful and sometimes an obstacle to understanding what the biblical writer intends. In this case, to chop off Hebrews 11 from its context is to lose some of the practical luster of rich application it offers. We can profit from reading it apart from context; but we cannot understand the full implications of it without the context. The idea of perseverance in the exercise of faith dominates the emphasis of this chapter, coming as an explanation of what the writer states in 10:39, that we are "of those who have faith to the preserving of the soul." Keep in mind the struggles the first century audience faced, as they were in the throes of opposition and imminent persecution. How would they be able to make it through without abandoning their faith for that which had no power to eternally save them? They might escape immediate danger but their souls would suffer the fate of those who reject the gospel. So our writer calls for the kind of faith that preserves the soul through the most demanding circumstances.

 

Such faith enables the believer in the midst of trials to "run with endurance the race that is set before" him (12:1). We know very well the opening words of chapter 12 and the crescendo that sets our attention upon our exalted Lord. Exercising faith fixes the eyes on Jesus and endures even hostility in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ.

 

Faith aims for soul preservation-that's perseverance in concept; and it runs with endurance-that's perseverance in process. Exercising faith in Christ stands at the heart of persevering as Christians. What kind of faith does perseverance demand? Consider how our author introduces and explains faith.

 

I. Faith stated

 

We do no injustice to the first verse to say that it is a definition of faith. The Greek text begins with "is," which some scholars say implies a definitive explanation of faith. However, though definitive, it is not an exhaustive definition of faith. The chapter continues unfolding the angles and hues of this inexhaustible supply of grace to be exercised in the believer. Faith viewed in this passage has more to do with the practice of our sanctification than it does with justification. Yet having said that I do not think that the biblical writer is making an overly sharp distinction since he folds in significant illustrations on Abraham's and Rahab's exercise of saving faith. We might express it like this: faith is never a one-time experience or profession; it is a continuing trust in the Lord. The faith that begins the Christian life continues it until the day we see Christ.

 

1. As foundational

 

The words ought to ring in our minds: "Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen." The NIV translates it, "Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see." The Authorized Version has familiar words, "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." J. B. Phillips offers an interpretive translation, "Now faith means putting our full confidence in the things we hope for; it means being certain of things we cannot see." However one translates it, this verse achieves both simplicity and depth in the explanation of faith. But what does it mean?

 

To begin, let's focus on the phrase, "things hoped for." Does this writer imply that we are to take our wildest dreams and plug them into a process of faith, and we will surely find confidence that our dreams will come true? I think that is how many view his verse, especially when stripping it from its context. But 10:39 comes before 11:1. You will recall that as this pastoral writer has set forth the sufficiency of Christ in the work of the new covenant, then exhorted them to "draw near," "hold fast," and "consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds," he warns of shrinking back into apostasy. The warning is accompanied by the assurance of no more sacrifice for sins in the case of the apostates and the fearfulness of falling into the hands of the living God. But he does not think that any of their number had come to this dire point. Instead they needed endurance so that they would not shrink back but "have faith to the preserving of the soul." In light of this, the "things hoped for" must relate to the needs of the believer in the process of perseverance. Let's consider how he uses the word hope in this epistle to help us grasp the "things hoped for."

 

In 3:6 he writes of holding fast "our confidence and the boast of our hope firm until the end." In this case "hope" refers to something of eternal substance concerning which the Christian has professed: that substance is Jesus Christ "the Apostle and High Priest of our confession" (3:1) and the one who rules over us as members of his "house" (3:6). In 6:11-12, after warning of apostasy in verses 3-8, we find an exhortation of realizing "the full assurance of hope until the end, so that you will not be sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises." The "hope" focuses upon the sufficiency of Jesus Christ in his sacrificial death and resurrection. It is the believer living in the reality of Jesus Christ and Him crucified and raised from the dead. In 6:18, after explaining the unchanging nature of our God, he refers to hope as something "set before us." In this case it is the culmination of all that Christ has provided in his redemptive death, the full glory of salvation in all its heavenly revelation. Here he tells that to have such a hope serves as "an anchor of the soul, a hope both sure and steadfast and one which enters within the veil, where Jesus has entered as a forerunner for us" (6:19-20). The substance of "hope" is the triumphant work of Jesus Christ that assures the believer that he will spend eternity in the presence of God. He returns to "hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering," in 10:23, again centering upon the believer's trust in the sufficiency of Jesus Christ in both his person and work.

