The Just Live by Faith

Hebrews 10:39 But we are not of those who draw back to perdition, but of those who believe to the saving of the soul.

The writer quickly dissociates himself and his fellow believers from those who draw back to perdition. This separates apostates from genuine Christians. 

Apostates turn away and are lost, but true believers keep their faith and save their souls from destruction. 

With this mention of faith (“believe” and “faith” are the same root word in Greek), the groundwork is laid for a fuller discussion of the life that pleases God. 

Living by What Is Not Seen

Hebrews 11:1 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. 

This chapter deals with the vision and endurance of faith. It introduces us to men and women of the OT who had 20/20 spiritual vision and who endured tremendous shame and suffering rather than renounce their faith. 

Verse 1 is not really a formal definition of faith; rather it is a description of what faith does for us. It makes things hoped for as real as if we already had them, and it provides unshakable evidence that the unseen, spiritual blessings of Christianity are absolutely certain and real. In other words, it brings the future within the present and makes the invisible seen. 

Faith is confidence in the trustworthiness of God. It is the conviction that what God says is true and that what He promises will come to pass. 

Faith must have some revelation from God, some promise of God as its foundation. It is not a leap in the dark. It demands the surest evidence in the universe, and finds it in the word of God.

It is not limited to possibilities but invades the realm of the impossible. Someone has said, “Faith begins where possibilities end. If it’s possible, then there’s no glory for God in it.” 

Faith, mighty faith the promise sees,
And looks to God alone;
Laughs at impossibilities
And cries, “It shall be done.” —Author unknown. 

There are difficulties and problems in the life of faith. God tests our faith in the crucible to see if it is genuine (1 Pet. 1:7). But, as George Müller said, “Difficulties are food for faith to feed on.” 

Hebrews 11:2 For by it the elders obtained a good testimony. 

Because they walked by faith and not by sight, the OT worthies received divine approval. The rest of this chapter is an illustration of how God has borne witness to them. 

Hebrews 11:3 By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible.

Faith provides us with the only factual account of creation. God is the only One who was there; He tells us how it happened. 

We believe His word and thus we know. McCue states: “The conception of God pre-existent to matter and by His fiat calling it into being is beyond the domain of reason or demonstration. It is simply accepted by an act of faith.” 

By faith we understand. The world says, “Seeing is believing.” God says, “Believing is seeing.” Jesus said to Martha, “Did I not say to you that if you would believe you would see …” (John 11:40). The Apostle John wrote, “These things I have written to you who believe … that you may know” (1 Jn. 5:13). In spiritual matters faith precedes understanding.

The worlds were framed by the word of God. God spoke and matter came into being. This agrees perfectly with man’s discovery that matter is essentially energy.  When God spoke, there was a flow of energy in the form of sound waves. These were transformed into matter, and the world sprang into being. 

The things which are seen were not made out of things which are visible.  Energy is invisible; so are atoms, and molecules, and gases to the naked eye, yet in combination they become visible.The fact of creation as set forth here in Hebrews 11:3 is unimpeachable. It has never been improved on and never will. 

The Faith of the Patriarchs

Hebrews 11:4 By faith Abel offered to God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, through which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts; and through it he being dead still speaks.

Hindson, E. E., & Kroll, W. M. (Eds.). (1994). KJV Bible Commentary (p. 121). Nashville: Thomas Nelson. MacArthur, J. F., Jr., MacDonald, Farstad, Believers Bible; Hindson, E. E., & Kroll, W. M. (Eds.). (1994). KJV Bible Commentary (p. 2195). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.