Hebrews 11:1 (Amplified) tells us that, "Now faith is the assurance (the confirmation, the title deed) f the things (we) hope for, being the proof of things (we) do not see and the conviction of their reality (faith perceiving as real fact what is not revealed to the senses)."
Notice, how Hebrews 11:1 it's no longer Law or works or anything man can do to bring it to pass, but now faith is what we put our lives into. Faith is perceiving as real fact that which we cannot see or touch with our senses. This was a foreign idea to the old covenant people. They had assurance in the Law, the sacrifices and the obedience to the Law. Now faith is how we must walk and receive from God what we desire in our lives.
No longer do blessings and our favor with God depend on Law, but depend on our faith. Everything that the blessing and grace promised Abraham, is now available to us, but only by faith. We keep trying to do anything to acquire these blessings and favor from our Father. But, the more we do to try and gain His favor, the harder it becomes for us to achieve His blessing. Everything God has promised through Abraham, is already ours by faith.
This is the rest God spoke about entering into in Hebrews 4. We must enter into it by faith in the finished work of Jesus. There are no more rituals, no more ceremonies, no more sacrifice and no more working on our part, but only believing that Jesus has already done it for us. We are only required to trust in Him, by faith, and rest in His work.
The Hebrews in Hebrews 11 are in the Faith Hall of Fame and dared to just believe God and His promise. Throughout the family of God today, these Hall of Famers would be labeled "fanatics." They dared go beyond the norm and reached into the unseen. We now look upon these people as heroes and Patriarchs, but at the time they stepped out to believe, they were viewed as foolish.
The recent movie, "Noah," portrayed him as such a mess and deranged. The truth is, all those around him were deranged and Noah was the only one with enough sense to trust God. Today, if you dare to even believe by faith in speaking in tongues, then you're looked upon by some as fanatic. Nearly everyone who dares believe God outside of their religious background is considered strange and far out. Using today's standards, anything outside of just attending church on Sunday, is too far out.
Whatever happened to a God Who can do anything? When did we reduce Him to a Sunday service? Even praying has become a last ditch effort to try, after everything else has been exhausted. Is God still the Creator of all heaven and earth?
Grace has done what man couldn't do in all of his efforts. Grace has now provided complete access to God Himself. Only He could do that. Now, that He has done that through Jesus, there's nothing left for us to do, except by faith, entering into this grace. The more we try improving on what Jesus has done by our works, the farther from faith in His grace we get. Hebrews 11:6 (Amplified) says, "But without faith it is impossible to please and to be satisfactory to Him. For whoever would come near to God must (necessarily) believe that God exists and that He is the rewarder of those who earnestly and diligently seek Him (out)."
We cannot earn God's favor or His grace. If we could, then it would no longer be favor, but debt. It would now be something God owes us because of our works and would no longer be grace. If this could be done, then we wouldn't have needed a new covenant and a Savior. Under the Law, no one could obtain righteousness because no one could perfectly keep the Law. The Law was perfect, but man wasn't. Imperfect man could never walk out the perfection of the Law despite how hard the tried.
Only Jesus could fulfill the Law perfectly and complete it. By Him and in Him, the Law with all of its promises are made mine by faith in Him. I am not righteous because of me, but because of Jesus' right standing with God. 2Corinthians 5:21 (Amplified) says that, "For our sake He made Christ (virtually) to be sin Who knew no sin, so that in and through Him, we might become (endued with, viewed as being in, and examples of) the righteousness of God (what we ought to be, approved and acceptable and in right relationship with Him, by His goodness)."
This kind of righteousness can only be received by faith in His grace. We, by faith in the finished work of Jesus, must believe we are now righteous and in right standing with God because of the righteousness of Jesus Himself. It's His righteousness, by faith, that I stand in. I don't look at my own works or the lack thereof, to bring me into right standing with God, but by faith in what His grace has made available in Jesus. I rest in Him. Even if I make a mistake (and I have), my right standing doesn't rest in my own ability, but in His. This is rest. This is grace. This is where the believer must live his life, by grace.
We can never rise above where His grace has already raised us into. His grace, by faith in the sacrifice of His Own Lamb, has raised us back and restored us to, the place that man was to be held with God from the beginning. The only way to be there is by faith in what His grace has provided.
The Israelites in the wilderness, we read about in Hebrews 4, simply refused to believe and so they never entered into or saw the Promised Land. There are many people today who because of their unbelief, have never entered into God's rest or seen the promise. Many of God's children still walk in fear of judgment, condemnation, guilt and oppression from the enemy, over who they used to be before the death of the cross set them free. We have never, by faith, received the unseen as real and received the title deed to what we had always hoped to be which is accepted and acceptable to the Father in all pleasing fellowship with Him.
Mankind has done everything he knew to do and still fell short of approval from God. We finally reached the point of being convinced we could never please such a Holy God. We struggled with out past and we prayed for salvation over and over again. We prayed prayers of dedication to God over again, but couldn't stay out of the pit of failure. Only faith in His grace can stop the cycle of depression in the believer's life. We're still learning and growing in our understanding of this grace and new covenant. God is revealing more and more by revelation in the Holy Spirit, Who is the teacher of the Church.
This knowledge is not something meant to puff us up, but to set us free. Remember how Romans 14 said some have seen and understood more of our liberty than others have. We've not to be puffed up, but to walk in love with those who haven't seen this truth yet. It doesn't mean that some of us are really smart and others are not, but that some have had our eyes opened before some others have.
It's like being a college student in a kindergarten class. It's not that the kindergarteners are dumb compared to you, but that they haven't reached college level yet. They will! All of us are among the middle of the last day awakening of the Church. Jesus is coming back. There are so many things God is revealing to the Church through the Holy Spirit. We must all learn at our own pace and we will.
Read about the believers in Hebrews 11 and realize how we are to see and do more in these last days of the Church than has ever been done before.
Most of the people in Hebrews 11 were misunderstood when they dared believe God in the area of faith. Today, however, we look back with envy at them. They, ironically, said they wished to be here in this end time. Hebrews 11:39-40 (Amplified) says, "And all of these, though they won divine approval by (means of) their faith, did not receive the fulfillment of what was promised." Verse 40 goes on, "Because God had us in mind and had something greater and better in view for (us) so that they (these heroes and heroines of faith) should not come to perfection apart from us (before we could join them)."
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