Hebrews 11: Saving Faith

And all these, though commended through their faith, did not receive what was promised, since God had provided something better for us, that apart from us they should not be made perfect. (Hebrews 11:39-40 ESV)

Once again, I want to hit the punch line first before diving into the meat of the text.  We have seen a litany of examples that we might construe as saving faith. And then, we arrive at verse 39. All of these wonderful works accomplished by these Old Testament patriarchs, and then the writer of Hebrews tells us to wait a second, that wasn't the point.

Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. (Hebrews 12:1-2 ESV)

How is it that we can simultaneously be exhorted to do great works, and yet be told that the promise was not received based upon those works? What is this faith that enables such great deeds, and yet falls short in perfecting us? What is it that God provided that was better for us? Rest assured, eager reader, that the author of Hebrews knows the answer. Remember back at the beginning of our journey through Hebrews, that we made some assumptions. A key assumption is that this letter or sermon was delivered to people who already had saving faith. Here, we see the faith of the Old Testament patriarchs set in contradistinction to this saving faith. This obviously begs the question, what is saving faith?

For my long-time readers, this will sound repetitive, because I wrote a similar post back in March. But is an important topic, one that bears repeating. Let us start from the notion that we must have faith. What is faith? Is faith tangible? Is faith itself an object? I ask this in a grammatical sense as well as a metaphysical sense. Grammatically speaking, faith is used as a noun. But more properly, we should think of faith perhaps as a gerund. Take this sentence: faith is believing. Using this construction, is quite easy to see my meaning. So I ask again, is it enough to have faith?

Is faith necessarily a Christian construct? Do you have faith in the Texans' ability to win with the third string quarterback? Is this the same faith of which we speak in a biblical context? Clearly not, therefore, it is obvious that faith must have an object. So, what is the object of our faith?

Let's start small, and build up as we need. I believe in God. For many, that is a sufficient statement of faith. Very quickly, we can argue that this is not a particularly Christian claim. In fact, statistically, most people in the United States believe in God, or a god, or some supreme being. Certainly, our Old Testament patriarchs believed in God, and yet the author of Hebrews has already declared that this was not saving faith.

I believe in Jesus, that he is the Christ, the Messiah. Certainly, that is a step farther than the Old Testament patriarchs were able to take. Does this constitute saving faith? Let's look at Matthew 4 for a moment. What is the supposition that the devil keeps making to Jesus?  And the tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God….” Without getting into too much of a philosophical argument about it, this is clearly a rhetorical statement by the devil. The devil knows Jesus is the son of God; he doesn't just believe it, he knows it. The point is this: if the devil knows Jesus is the son of God, and the devil isn't saved by that knowledge, can we consider this to be saving faith?

Now let's turn to 1 Corinthians 15. It's a long chapter, but I want you to read it now.  Here is just a sampling of the early part of the chapter.

For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me. For I am the least of the apostles, unworthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. (1 Corinthians 15:3-10a ESV)

In verse 1, Paul calls this his gospel, and he exhorts us to the same perseverance as does the author of Hebrews.      Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you—unless you believed in vain.  (1 Corinthians 15:1-2 ESV)  

We are being saved, not by our works, but by virtue of this gospel, this news about Jesus. The whole basis of this faith, according to Paul, is the truth of the resurrection. Paul reminds us that this was an actual historical event. He tells us about witnesses, he tells us about the names of some of those witnesses, he tells us about the number of witnesses, more than 500 brothers at one time. This, my friends, is what it means to be a witness. It is a legal word, it is a word used in courtrooms. These 500+ eyewitnesses testify and witness to the resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth. Yes, His resurrection is the basis of saving faith.

Now, let's go back to Hebrews 11:2. …looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.  Once again, saving faith is linked to the events of the cross. Once again, the New Testament links salvation to the work of Jesus Christ on the cross. Once again, the New Testament declares the object of our saving faith.

