Hebrews 11:1–2 (ESV)
Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. For by it the people of old received their commendation.
Okay, so clarify sola fide for me.
I quoted Romans 10:9 before—because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. (ESV)
I just want to nail down that “believe in your heart” means certainty. This is the faith that saves. This is spelled out clearly in Hebrews 11:1–2. Here’s the old NIV translation. It’s my favorite even though it has a technical error.
Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. This is what the ancients were commended for.
What’s the error?
Faith is a noun. While the NIV explanation is clear—it describes faith with perfect accuracy—it translates a noun as a verb, and that’s not kosher.
Still, I think “being sure” is the best way to say it. Note how this understanding of what faith is makes sense of Matthew 17:20.
He replied, “Because you have so little faith. Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.” (NIV)
Being sure can move mountains.
That’s what the first Christians had. They knew who Jesus was because of the fresh facts of His life, death, and resurrection. They were sure.
Did any mountains move?
Not literally, but, yes, boy did they move mountains. By the end of the first century, there were a million Christians. That happened despite the withering persecution of Christians by the Roman government. As Tertullian wrote to Caesar,
“We are but of yesterday, and yet we have filled all the places that belong to you — cities, islands, forts, towns, exchanges; the military camps themselves, tribes, town councils, the palace, the senate, the market-place; we have left you nothing but your temples.”
https://www.lancaster.ac.uk/staff/gyaccp/geography%20and%20religion.pdf
Okay, so explain the line, “This is what the ancients were commended for.”
The ancients of Hebrews 11:2 deserve to be commended because they were far away from the incarnation and the resurrection. They couldn’t see how this would play out, yet they had faith (certainty!) about it. John 20:29 note the importance of this.
Then Jesus told him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” (NIV)
We might be similarly commended, as we’re far away too. We want to be sure. Solid faith is exciting. Life without it is meaningless.
Why do you say that? Life is meaningless? Says who?
Says Solomon—the wisest man who ever lived. He had everything that secular life has to offer, and he saw that it had no meaning. So he wrote the book of Ecclesiastes.
“Meaningless! Meaningless!” says the Teacher.
“Utterly meaningless! Everything is meaningless.” — Ecclesiastes 1:2 (NIV)
But you think faith gives life meaning, right?
Exactly. The ultimate meaning is God’s glory, but each member gets the glory of being part of something meaningful.
And faith is being sure. That’s why I made such a big deal about the crucifixion and resurrection—because that’s what we must be sure of. The divinity of Christ and the reality of His kingdom give ultimate meaning to the whole enterprise.
And you think your obscure way of presenting all this helps?
Yes. I prefer to give the logical foundations up front. In studying mathematics, you grind through a lot of proofs. Later, even if the details of a proof are forgotten, you remember that you proved it.
Just for kicks, you might revisit a particularly interesting proof—such as Euler’s outrageous proof that the sum of 1/n2 (1 + 1/4 + 1/9 + …) is π2/6—but you don’t need to. You know in your heart that it’s true—because you checked it out once—and you can use it confidently.
My goal has been to lay the foundation for rock-solid faith—the kind of faith that conquered the world.
I suppose, but I’ve got another objection.
No surprise there. See you tomorrow.
