Now Faith Is
Hebrews 10.36-11.1
“For you need endurance, so that when you have done the will of God, you may receive what is promised. ‘For yet in a little while, the one who is coming will come and will not delay; but my righteous one will live by faith. My soul takes no pleasure in anyone who shrinks back.’ But we are not among those who shrink back and so are lost, but among those who have faith and so are saved. Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.”
The author of Hebrews was encouraging the, predominately Jewish, believers in their life of faith, as they were facing various struggles - suffering, abuse and persecution. Whilst following Christ was their entrance into the Kingdom of God, it was no walk in the park.
They needed perseverance as they waited for what was promised. He wrote they weren’t those who shrink back (to their old and familiar way of life in Judaism), but were those “who have faith and so are saved.”
It is of particular note the promise of God they were waiting in hope for was the return of Jesus Christ.
The writer then defines what faith is, regarding the promise they awaited for in Jesus’ return. Hebrews 11.1 is a well-known, well-used text, which is typically employed however for personal ends. This misses the context and point of these verses, prior and following. The context is staying faithful under pressure, going against the grain, as exemplified in the faith of the patriarchs, and various other Israelite heroes.
“Now faith is …” is simply saying - now this is what faith looks like. It is the assurance (present possession) of things hoped for. What are these things hoped for? The answer to this is pivotal; in the writer of Hebrew’s mind, it is referring to the promise of Christ’s return. He goes on to show how this same faith won approval for their ancestors. Each of them, with Abraham as central, had faith for what they hoped for, which was that which God spoke to them. They weren’t following the trajectory of their own desires and hopes, adding faith to ensure fulfillment. This mistakes our hopes/dreams for God’s promises, which are purposed to give us hope in the present. Hope relates directly to what God has promised.
For example, for Abraham and Sarah it was a child and a land in the face of impossibilities. The hope they all had was due to a word God conveyed to them – a word that was linked to redemptive history, for us as much as them, and ultimately fulfilled in Christ, in whom all the promises of God are yes and amen!
Things hoped for isn’t referring to our personal hopes, dreams and aspirations. Of course, God can speak a word to us, that becomes a word, a promise, that we can trust for our futures. But employing faith, as though it were a commodity, for personal gain (even if not fiscal) is not the direction and purpose of faith. Aside from, faith is primarily in Jesus, not things.
Our fixation on a radically personalized faith has misread and therefore misinterpreted scripture, so that we see personal benefit as a reason to believe rather than being transformed, together and individually, into the likeness of Christ.
Just because I hope for and pray for something is no guarantee it a promise of God for me, nor does shopping for the best promise mean God has spoken to me. I suspect it is often we who have spoken to us.
It is God’s promises that give us real and enduring hope. That is what hope is all about.