Elsewhere, I have tried to help you understand how it is that these events on the cross connect directly with you. Biblical words like justification, imputation, and propitiation are used to describe how this saving faith is connected directly to you. The first 11 chapters of Romans deal with this subject, particularly Romans 3:21-31, which we have discussed many times before.

            But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it—the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God's righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.

            Then what becomes of our boasting? It is excluded. By what kind of law? By a law of works? No, but by the law of faith. For we hold that one is justified by faith apart from works of the law. Or is God the God of Jews only? Is he not the God of Gentiles also? Yes, of Gentiles also, since God is one—who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith. Do we then overthrow the law by this faith? By no means! On the contrary, we uphold the law. (Romans 3:21-31 ESV)

It is easy to stumble over some of the language, particularly if you are still lacking the Reformation categories of law and gospel. But whether you have a clear understanding of these two paragraphs or not, one cannot deny that Paul explicitly excludes righteousness by works, and he links righteousness, justification, and salvation to faith in Jesus Christ, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood. It's all there, and it is repeated throughout the New Testament.

In conclusion, then, saving faith is faith that gives us our eternal reward, bodily resurrection, and everlasting life with Christ our King. The link between Jesus Christ and you is His life, His death, His resurrection, His ascension, and His future coming in glory. That is the object of saving faith, nothing more and nothing less.

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Hebrews 4

His rest.  Clearly, we need to understand exactly to what the writer refers with this phrase before we can understand this chapter.  Therefore, while the promise of entering his rest still stands, let us fear lest any of you should seem to have failed to reach it.  While the promise of entering his rest still stands….  Let us make no mistake about it, this statement comes completely upon the heels of the Chapter 3 discussion of His heritage and we know that this heritage is based upon the promise of God to Abraham.  These are eschatological ideas and refer to redemptive historical context.  We enter His rest after we die or on the Day of the Second Coming, whichever comes first.  Until that day, we continue to life IN Adam, simultaneously citizens of this present evil age and the Age to Come.  That is the tension with which we live as Christians.  Therefore, the promise still stands as long as we are alive and before the Second Coming.  After either one of those events, it is too late for us.  

…let us fear lest any of you should seem to have failed to reach it.  The key word here is seem.  Why is this the case?  First of all, we are not given the job of fruit inspection, and we don’t truly know the fate of anyone else.  We only know whether we truly believe.  Some may seem to be true believers.  They say all the prayers correctly and attend church every Wednesday and Sunday.  Others may seem to struggle in their faith, forever tottering in doubt, full of ethical dilemmas and questionable decisions.  The mysteries of the Holy Spirit are not made known to us.  Who is to say which of those two is saved and which is not.  Therefore, let us fear.

This is going to sound like a contradiction in a while when the writer talks about boasting, but you know that it isn’t.  When the writer is speaking to the whole congregation, he does not know to which group he is speaking.  There is the distinct possibility that there are reprobate present within the congregation.  This is not a statement about works, because we can see that he qualifies the comment with seems. 

For good news came to us just as to them, but the message they heard did not benefit them, because they were not united by faith with those who listened.  This is a remarkable statement.  Remember that the prior passage is about the Jews in the time of Moses.  Think about that point in redemptive history.  They had just received the Law in written form.  And yet, the writer says that good news came to them, also.  To what message is the writer referring?  Is it the Law?  No!  Israel was saved at Passover just before the Red Sea events at the beginning of their sojourn across the desert.  They were shown the sacrifices.  All of the types and shadows of what was to come in Jesus were there for them to see.  The message of the good news did not benefit them because they did not believe like those who truly listened.  Moses understood the big picture.  Abraham certainly understood the big picture.  But those Israelites who wandered the desert did not see beyond the promise of earthly Jerusalem to the promise of heavenly Jerusalem.

