The Faith of Hebrews 11 is Comprehensive

[Lauralea]

11 Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. ² This is what the ancients were commended for.

So faith is assurance in  what we do not see. It rests on more than physical evidence.

³ By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible.

Faith believes God created the universe, and not out of the things we see.

⁴ By faith Abel brought God a better offering than Cain did. By faith he was commended as righteous, when God spoke well of his offerings. And by faith Abel still speaks, even though he is dead.

By faith we can be righteous

⁵ By faith Enoch was taken from this life, so that he did not experience death: “He could not be found, because God had taken him away.”^[a] For before he was taken, he was commended as one who pleased God. ⁶

By faith is the only way we can be translated and not experience death.

And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.

Without faith it is impossible to please God.

⁷ By faith Noah, when warned about things not yet seen, in holy fear built an ark to save his family. By his faith he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness that is in keeping with faith.

By faith Noah built the ark even though noone had ever seen rain and received righteousness by faith.

 

The faith that will enable us to please God is a package deal. Paul says it involves believing God created the universe, in Noah's flood, and that Enoch went to Heaven and never died. Even though it may be hard to conceptualize some of these things from a human standpoint,  if we have faith the Lord will resurrect those who are dead and take them to Heaven, it would seem we could have faith in these other miracles.

[Lauralea]

Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. KJV

 

This suggests from KJV that faith becomes it's own evidence for things we cannot understand or have knowledge of what God has given us thru the Bible. I would think that a demand to follow physical evidence (and man's interpretation of it) to be a lack of faith.

 

The Bible gives the most true and exact account of the origin of all things, and we are to believe it, and not to wrest the Scripture account of the creation, because it does not suit with the differing fancies of men. All that we see of the works of creation, were brought into being by the command of God. Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary  http://biblehub.com/hebrews/11-3.htm

 

The Bible and faith provides their own evidence of things not seen. Thank you for bringing out that interesting aspect of having faith. I also appreciate the Matthew Henry quote. We do need the faith to believe in Creation, and as I briefly reviewed the rest of the chapter last night, it made me realize that even though I believe in a literal 6 day Creation by faith, there are other aspects of faith, such as losing all material things or being martyred, that would test my faith far more, and so I have decided to explore each passage of this chapter in turn. 

[joeb]

I like Hebrews 11:1 better in the Darby translation better than I do the KJV.  Don't get me wrong.  I really like the KJV, but the wording in Darby really makes things clearer for me.

 

Darby:  

 

Now faith is the substantiating of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen

The dictionary definition of substantiation is: the act of validating.  So faith is where we find the validation of what we hope for.

 

The 1913 Webster's dictionary has this to say about conviction:

 

Usage: Conviction respects soley matters of belief or faith;
          persuasion respects matters of belief or practice.
          Conviction respects our most important duties;
          persuasion is frequently applied to matters of
          indifference. --Crabb. -- Conviction is the result of
          the [operation of the] understanding; persuasion, of
          the will. Conviction is a necessity of the mind,
          persuasion an acquiescence of the inclination. --C. J.
          Smith. -- Persuasion often induces men to act in
          opposition to their conviction of duty.
          [1913 Webster]

 

 

So faith provides both the validation and what our minds find necessary to believe in God and salvation.  It's no wonder Christians are viewed as irrational by non-Christians who are faithless.

[phkrause]

I also like the way the Darby Bible puts it, joeb, but as always it seems I prefer the way the CJB says it: Trusting is being confident of what we hope for, convinced about things we do not see.

[LifeHiscost]

The Bible and faith provides their own evidence of things not seen. Thank you for bringing out that interesting aspect of having faith. I also appreciate the Matthew Henry quote. We do need the faith to believe in Creation, and as I briefly reviewed the rest of the chapter last night, it made me realize that even though I believe in a literal 6 day Creation by faith, there are other aspects of faith, such as losing all material things or being martyred, that would test my faith far more, and so I have decided to explore each passage of this chapter in turn. 

It's interesting how the world in general will not accept that, at least to a large degree. The battle lines are being drawn. It's an exciting time to be living.

 

Bill Nye: Creationism Is 'Raising A Generation Of Young People Who Can't Think'

The Huffington Post  |  By Antonia Blumberg

 

Posted: 12/13/2014 8:59 am EST  Updated:   12/15/2014 3:59 pm EST

 

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/12/13/bill-nye-children-creationism_n_6317148.html

 

 

8See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception, according to the tradition of men, according to the elementary principles of the world, rather than according to Christ. 9For in Him all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form,…Col 2

 

God is Love! Jesus saves! 

[Lauralea]

It;s interesting the different versions have different nuances. Conviction can mean a firnly held belief or we can be convinced, while evidence supports that belief. So faith brings conviction in regard to or provides evidence of the unseen.

It's so ironic to me that Creationists are sometimes accused of being anti intellectual or unduly influenced by their early upbringing because I was raised by nonreligious parents and did not become a Christian until my early 20s. I examined so many different philosphies and found them wanting before I became a Christian.  While I am well educated and come from a well educated family, maybe these accusations are something we need to expect in the last days as something scoffers will say. In Noah's day, they said it wasn't going to rain. Peter links not believing in the Creation and Flood with not believing in the second coming, particularly in the last days, and that is what we see. There is disbelief in a literal 6  day Creation, in a world wide flood, and in a literal Second Coming.

 

 

2 Peter 3:2 Knowing this first: that scoffers will come in the last days, walking according to their own lusts, ⁴ and saying, “Where is the promise of His coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation.” ⁵ For this they willfully forget: that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of water and in the water, ⁶ by which the world that then existed perished, being flooded with water. ⁷ But the heavens and the earth which are now preserved by the same word, are reserved for fire until the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.

