Originally posted: 10/04/2021
And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him, (11:6).
The force from the Judaizers against the Hebrew believers in Christ was vigorous. After all, the religious system of the Jewish people had always espoused that pleasing God required rigorous adherence to the religious requirements of the Law. Or had it?
Following on the heels of his case for the Sufficiency of the Sacrifice of Christ that grants assurance to every believer for forgiveness of sin and eternal inheritance, the writer goes on to explain that this was not some new concept; this was not God’s “plan B” because the temple sacrifices just couldn’t cut the mustard (which they couldn’t). This had always been His plan for all of mankind, and proof is presented as the heroes of their Jewish heritage are highlighted.
After painting the worst-case scenario of those who might choose to reject the Sufficiency of His Sacrifice, the writer makes a bold declaration of what assuredly awaits these Hebrew believers. Their soul will be preserved by their faith in His Sacrifice.
But we are not of those who shrink back to destruction, but of those who have faith to the preserving of the soul, (Hebrews 10:39).
And following this, he immediately and succinctly defines what faith is; and it is not at all complicated, as so many seem to make it.
Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen, (11:1).
The update of this verse from the 1995 revision of the NASB (the translation typically cited here), describes faith with words we might here in a courtroom trial.
Now faith is the certainty of things hoped for, a proof of things not seen, (11:1 NASB 2020).
Certainty. Proof. In other words, faith means that what we hope for is certain and absolutely proves the reality of what is not seen.
Chapter 11 of Hebrews is commonly referred to as the Hall of Faith; a walk down memory lane that begins in the garden and continues in review of many of their most revered saints of old; saints who had gained approval from God through living by What Pleases Him… Faith.
For by it the people of old gained approval. (11:2).
For from the beginning of His creation, there has only been one way to approach Holy God, only one way to Pleases Him… Faith.
And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him, (11:6).
Consider What Pleases Him
The Hall of Faith is a compilation of the people of old who had gained approval, not because they kept the Law; in fact, several lived before the time of Moses and the giving of the Law. Those so honored as to be named in His Great Hall of Faith, gained approval because they lived by What Pleases Him.
And to live by What Pleases Him was to live by Faith…
Faith… in His Creative Word
Faith… in what is not seen
Faith… in the offerings
Faith… in reverent obedience
Faith… in Who He Is
Faith… in His Rewards
Faith… in His Promises
Faith… in the unseen
Faith… in the unknown
Faith… in His Work
Faith… in His Faithfulness
Faith… in the absence of receiving
Faith… in the waiting
Faith… in what He is Preparing
Faith… in the testings
Faith… in His Ability
Faith… in His Prophetic Revelation
Faith… in His Protection
Faith… in enduring
Faith… in deprivation
Faith… in the Blood of the Lamb
Faith… in His Sovereignty
Faith… in His Plan
Faith… in His Provision for Salvation
Faith… in following Him
Faith… in His Supernatural Works
Faith… in persecution
Faith… in death
Faith… in His Perfect Provision to Come
Faith… in the Riches of His Salvation
And the writer concludes this Hall of Faith registry by pointing once again to the “better things” in Christ, fixing our gaze on the culmination of His perfecting work in the past, the present, and the future for all who have lived and will live by faith; collectively confident that He will fulfill every promise to provide “something better” for every believer who has chosen the “better” way of living by What Pleases Him.
And all these, having gained approval through their faith, did not receive what was promised, 40 because God had provided something better for us, so that apart from us they would not be made perfect, (11:39-40).
How do we respond to What Pleases Him?
We must never forget what He has told us in His God-Breathed Word. It is an absolute impossibility to Please Him apart from Faith.
And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him, (11:6).
But the enemy is forever dangling before us the things we should do ourselves in order to please God, and the force from the enemy against all believers in Christ is vigorous.
But He has told us that as we grow in knowing Him through faith to live by What Pleases Him, He will find delight in being Who He has declared Himself to be: faithful, loving, kind, just, and righteous.
Thus says the Lord, “Let not a wise man boast of his wisdom, and let not the mighty man boast of his might, let not a rich man boast of his riches; 24 but let him who boasts boast of this, that he understands and knows Me, that I am the Lord who exercises lovingkindness, justice and righteousness on earth; for I delight in these things,” declares the Lord, (Jeremiah 9:24).
Oh, that we would take Him at His Word, that we would walk by courageous Faith and not by sight. Let it become our life’s ambition that whatever we encounter, whether it be trials or triumphs, privation or plenty, heartache or happiness, our hope would be certain so as to absolutely prove the reality of what is not seen as we trust His Perfect Promises and Provision, knowing we too will gain our approval as we live by What Pleases Him.
Therefore, being always of good courage, and knowing that while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord— 7 for we walk by faith, not by sight— 8 but we are of good courage and prefer rather to be absent from the body and to be at home with the Lord. 9 Therefore we also have as our ambition, whether at home or absent, to be pleasing to Him, (2 Corinthians 5:6-9).