 

Now let's come back to the phrase, "Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for." The things hoped for centers in the revelation of Jesus Christ in all that he has accomplished for those he has redeemed. John Owen says it is "all things that are divinely promised to those who believe, all things of present grace and future glory" [The Crossway Classic Commentaries: Hebrews, 217-218]. It is the reality of forgiveness of sins, the indwelling strength and power of the Holy Spirit, the peace of God that surpasses understanding, the armor of God for spiritual battles, the strength to persevere, the joy of the Lord as your strength, abundant grace for every need, and in the future a new body like that of the exalted Christ, dwelling with God for eternity, an imperishable inheritance, a place where there is no more sin or rebellion or sickness or sorrow or death or disease, and where the Lamb of God provides all the light you will need forever! That's a pretty good hope, is it not?

 

But how do you know that this hope is yours? That's where faith comes in as "the assurance of things hoped for." I used the word foundational to introduce this thought because that is the idea conveyed in "assurance." It is translated as 'substance, foundation, essence, confident assurance, guarantee, and attestation' [Linguistic Key 706]. The word often carried the idea of a document that provided the evidence of ownership. Faith is the evidence that you own those things that fill your hope in Christ. The word literally means, "that which stands under" [Leon Morris, EBC: Hebrews 113].

 

Let's come back to perseverance again. How do you know that all the things that Christ has promised you as a believer are really yours in the day of trial? If you were in the shoes of Dayna Curry and Heather Mercer, the two young ladies being held captive by the Taliban in Afghanistan for sharing the gospel with Afghans, how would you know that all the truths you had read and believed concerning Christ were going to sustain you in your darkest days? Faith comes to you as a gift of God's grace and assures you, regardless of the outlook, that all the promises of God to you are "Yea, and Amen!" Faith is foundational.

 

2. As evidential

 

Faith is also evidential: "Now faith is...the conviction of things not seen." The word "conviction" was used in the legal system of the ancient world to express the proof or validity of something. There are plenty of promised "things not seen." In the midst of dark days we may not can see the presence of the Lord or feel the certainty that he hears our prayers and knows our cries. Heaven may seem a million ages from us. Grace may seem to be a foreign commodity unavailable for our need. Satan's grip on the world that presses in on us appears to be much more real than those things we cannot see. But that is when faith takes over! Faith is the proof that all the promises of God in Christ are yours, even when you cannot see them. Faith is the legal burden of proof in the courtroom of your mind, as you wrestle with persevering as a Christian. Faith teaches us "that there are realities for which we have no material evidence though they are not the less real for that," as Leon Morris put it [113].

 

When Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego stood before the enraged Nebuchadnezzar, facing the blazing furnace because of their open confession of dependence upon Yahweh, they offered a confession of the deep conviction of things not seen:

O Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to give you an answer concerning this matter. If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the furnace of blazing fire; and He will deliver us out of your hand, O king. But even if He does not, let it be known to you, O king, that we are not going to serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up" (Dan. 3:16-18).

This is what John Piper calls "faith in future grace." They trusted that the God who had embraced them in his loving, saving power, would sustain them through their ordeal, and whether they were delivered from the fire by life or by death, they would triumph in the provision of God's grace. They actually believed this! And that was all the evidence they needed to walk triumphantly through the fiery furnace experience.

 

This is where we need to store up the treasures of God's promises (as we saw last week) for those days that we are tested beyond measure. This is why we need to think long and deeply upon the attributes of God, and we need to continually contemplate the work of Christ that was accomplished for us. For it is in that time of need that faith draws from the well where we have stored away this water of life to give us the eternal proofs we need, even for "things not seen," that we might press on in obedience to Jesus Christ.

