Hebrews chapter 11 is known by many believers in Jesus Christ as the Faith chapter. Faith is important to Christians; it is the way a person is saved, “For by grace you have been saved through faith” (Ephesians 2:8), and faith is also the way a person lives the Christian life, “For we walk by faith, not by sight” (2 Corinthians 5:7). Faith, therefore, is a very important and even central part of the Christian experience. You can’t live the Christian life in close relationship with God without faith. But what does the Bible have to say about faith? The Bible has quite a lot to say about faith. We find it as a major theme throughout the Bible. We find statements about the faith of all the pivotal characters in the Bible, for example, “And Abraham believer the Lord, and he counted to him as righteousness” (Genesis 15:6). Faith is, at the same time, the action of trust in what God says, and the content of what one is trusting. God gives commands and promises in his word, and people act on those commands and promises with faith or with unbelief.
The central idea and teaching of Hebrews 11 is faith. The chapter is set in the context of the whole book, which is about the superiority of the new covenant through Jesus Christ over the old covenant. In fact, Jesus and his death as a sacrifice for sin is the fulfillment of all the promises of the old covenant. The people of that day were in danger of returning to the way of the old covenant because of persecution. But the salvation that Jesus brings must be received by faith. The writer of Hebrews looks back in chapter 11 to many of the people in the old covenant who lived by faith in the future promises of salvation that will come in the new covenant and encourages the people of the new covenant to follow their example.
The Meaning of Faith
The message of Hebrews chapter 11 is developed in two stages. First, we find a brief but highly meaningful statement about the essence of faith (Hebrews 11:1-3). Then, we see numerous examples of people of faith who exhibited the essence of faith we see in the first stage. Hebrews begins with a concise statement of the meaning of faith, “Now faith is the confidence of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen” (Hebrews 11:1). Faith is said to be the confidence or assurance a person has in things that are hoped for. Things that are hoped for are future things. What are these things that are hoped for? They are all the promises of God about Christ. They are the promises about Christ entering the world, the promises of Christ living a sinless life, the promises of Christ dying for our sins, and the promises of Christ’s resurrection. They are the promises of salvation. Faith is confidence in the truth of these promises for our salvation and for our lives.
The writer of Hebrews goes on to say that faith is the evidence of things not seen, spiritual things. How do we have evidence of spiritual things that are not seen? Faith is the evidence of these spiritual realities. God makes promises to us, and our trust is in the promises of God and the God of the promises. Biblical faith, then, is not a vague wishful thinking or blind faith – a leap in the dark, but a confident trust in God about the future that is unseen and the spiritual realities in that future that God has promised. Faith is a confident trust in God, which produces joyful hope. “For all the promises of God find their Yes in him (Christ). That is why it is through him that we utter our Amen to God for his glory” (2 Corinthians 1:20).
The People of Faith
The second stage of the message of Hebrews 11 covers the rest of the chapter (Hebrews 11:4-40). In this stage, the writer of Hebrews presents a number of people from the old covenant who demonstrated this powerful faith expressed in the first stage. The phrase, By Faith, is used nineteen times to show that the extraordinary things they accomplished were done by trusting in the promises of God. The people of faith in this section are organized chronologically into four groups. The first group is the pre-flood group of Abel, Enoch, and Noah. It is with Enoch in this group that we see the great statement of faith that is so well-known, “And without faith, it is impossible to please God, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him” (Hebrews 11:6).
The second group is the Abraham group, which includes Sarah, Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph. This group is the longest of the chapter, running from verse 8 through verse 22. We also find great statements of this group’s faith. Speaking of Abraham, we read in Hebrews 11:10, “For he was looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God.” And speaking of all in this group, we read in Hebrews 11:13, “These all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth.”
The third group is the Moses group, which deals with the exodus from Egypt and the taking of the city of Jericho (Hebrews 11:23-31). The exodus from Egypt was a pivotal time in the history of Israel and the plan of God leading to the coming of the Messiah. Moses was one of the greatest men of faith in the Bible. The great faith statement for Moses is Hebrews 11:26, “He (Moses) considered the reproach of Christ (Messiah) greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking to the reward.” Moses was willing to set aside great wealth and power for the glory of God. This is an act of faith that bestows eternal reward.
The fourth and final group is a catch-all group of various people from the time of the Judges to the end of the Old Testament, who stepped forward with faith in strategic moments that made a difference in the fulfillment of the plan of God. The writer of Hebrews notes that because of their faith and their willingness to suffer, the world was not worthy of such people. They suffered for the glory of God without receiving the promise, knowing that the coming of the future messianic kingdom was certain. The chapter closes with the reality that all these people received divine commendation for their faith. This is the testimony of God to the role that each of them played in the unfolding plan of God leading to the coming of the Messiah, who is the Savior of the world.
Conclusion
Hebrews chapter 11 reveals the life-changing and world-changing power of faith. This powerful faith is available to all who are willing to trust the promises of God in the face of the rejection of the world. Their faith was developed in the crucible of suffering. They all struggled upstream against the current of the world. But the focus is not really on the ones with faith but on the object of their faith, the faithful God who keeps his promises. God used this hardship-hardened faith to do great things for his kingdom. The writer of Hebrews writes to encourage his generation and all future generations that while the price of faith is costly, the rewards and blessings of faith are incalculable. The call is to pursue faith with all your heart.