As you wander through verses 3-6, notice these points.  We who have believed entered that rest, in contrast with those who failed to enter because of disobedience.  Again, this is a remarkable passage.  Salvation is a passive event for the believer.  It is based upon the active work of another, Christ Jesus.  In contrast, disobedience is an active event by the nonbeliever.  The only actions of which fallen man is capable are in disobedience.  It is by listening and by faith in the promise that we receive Salvation.  Now, in the middle of that passage, God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit finished His works from the foundation of the world.  And as we will see shortly, after his earthly mission, Jesus finished His works in this incarnation with His death, burial and resurrection.  Notice how all these pieces fit nicely together, Old Testament and New Testament.

Watch what happens in verses 8-10.  For if Joshua had given them rest, God would not have spoken of another day later on. 9 So then, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God, 10 for whoever has entered God's rest has also rested from his works as God did from his.  OK, who are the people of God?  Are we talking about earthly Israel?  Of course not.  We are speaking of Heavenly Israel, those native branches and those wild branches alike that are grafted together on the root of Jesse, Jesus Christ.  When do we enter into God’s rest?  We enter into His rest when we die or on the Last Day, whichever comes first.  Thus, we rest from our works when we die or on the Last Day, whichever comes first.  Is this about righteousness?  No, this is about the reward, Salvation.  Righteousness is from belief, from faith in the redeeming work of Jesus on the cross, a faith we receive from the Holy Spirit.

Let us therefore strive to enter that rest, so that no one may fall by the same sort of disobedience. 12 For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. 13 And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account.  This passage is tough and will require careful consideration.  Starting from verse 11, is the writer suggesting that our works will profit us in terms of salvation?  At first glance, he seems to be doing just that.  But then, we realize that he is explaining the purpose of the Law.  When we read the phrase the word of God is living and active, remember that this is a double entendre.  We receive the Holy Spirit by listening to the Word of God preached into our ears.  But also, remember John 1.  Jesus Christ is the Word.  He is the Word made flesh.  He is living and active.  He does discern the depths of our hearts.  He does pierce our souls.  Why the image of the two-edged sword?  There are different types of blades.  The two edged sword can cut in either direction and can also be used to stab.  It is a more direct weapon.  But the crux of the imagery is that a two-edged sword cuts both ways.  If wielded unskillfully, it is as likely to cut the one who wields it.

Finally, this section ends in judgment.  All are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account.  Make no mistake.  We will all have to give an account.  And what have we learned so far from the writer of Hebrews?  Remember from the last chapter:

So, who then, ultimately are the righteous, the upright of heart?  We know from Psalms 5, 10, 14 and 36,  Isaiah 59 and 64, and Romans 1-3, that no one is righteous, no, not even one.  Look at Ecclesiastes 7:20.  Surely there is not a righteous man on earth who does good and never sins.  So, who are the righteous, the upright of heart?  No one.  No one qualifies.  That is the point of the Law.  After the Fall, no one is capable of fulfilling the Law. 

Therefore, this whole idea of impending Judgment absolutely should put fear into us, fear of the Wrath of God.  At the end of chapter 4, though, the writer refers us back to the end of chapter 2.  Jesus is the Great High Priest.  Next, we will discuss the role of the Great High Priest.

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Gospel Quiz Comments

1. All people are basically good, but there might be a few exceptions.
2. All good people go to heaven, bad people go to hell.
3. The most important teaching of the Bible is to live your life as an example to others.
4. Jesus summarizes the gospel as Love God and Love your neighbor.
5. God understands that we are not perfect, but he just wants us to do our best.  He will do the rest.
6. God helps those who help themselves.
7. The blood of Jesus gives me healing and blessings.
8. The Holy Spirit gives me healing and blessings.
9. You must make a decision to follow Christ to be saved.
10. Jesus saves us from ourselves and our sins.
11. If you make Jesus your savior, you become a carnal Christian.  You can then obtain one of the spiritual gifts and receive your full inheritance, jewels in your crown.
12. Free will is a gift of God.  We must factor in our free will when discussing salvation.