 

II. Faith illustrated

 

The second verse almost appears to be out of place: "For by it the men of old gained approval." At first glance it would seem to introduce the long list of believers beginning with Abel in verse 4 and continuing to the end of the chapter, and thus should come after the third verse. But I would submit to you that it is here for the very reason to help us understand how to cultivate the faith described in the first verse by reminding us of faith's timelessness and ultimate triumph.

 

1. Timeless in application

 

We admire the "men of old," or the patriarchs and figures from biblical history whose storied lives gave evidence of great triumph in living. But as we scrutinize their lives we also notice that they had feet of clay just like us; they were subject to trials, tests, and all manner of difficulties. Some battled with sin and have an eternal record in the Scriptures to tell us about it. Some made poor decisions and had to live with the consequences. Some lived consistently while others lacked the dogged persistence that is called for in perseverance. In spite of all the failures and faults, these "men of old" found that faith ("it") sustained them.

 

Often the demands of life and the trials that come with it appear to have singled us out in a peculiar way. We might get the feeling that we are the only one that is having the degree of difficulty or strain or trouble that we face. But this phrase, "men of old," comes as a reminder that there is a long record of believers throughout the Old and New Testaments, and following down the corridors of the past couple of centuries that "gained approval" by faith. Faith sustained them even in the darkest times; and faith will sustain you.

 

2. Triumphant in affirmation

 

The kind of faith exercised by these "men of old" we are told, "gained approval." The verb is called a "theological passive," that is, the one who did the approving was not the crowd around these "men of old," but God Himself. Scripture records hundreds of people in every stage and circumstance of life that found the divine approval by their exercise of faith. It was not their works that found the divine testimony or their great acts of service or their achievements, it was their faith, their confident reliance upon the Lord and his promises.

 

Later in the chapter we find Abraham obeying God by going out to a place, "not knowing where he was going" (v. 8). And then there was Moses who left Egypt due to the wrath of Pharaoh and endured hardship for 40 years in the wilderness and another 40 years leading the children of Israel, and he did so "as seeing Him who is unseen" (v. 27). There was Rahab the harlot of Jericho who listened as the massive walls of that city crumbled by the power of God, but her house remained and she "did not perish along with those who were disobedient," for she-with new and untested faith-trusted in the Lord (31). Some through faith "quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, from weakness were made strong, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight." Yet others, through this same faith "were stoned...sawn in two...tempted...put to death with the sword...went about in sheepskins, in goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, ill-treated" (34, 37). It was not the outward circumstance or result that mattered but the divine pleasure at their confident trust that God is and that He rewards those who seek Him (6). Faith looks not just at the present but more so at the eternal. One writer put it, "Faith is a guarantee of the heavenly realities for which we hope; not only does it render them certain for us, but it envisages them as rightfully belonging to us; it is, in itself, an objective assurance of our definite enjoyment of them" [Spicq quoted by Philip Hughes, The Epistle to the Hebrews, 439]. Faith timelessly and triumphantly rests in the promises of God. We are helped to do the same as we see clay-footed believers of old, in all manner of difficulties, pressing on in trust in the Lord.

 

III. Faith illuminated

 

A recent issue of National Geographic explored over a dozen different ways that scientists and archaeologists use to put an age on the varied formations of the globe, with many of these in disagreement. They, along with many others, deny that, "In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth." The debate concerning evolution and the Big Bang Theory continue with many scientists regurgitating information that they know is not factual but due to a prior commitment to materialism and anti-supernaturalism, they continue to assert as fact what they know is completely improvable. Richard Lowontin, an evolutionary scientist admits,

We take the side of science in spite of the patent absurdity of some of its constructs, in spite of its failure to fulfill many of its extravagant promises of health and life, in spite of the tolerance of the scientific community for unsubstantiated just-so stories, because we have a prior commitment, a commitment to materialism. It is not that the methods and institutions of science somehow compel us to accept a material explanation of the phenomenal world, but, on the contrary, that we are forced by our a priori adherence to material causes to create an apparatus of investigation and a set of concepts that produce material explanations, no matter how counterintuitive, no matter how mystifying to the uninitiated. Moreover, that materialism is absolute, for we cannot allow a Divine Foot in the door [quoted by Phillip E. Johnson, Objections Sustained, 71-72].

