As we are going verse-by-verse through the book of Hebrews, we have come to a point where the writer is speaking of the foundational things of Christianity, the elementary teachings about Jesus. He has listed six of them, calling this the "milk" for young babes in Christ.
We are taking these as six glasses of milk, drinking one each Sunday, to establish a firm foundation of these elementary teachings. Last week, we learned about repentance from dead works. Today, we will be examining what the Scriptures say about faith toward God.
First, a quick lesson in Greek: The word "faith" in Greek comes from a root that means "to persuade, to convince." So faith means "a firm persuasion, to be completely convinced."
The word translated "toward" here is "ep-EE," the Greek preposition meaning "upon."
So this phrase "faith toward God" means to place all of your belief upon God. Your trust, your conviction of truth, your beliefs, are all in God.
The Greek lesson having ended, what can we learn about faith?
First of all, the Scriptures tell us that
Rom. 12:3 ...God has allotted to each a measure of faith.
Every human being is born with some amount of faith. God has distributed a portion of it to every person.
The book of Romans says,
Rom. 1:20 ...since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse.
With a measure of faith given to each one, and God being evident through the creation, all men are without excuse - they are expected to believe.
But some may argue, "I don't have any faith. I am an atheist - there is no God." This is true, that some don't have faith - the Scriptures confirm this. But this was not their condition from the beginning. In 2Thessalonians, Paul asks,
2Ths. 3:2 ...that we may be delivered from perverse and evil men; for not all have faith.
Why did these men not have faith? Because they were perverse and evil. You see, sin will harden your heart (Heb. 3), cauterize your conscience (1Tim. 4:2), and shipwreck your faith (1Tim 1:18-19).
God has entrusted this measure of faith to each one of us, and allows us to do with it what we want.
It is interesting to me that the Scriptures note Jesus as being amazed on two occasions:
When Jesus came into His hometown of Nazareth, He taught in the synagogue on the Sabbath day. The listeners were offended, saying, "Where did He get this teaching? He's from around here!"
Mark 6:4-6 And Jesus said to them, "A prophet is not without honor except in his home town and among his {own} relatives and in his {own} household." And He could do no miracle there except that He laid His hands upon a few sick people and healed them. And He wondered at their unbelief...
The word translated "wondered" here is "thou-MAD-zo" in the Greek. It means, "amazed, astonished, surprised, marveled." Jesus was amazed at their state of faith - although they had been given a measure of faith, their sin and hard hearts had destroyed it - they had no faith at all.
The only other time we note Jesus as being amazed is at the state of someone else's faith.
Once, a Roman centurion approached Jesus and asked Him to heal his servant. When Jesus said, "I will come," the man said,
Matt. 8:8-10 ..."Lord, I am not worthy for You to come under my roof, but just say the word, and my servant will be healed. For I, too, am a man under authority, with soldiers under me; and I say to this one, 'Go!' and he goes, and to another, 'Come!' and he comes, and to my slave, 'Do this!' and he does it." Now when Jesus heard this, He marveled, and said to those who were following, "Truly I say to you, I have not found such great faith with anyone in Israel."
Once again, Jesus was "thou-MAD-zo" - He was amazed. Only this time, it was at the huge faith of the centurion.
So we've seen that sin will destroy the measure of faith we've been given. What will nourish it? What can increase it?
Rom. 10:17 ...faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the Word of Christ.
The measure of faith you've been given will be built up as you hear the Word. The supernatural happens when someone comes to church, turns on CSN, or reads a Gideon Bible in his or her motel room. Faith is increased.
Hebr. 4:12 For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.
When we hear the Word, God's living Word does surgery on our hearts. We get a faith transfusion.
So, we've been given a measure of faith, and it is up to us to increase it, not destroy it. God is waiting to see, to be amazed, at what we do with our faith. And this is all-important, for the Scripture says,
Hebr. 11:6 ...without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him.
Two things: if you don't have faith, you can't please God. But if you have faith and seek Him, He will reward you.
What is that reward? Salvation, heaven, forgiveness, and friendship.
Eph. 2:8 For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, {it is} the gift of God;
When you seek God and put your faith in Him, He saves you. As the book of Romans says,
Rom. 10:9 ...if you confess with your mouth Jesus {as} Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you shall be saved;
Believing in your heart - having total faith in the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead - saves you, and brings friendship with God.
Rom. 5:1 Therefore having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ
The word "justified" means that all of my sin is erased. It is "just as if I'd" never sinned at all!
And when you're saved, God's Spirit comes to live inside of you. The book of Galatians says that you receive the Spirit by hearing with faith (Gal. 3:2)
It is so easy to have your sins forgiven: build up your faith by reading the Word, and seek God. Believe that Jesus died for you and rose again from the grave. Ask Him to come into your life and heart.
From there, keep following Him. As Hebrews 12 says,
Hebr. 12:2 fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith...
Jesus is the one who has given us faith, and Jesus is the one who will increase and perfect our faith.
Let Him do it, and don't try to take the reins back from Him.
2Cor. 5:7 ...walk by faith, not by sight
And when the devil tries to shoot arrows of doubt at you, take up...
Eph. 6:16 ...the shield of faith with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming missiles of the evil one.