These questions have been asked in many ways over the years and the answers have been changing, usually in a cycle from orthodoxy to liberal drift to reformation to liberal drift.  I have heard 12 yes’s or agrees on these questions recently.  Most people seem to be splitting the difference and averaging about a 6.  Now, I will tell you my own score.  Zero.  Nada.  Zilch.  And now, I will go through each of these and explain why I do not agree.

(1)  According to the Bible, all people are evil, corrupted by sin.  In this present evil age, only two people have entered this world uncorrupted by sin, Adam and Jesus, and only one successfully exited this world without sin.  The condition of sin was not understood by the Pharisees, nor the whole Jewish nation with the exception of the remnant elect, all through the Old Testament.  This is what the prophets kept complaining about.  Remember how Ezekiel laments that he is the last person who believes in the promise of a messiah and God tells him, no, there are 7000 others that He has held back for Himself.  Read Romans 3:1-20 from a good word-for-word translation; ESV, NKJV, NASV all do justice to the passage.  All men are under the law.  All men have evil hearts.  All men will be convicted of sin on the last day if left to the works of Law.

(2)  Christ came into the world, lived, died and was resurrected to save sinners.  He did not come here to save the righteous (or self righteous, as none is truly righteous,) for the righteous do not need saving.  Based upon the answer to comment 1, no one is righteous, no one is good, and no one is going to heaven by the works of Law.  So, actually, since my heart is evil, and I believe that I AM going to heaven, evil people WILL go to heaven.  Of course, there is far more to this than God overlooking my sin.  Of course, He will never overlook my sin.  That would violate His Holiness and Infinite Righteousness.  There has to be another way.  Luckily for us, there is.

(3)  Most nominal Christians, you would think, would recognize the folly in this statement.  Alas, this is not the case.  So many people believe that their best testimony is to live pious lives as an example to the world.  Hello, people!  I’m not putting my life up against the average Mormon, and they are not Christian.  Change that to Hindu if you like, and the answer is the same.  Piety and righteousness before men is not an exclusive province of Christianity.  If you put all of your marbles on your righteousness before men, you will be judged based upon your own righteousness.  Before God, as we are developing in these questions, your own righteousness is, well….  Paul says that his own righteousness that he thought he had was dung.  Surely, there is more to the message of the Bible than living piously before man.  Maybe the real story in the Bible is His rescue of His people for eternity.

(4)  Jesus summarizes the Law as Love God and Love your neighbor.  Love is a verb in this sentence and it is in the imperative tense.  Imperative means command.  Command means Law.  This is not the Gospel.  Jesus was trying to explain to the Jews that their righteousness that they claimed under the law was woefully insufficient.  He takes the Law and raises it to the fourth power.  Sure, I can avoid murdering my neighbor and stealing his wife and his boat.  But can I avoid thinking bad thoughts about him?  Paul says that his heart and mind sin before his body ever gets around to it.  No, this summary is not the Gospel; this summary is the Law.  Jesus came to fulfill the Law because we can’t.

(5)  God does understand that we are not perfect, and frankly, He’s not very happy about it.  In fact, He banished us from Eden and convicted us all to death.  He doesn’t just want us to do our best; He expects us to be perfect!  Since we can’t be perfect, in fact, there is absolutely nothing that we can contribute at all to our own salvation, God, in His infinite Mercy, sent His Son into the world to save us all, all of those to whom He would give the free gift of Grace and Belief.

(6)  Amazingly, most people these days think this is a Bible verse.  It is, of course, from Benjamin Franklin.  God judges those who help themselves; He judges them under the Law.  The verdict is guilty, and the penalty is eternal separation from our God.