How do we understand that God created the heavens and the earth? "By faith we understand that the worlds were prepared by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things which are visible." Faith illumines the understanding to see the invisible hand of God. Faith not only responds to God's promises but faith sees and understands what God has done-and is doing, in order to persevere by faith.

 

1. Believing the Word of God

 

Our writer explains this by bringing up the subject of creation. We must remember that the Romans did not believe that the God revealed in Scripture created the world. They joined the Greeks in believing that a complex series of divine emanations were involved in creation, with the chief one being the logos. So here were these struggling believers in the midst of an empire steeped in paganism and denying anything of divine creation. He encourages these believers by turning their attention to truth they had grasped by faith that would enlarge their strength to trust in the Word of God. How was the world created? God spoke it into existence. The power of the divine word, uttered without strain or doubt or uncertainty or curiosity about what might take place, brought the world into existence. "By faith we understand that the worlds were prepared by the word of God." The repetitive, "And God said, 'Let there be,' testifies of how the world began upon the divine pronouncement.

 

Realizing this should do two things. First, the struggling believer is encouraged to understand something of the majestic power of his God. The God, who created the world ex nihilo, out of nothing, is certainly able to sustain us in the fight of faith. Creation serves as a testimony to his majesty and sufficiency. Everywhere the believer looks he sees the creative handiwork of the God who has called him by his own name. He is not encumbered by the troubles that weigh us down. Our God is able. Creation affirms this. I think of how often I have been encouraged in perseverance by taking a walk, meditating upon the Lord, and seeing how grand he is. My faith may be feeble, but not my God!

 

Second, the emphasis on "the word of God" points to the certainty of what God speaks. He spoke and "the worlds were prepared," or outfitted in perfection. God's word was adequate to create the world and will surely be adequate to sustain you. Faith is anchored in the promises of God recorded for us in Holy Scripture. So by faith we believe what God has spoken. Practically, that is why we must read, meditate, and study the Word of God, so that we might have an adequate understanding of what the Lord has prepared and promised for those who belong to him.

 

2. Seeing the "fingerprints" of God

 

The second clause of the verse adds, "we understand...so that what is seen was not made out of things which are visible." Faith gives you eyes to see what others about you cannot see. A situation arises in your life and you see the fingerprints of God all over it. You read through a secular history book, and even though the author had no intention to do so, you see the fingerprints of God in the way he providentially directs the affairs of humanity. Faith involves trusting and doing, but here we see it stressing seeing or understanding (mental rather than sensual perception).

 

Do you see what others do not see? I'm not trying to be mystical in the least rather I'm referring to being able to discern the working of God-his fingerprints so to speak, in the details of our lives. Let me illustrate it like this. Do you remember those 3-D pictures that were full of colors and images but contained within them very distinct, lively images that you cannot see without deep concentration? I have starred at these pictures, trying to find the image, when all of the sudden, it leaps from the frame into full view! A casual glance at the picture will not reveal the hidden image but a long, gazing look can find it [I'm indebted to John Piper for this illustration].

Here's what faith does, it sees the fingerprints of God at work in the details of life so that the believer gains new strength to persevere as a Christian. Faith lays hold of God. It is not the power of positive thinking but a genuine perception of the Lord, seeing him at work, tasting of his goodness, gazing upon his glory, and being satisfied in his beauty [John Piper, www.soundofgrace.com/piper97/6-1-97.htm].

Conclusion

 

Faith embraces the fondest hopes of what Christ has provided, gives proof of the invisible God at work, and understands what the eye cannot see of the glory of God. Have faith for the preserving of the soul as one who runs with endurance the race set before you.

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