2Corinthians 5:16-17(Amplified) says, "Consequently, from now on we estimate and regard no one from a (purely) human point of view (in terms of natural standards of value). (No) even though we once did estimate Christ from a human viewpoint and as a Man, yet now (we have such knowledge of Him that) we know Him no longer (in terms of the flesh). Therefore if any person is (ingrafted) in Christ (the Messiah) he is a new creation (a new creature altogether); the old (previous moral and spiritual condition) has passed away. Behold, the fresh and new has come."
As we delve into these scriptures inspired by the Holy Spirit, they take on a much greater sense than our religious ideas have brought to pass in our lives. As we come to the letter to the Hebrews, we can see by the ninth and tenth chapters, what the eleven chapter means when it begins with, "Now faith." We read about the human priesthood and how it and the people had to live by Law and ritual. Paul begins to come into this in Hebrews 10:38-39 (Amplified) where he says, "The just shall live by faith (my righteous servant shall live by his conviction respecting man's relationship to God and divine things, and holy fervor born of faith conjoined with it) and if he draws back and shrinks from in fear, my soul has no delight or pleasure in him. But our way is not that of those who draw back to eternal misery (perdition) and are utterly destroyed, but we are of those who believe (who cleave to and trust in and rely on God through Jesus Christ, the Messiah) and by faith preserve the soul." The Bible divides Paul's letter into another chapter, but Paul made no such division in Hebrews 10:40 (Amplified) saying, "So, now faith is the assurance (the confirmation, the title deed) of the things hoped 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)."
With this, we can understand what Paul writes in Hebrews 11:6 (Amplified) saying, "But without faith it is impossible to please and 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)."
Those walking under the old covenant, walked by sight in the smoke rising from the Temple and by the blood of sacrifice and the High Priest who entered the Holy of Holies on their behalf. When they saw all these things, they "felt" like they were accepted by God. But, for us, the new creation people, we no longer "know Jesus as a Man," Who we can identify with (even though many Christians continue identifying with Him as a Man), but as the Great High Priest Who has been raised up to be seated at God's right hand. We still try walking by the same standard that the old covenant people walked by. We have no way of judging our righteousness by our performance more than faith in His righteousness. We are continually judging the flesh of our own selves and of others.
Paul spoke of the High Priest from the old covenant, saying that even he needed to offer sacrifice for himself because "all have sinned and come short of the glory of God," even though their High Priest was a sinner. We, the new creation people, have a High Priest Who is without sin and acts on our behalf. Jesus' Blood (which we cannot see), His garments (of which we know nothing except by the Word and the Holy Spirit) and the Sacrifice that was acceptable unto God for all men for all time, are things we barely understand at all.
So, "Now faith" is our substance and title deed for everything we need or hope for. We have no proof that we can physically see and no other way to have our needs met. We can no longer depend on other sacrifices or deeds of the flesh, but only faith in what God has said and what He has done for us. Our righteousness must be accepted by faith in what God has said about us and not by what we or someone else might say or think. Our sin isn't only forgiven, but is forgotten. Although we might continue feeling like a sinner, we must by faith, necessarily believes that we are pure and holy in His sight. This may sound too simple to be true for some and others might believe it's not scriptural, but if you try to "make-up for your sin" by any other sacrifice, then you're outside of faith and back under the Law. Trust me...you don't want to be back under the Law. James said in James 2:10 (Amplified), "For whoever keeps the Law (as a) whole but stumbles and offends in one (single instance) has become guilty of (breaking) all of it."
We are made to the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus, not by our works or goodness, but only by faith in what God has done. Hebrews 11:6 (Amplified) says that if we try to approach God on our terms of righteousness instead of His, then He simply does not accept it. Without faith in Jesus' righteousness, we cannot please of approach God at all. Are we to lead a clean moral and spiritual life? Of course we are, but by allowing the Holy Spirit to show us how to do so by faith, and not by our own works. If we expect God to do things in our lives because we read His Word of give in the offerings or regularly attend church services or are deacons or pastors, then you are not walking in faith, but something other than faith. God only moves by and because of faith, according to Hebrews 11 and Hebrews 3:11-12 (Amplified) where God talks about the Israelites in the wilderness, saying, "Accordingly, I swore in My wrath and indignation, they shall not enter into My rest (Therefore beware) brethren, take care, lest there be in any one of you a wicked, unbelieving heart (which refuses to cleave to, trust in, and rely on Him) leading you to turn away and deceit or stand aloof from the Living God."
We're continually looking for God to change His way of doing things and do them our way. He won't and can't. If God changed His Word for one, then He would need to change it for another. If God changed His Word at all, then it would no longer "be forever settled in Heaven," but would be unstable and no longer truth. We have viewed Christians who weren't healed and determined that either God put the sickness on them or that God no longer heals. God's Word tells us in 1Peter 2:24 (Amplified), "He personally bore our sins in His (Own) Body on the tree (as an altar and offered Himself on it) that we might die (cease to exist) to sin and live to righteousness. By His wound you have been healed. Do we, by faith, believe this? The faith in what Jesus did and faith in God's Word, is the "substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen." Only God's Word is our evidence and not "Do I feel better?" or "Well, sister so and so says..."
I cannot determine from looking at you in the flesh, whether or not you are saved. Paul said that I must look at you, "After the spirit." Proverbs 4:20-22 (Amplified) says, "My Son, attend to My Words; consent and submit to My sayings. Let them not depart from your sight, keep them in the center of your heart For they are life to those who find them, healing and health to all their flesh."
As new creation people, we are even now "living by faith." We were dead in trespass and sin, without God, without hope and without covenant. Paul says in Galatians 2:20 (Amplified) that, "I have been crucified with Christ (in Him I have shared His crucifixion); it is no longer I who live, but Christ (the Messiah) lives in me; and the life I now live in the body I live by faith in (by adherence to and reliance on and complete trust in) the Son of God. Who loved me and gave Himself up for me."
So you can clearly see that if you are a believer, then you are already living by faith!
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