Passage: Hebrews 11:1-40
The word on the street is that faith is a potent mixture of intellectual and emotional self-control that when properly harnessed can literally change outcomes through positive thinking. Successful people tout it as the key to their achievements. Survivors of great tragedies cite faith as the source of their endurance. Televangelists credit it with healing power, and motivational speakers make a sweet living promoting faith.
That kind of hopeful thinking is more about having faith in faith than faith in God. The writer of Hebrews commends faith in an entirely different way, however. The heroes of faith in chapter 11 hardly used faith as a great cure-all, magic potion. To the contrary, “They were stoned, sawed in two, and killed by the sword. They went about … destitute, afflicted, mistreated—of whom the world was not worthy.” (vv. 37–38).
How can their faith not have fix their circumstances? They only saw glimpses of what was specifically promised. The chapter ends focusing on the future: “And all these, though commended through their faith, did not receive what was promised, since God had provided something better for us…” (vv. 39–40). These words draw attention to the final salvation accomplished by Christ’s priestly ministry. That is where our faith should lie: In Christ alone. The Old Testament saints looked forward to it and, amazingly, Christians now enjoy its fruits, solely by God’s grace.