(7) (8)  These two are the same.  The blood of Jesus is not some magic talisman, nor is the Holy Spirit a cosmic butler.  The blood of Jesus is not an object to be wielded.  Jesus’ Blood was spilled in sacrifice of atonement to propitiate believers to God.  When we speak of the Blood of Jesus, we need to keep in mind why it HAD to be spilled, for whom it was spilled, and what it purchased for us.  The Blood of Jesus is a shorthand for the reconciliatory and atoning work of Jesus on the Cross; nothing more and nothing less.  The Holy Spirit came into the world to give the gift of faith to His people.  He testifies about Jesus; nothing more and nothing less.  Without the work of the Holy Spirit, we are all lost.

(9)  This one will get a resounding yes from most Americans, unfortunately.  If you follow the logical arguments above, there is no possibility of agreeing with this proposition.  The only decision of which I am capable on my own is to deny the Truth of Scripture and to choose that which I perceive is the best available option.  The problem is that my perception is tainted by sin, thus I cannot ever choose God.  The Holy Spirit is the solution of God to this problem.  The Holy Spirit is sent to testify about the Truth of the work of Jesus, in His life, death and resurrection, and to give the gift of faith to those whom He would choose.  The Pelagian heresy is anathamized even by Rome.

(10)  It is amazing to me that people don’t get this one right.  Sin is the problem, the consequence of sin is the Wrath of an Angry God.  The Wrath of God for sin is the main issue.  We have gravely offended the Holy, Almighty and Just God.  Justice will be served.  We are saved FROM the Wrath of God.

(11)  This is the standard Pentecostal formula.  They assert that there are two levels of believer: the carnal Christian verbalizes belief while the fully vested Christian manifests some “spiritual gift” and conforms to some man imposed ethical standard.  The brute damage that this theology does to the Gospel, to the Crucifixion of Christ, is beyond all limits.  This is truly that “other gospel” to which Paul associated the super apostles in Corinth.  As C.S. Lewis says in the Screwtape Letters, just get them to believe the Gospel and….  And anything, it doesn’t matter.  Just add anything on to the Gospel and it is no longer the Gospel.

(12)  Free will is of man.  Free will is nothing more than our mind choosing between the best options available as we perceive things.   The gospel is alien to us, outside of us.  We cannot perceive the Gospel without the gift of Grace from the Holy Spirit.  We are free to choose whatever we like from the options available to us.  But as Paul says in Romans 3:1-20, we are completely incapable of choosing God; we don’t want to choose God; we would not have made a different choice than Adam.  Free will does not help us in the least with our salvation.

I’m sure I’ve been treading on some toes with heavy steel tipped work boots.  I might respond to comments on this thread, or I might respond by email, depending on the tone of the comment and my view of the comment as a teaching point.  I have presented the reformed position.  If you are not Roman Catholic, this is your Christian heritage.  Why are you giving back the farm?  There was a time when Protestants held these positions, believed these Biblical doctrines.  This alien righteousness that Christ provides to His flock by the free gift of faith in Him through the power of the Holy Spirit is the thesis of the Bible.  This is the purpose of that rescue mission.  This is the Gospel.

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Gospel Quiz

Answer the following 12 questions yes or no, agree or disagree.  Total up all of your yes or agree answers and we will discuss the answers in the next post.

1. All people are basically good, but there might be a few exceptions.
2. All good people go to heaven, bad people go to hell.
3. The most important teaching of the Bible is to live your life as an example to others.
4. Jesus summarizes the gospel as Love God and Love your neighbor.
5. God understands that we are not perfect, but he just wants us to do our best.  He will do the rest.
6. God helps those who help themselves.
7. The blood of Jesus gives me healing and blessings.
8. The Holy Spirit gives me healing and blessings.
9. You must make a decision to follow Christ to be saved.
10. Jesus saves us from ourselves and our sins.
11. If you make Jesus your savior, you become a carnal Christian.  You can then obtain one of the spiritual gifts and receive your full inheritance, jewels in your crown.
12. Free will is a gift of God.  We must factor in our free will when discussing salvation.

Write down your total and, if you like, post the number here or on the Facebook starting link.  We’ll talk about it on Monday.

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