[Lauralea]

⁸ By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going.

SOmetimes we need to follow God's leading even when we are not sure where we are going.

 

⁹ By faith he made his home in the promised land like a stranger in a foreign country; he lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise. ¹⁰ For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God. ¹¹

Sometimes our life here is in transit a lot but we need to bear in mind we have an eternal home.

 

And by faith even Sarah, who was past childbearing age, was enabled to bear children because she^[b] considered him faithful who had made the promise. ¹² And so from this one man, and he as good as dead, came descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as countless as the sand on the seashore.

Faith in God's word trumps biological probabilities.

¹³ All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance, admitting that they were foreigners and strangers on earth. ¹⁴ People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own. ¹⁵ If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return. ¹⁶ Instead, they were longing for a better country—a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.

 

Are we looking for a better place, or does it get to us when things get uncertain in the here and now? I know it can be challenging for me to accept, but I don't want to be complaining about things that got left behind on my spiritual journey.

[Ron Amnsn]

The faith in Hebrews 11 is active.  The heroes of faith listed in the chapter are commended for what they did, not because of what they merely believed.   In both Hebrew and Greek, the meaning of the word "faith" includes faithfulness (actions) that result from belief, as well as the belief itself.  Thus belief and faithfulness are the two sides of a single coin -- together they make the "faith" that is exemplified in Hebrews 11.

 

In English, that "faithfulness" aspect of faith is missing-- we imagine that faith can happen in the thoughts alone. The apostle James tells us that the English interpretation for the word "faith" is dead:

"Even so faith, if it has no works, is dead, being by itself." (James 2:17)

"For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead." (James 2:26)

[Lauralea]

The faith in Hebrews 11 is active.  The heroes of faith listed in the chapter are commended for what they did, not because of what they merely believed.   In both Hebrew and Greek, the meaning of the word "faith" includes faithfulness (actions) that result from belief, as well as the belief itself.  Thus belief and faithfulness are the two sides of a single coin -- together they make the "faith" that is exemplified in Hebrews 11.

 

In English, that "faithfulness" aspect of faith is missing-- we imagine that faith can happen in the thoughts alone. The apostle James tells us that the English interpretation for the word "faith" is dead:

"Even so faith, if it has no works, is dead, being by itself." (James 2:17)

"For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead." (James 2:26)

Thank you so much for bringing out how faith is active, rather than a mere intellectual assent to the truth. James is not talking about a list of rote duties, but a living faith that works. And Paul is discussing those who showed their faith by their acts.

[Lauralea]

¹⁷ By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises offered up his only begotten son, ¹⁸ of whom it was said, “In Isaac your seed shall be called,”^{[d] 19} concluding that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead, from which he also received him in a figurative sense.

²⁰ By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau concerning things to come.

²¹ By faith Jacob, when he was dying, blessed each of the sons of Joseph, and worshiped, leaning on the top of his staff.

²² By faith Joseph, when he was dying, made mention of the departure of the children of Israel, and gave instructions concerning his bones.

 

Abraham had such faith he was willing to make the ultimate sacrifice and lay all his hopes dreams and plans on the alter along with the one he loved most on Earth. He loved and trusted God more than anyone or anything.

The Faith of Moses

²³ By faith Moses, when he was born, was hidden three months by his parents, because they saw he was a beautiful child; and they were not afraid of the king’s command.

²⁴ By faith Moses, when he became of age, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, ²⁵ choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin, ²⁶ esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in^[e] Egypt; for he looked to the reward.

²⁷ By faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king; for he endured as seeing Him who is invisible. ²⁸ By faith he kept the Passover and the sprinkling of blood, lest he who destroyed the firstborn should touch them.

 

Moses had faith to turn his back on being the leader of a powerful nation along with fame and fortune to serve God.

 

²⁹ By faith they passed through the Red Sea as by dry land, whereas the Egyptians, attempting to do so, were drowned.

³⁰ By faith the walls of Jericho fell down after they were encircled for seven days. ³¹

 

The Israelites who marched around Jericho had faith to do what seemed illogical and not demonstrably helpful and because they followed God's command the walls fell and they did not have to fight in their own strength. Those who marched through the Red Sea witnessed a miracle, but the second time they had to get their feet wet before the waters parted.

 

By faith the harlot Rahab did not perish with those who did not believe, when she had received the spies with peace.

 

Rahab believed more than many of the Israelites, and God turned her life from great darkness to great light and blessing.

[Robert]

Bill Nye: Creationism Is 'Raising A Generation Of Young People Who Can't Think'

 

 

I viewed his video and I just realized without studying "evolution" that I'm just a dumb electronic's engineer.  I can't think!!!

 

What is Bill appealing to?  Pride and self-love, the fundamentals of our human natures. 

 

He also kept bringing up this idea that the earth is just 6000 years old.  A careful study of the Bible suggests the earth is very old, but the creation is very young (maybe 6000 yrs).

 

Again, Bill and folks like him are going to think themselves right out of heaven.  

[Lauralea]

It is quite challenging when people imply creationists are mentally challenged. I did study evolution and never believed it even before I came to the Lord because it was not in harmony with the second law of thermodynamics. It is amazing how many words are used to reconcile the two, when true science such as the laws of thermodynamics or chemistry is much more concise.

 

Ellen White said that God was not dependent on preexisting matter in creating the Earth btw and that geologists who try to determine the age of the earth without the aid of the Bible will be mistaken in their efforts.

[Lauralea]

Yes Jackson. It is an active living faith. Hebrews makes the different views of faith in Romans and James more connected to me.