Hebrews
Dr. Ken Boa
Hebrews
...the book of Hebrews and, specifically, I want to talk about some issues about faith and what faith really implies. Now, we have a definition of faith right in the first verse and you probably have all heard this in varying translations. "Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen." (Hebrews 11:1)
What do we see in that verse? The assurance of things hoped for and the conviction of things not seen. Paul says in Romans 8 that if we hope for what we see, we are not really hoping, because we have already got it. The object of hope is in that which we do not yet see. So there is an issue of hope. And, it is the assurance of things hoped for and it is the evidence or conviction of things not seen. It seems to me that there are two components to it.
First of all, it is not now or not yet, and No. 2, it is not visible. These two components of faith mean that there is going to be something -- it is not a rational thing. Faith is not rational. But, biblical faith, specifically in the character of God and the promises of God, is something that we do not fully understand. In fact, we are going to see, as he is giving illustrations of men and women of faith in the Old Testament times, that in verse 13, "all these died in faith without receiving the promise". It is a very important observation to make because I think many, many believers put their hope in the wrong place. They have their hope, thinking this is going to be it and that God is going to give me certain things now and they live as though God is going to say, this is your world and your home now. Now that you've become a believer, you are at home. And, actually, He is saying now that you have become a believer in Christ, you are not at home in the world anymore. Actually, when you came to Christ, you became a pilgrim. You may not perceive it that way, but you became an exile. It just meant that you now have a differe ...
Dr. Ken Boa
Hebrews
...the book of Hebrews and, specifically, I want to talk about some issues about faith and what faith really implies. Now, we have a definition of faith right in the first verse and you probably have all heard this in varying translations. "Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen." (Hebrews 11:1)
What do we see in that verse? The assurance of things hoped for and the conviction of things not seen. Paul says in Romans 8 that if we hope for what we see, we are not really hoping, because we have already got it. The object of hope is in that which we do not yet see. So there is an issue of hope. And, it is the assurance of things hoped for and it is the evidence or conviction of things not seen. It seems to me that there are two components to it.
First of all, it is not now or not yet, and No. 2, it is not visible. These two components of faith mean that there is going to be something -- it is not a rational thing. Faith is not rational. But, biblical faith, specifically in the character of God and the promises of God, is something that we do not fully understand. In fact, we are going to see, as he is giving illustrations of men and women of faith in the Old Testament times, that in verse 13, "all these died in faith without receiving the promise". It is a very important observation to make because I think many, many believers put their hope in the wrong place. They have their hope, thinking this is going to be it and that God is going to give me certain things now and they live as though God is going to say, this is your world and your home now. Now that you've become a believer, you are at home. And, actually, He is saying now that you have become a believer in Christ, you are not at home in the world anymore. Actually, when you came to Christ, you became a pilgrim. You may not perceive it that way, but you became an exile. It just meant that you now have a differe ...
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