By Faith

Hebrews 11:1–7 – Jesus Is Better
5th Sunday in Eastertide – May 3rd, 2026 (am)      

Commendation is nice to receive. If you ask most of us, we don’t receive it often enough: formal or official praise (coed). But it’s refreshing to receive it when we believe we deserve it, confirming a job well-done. It’s reassuring to receive commendation when we don’t know how we did. It tells us all is well when we just weren’t sure. And it confuses us when commendation is withheld. We can be unsure even when we perform well if no one affirms it.

My father used this uncertainty to motivate. He was very sparse with commendation. I’d eventually just ask him how I did at this or that—mowing the lawn or weeding the flower bed—and he’d say something like: Yeah, it looks okay. When I was a bit older and it didn’t sound like sass, I’d say: You’re pretty sparing with your praise. And he’d respond: Well, God has high standards. I wouldn’t want you to get over-confident. And we’d laugh together (I knew what he thought of my work). But I actually appreciated his answer. It introduced the category of commendation from God, the richest commendation of all! And it’s surprising to see here. Any of us who knows that salvation is a gift from God knows that there’s nothing in us human beings that commends us to Him. That’s called total depravity: it doesn’t mean we do the most evil thing we can every time we act. It means there’s nothing we do on our own that enjoys God’s full approval. Nothing we do is truly commendable to Him. So, if He ever does offer commendation to us, He’s had to enable whatever it was we did. And we receive His enabling by faith—the same faith by which we obey (8; 5:9; 13:17) Him, press on, endure (10:32, 36).

This sort of commendation is central in today’s passage. It’s explicitly mentioned four times (2, 4, 4, 5) and alluded to perhaps five more. It’s God’s response to enduring faith (4), His reward for it. But the word itself has an interesting dimension: the past-tense, passive voice of μαρτυρέω, martyr—to bear witness (esl), to testify to the truth of what one has seen (wsd), to approve of (l-n)—a word that expresses such a faithful, truthful witness that it was later reserved for those who forfeited their lives to hold firm to their witness. Yet, here it’s a witness from God affirming His faithful ones. Let’s keep that in mind as we engage this text. We’ll look at it under three headings.

Definitions of Enduring Faith

It opens with the first and most familiar definition. 1 Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. This is a stunning statement, simple as it sounds. And it means just what it seems to mean. Faith is that quality by which we hold on to hope. When our sense of hope in some future reality, in the fulfillment of some promise, is strong, the quality showing its strength is actually faith, not hope. Even so, they can almost seem like synonyms (Hughes 438).

Thus “the confession of our hope” which, in 10:23, we are exhorted to hold fast without wavering, since “he who promised is faithful,” might equally well have been expressed as “the confession of our faith”; and “the full assurance of faith” with which we are encouraged to draw near to the divine presence in 10:22 may be compared with the “full assurance of hope” spoken of in 6:11 and with the “better hope” through which we draw near to God in 7:19. Again, in 6:18, the author urges [us] to “seize the hope” set before [us]; but seizing, or laying firm hold of, is an act of faith when the object to be grasped is hope, the focus of which is the word of promise still to be fulfilled. Such is the indissoluble bond between faith and hope… (Hughes 438).

But here, when they’re used in complement, hope is fixed on the object or outcome that has been promised, and faith shows itself in the strength of our assurance that said object or outcome will be gained. Here, the object is that better and abiding possession (10:34), that great reward (10:35) we’ve been promised and are thus pressing on in endurance of faith to make sure we receive (10:36). It’s that ultimate city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God (10), in a better country, a heavenly one that God has prepared for [us] (16). Our hope is that great salvation (2:3) we’re receiving, including the place in which it will fully and finally be delivered (16). And ultimately, the promised eternal inheritance we receive through the death of Christ is actually God Himself (9:15).

A second sort-of definition comes in the negative statement of v.6: 6 … without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him. In context, it’s commenting on the unusual experience of Enoch (5)—he was commended as having pleased God, and because of that [he] was taken up so that he should not see death; he was not found (5), says the writer of Hebrews and also the Greek translation of Genesis 5:24 (esv fn.3), because God had taken him (5); for God took him (Gen.5:24).

As a definition, this tells us that God is pleased by faith alone. And any sort of faith other than that which believes he exists, that He alone is worthy of our pursuit, and that He alone rewards such pursuing faith—commends it, bears witness to its authenticity—won’t please him.

But also, notice that the faith the author is referencing is that exhibited by OT believers. This second definition is anchored to Enoch (Gen.5:21-24). And the first (1) was amplified in v.2: 1 Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. 2 For by it the people of old received their commendation. So, even though our faith and commendation today are fixed in the finished work of Christ that was promised throughout the OT, the faith and commendation celebrated here were exercised as the coming of Christ was still future. In this second definition (6), then: It is not belief in the existence of a God that is meant, but belief in the existence of the God who once declared his will to the fathers through the prophets and in these last days has spoken in his Son. Those who approach him can do so in full confidence that he exists, that his word is true, and that he will never put off or disappoint the person who sincerely seeks him (Bruce 286-7). And ultimately it was the arrival of Jesus that proved this true beyond any doubt.

We can see all that now. So, we should never shrink back. We should persevere in faith (10:39) and believe. That’s what this writer is calling his people to do. And he’s pointing out that they have every reason to do so, especially now that Christ has come. He’s launching into a lengthy list of witnesses (12:1), commended ones (2), who did so, who held on to God’s promise in faith, even without ever seeing Jesus.

Demonstrations of Enduring Faith

As he does so, we can learn more than we did in the OT about the people he mentions. For instance, right out of the blocks we might see an example of commendable faith and non-commendable faith. 4 By faith Abel offered to God a more acceptable sacrifice than Cain, through which he was commended as righteous, God commending him by accepting his gifts. But why? What made the difference? We learn in Genesis 4 that: 3 … Cain brought to the Lord an offering of the fruit of the ground, 4 and Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat portions. And the Lord had regard for Abel and his offering, 5 but for Cain and his offering he had no regard. So Cain was very angry, and his face fell.

Many suggest that what Cain’s offering lacked was blood. But that doesn’t seem to be the point in this passage. Plus, fruit could be offered (Deu.26:1-11). The difference we see in this text is that Abel brought of the firstborn of his flock while Cain brought… an offering of… fruit. That first idea is missing in the description of Cain’s offering. And the writer picks that up generally here: Abel offered … a more acceptable sacrifice than Cain (4)—his first-fruits.

Also, Cain’s reaction of anger (Gen.4:5) suggests his heart wasn’t in a good place all along; 1 John 3 makes a similar point: 12 … why did [Cain] murder [his brother]? Because his own deeds were evil and his brother’s righteous. He wasn’t drawing near to God in the way that please him (6). Even if what Cain was showing could be called faith, it wasn’t the faith that pleases God (6). Abel’s was. And through his faith, though he died at his brother’s hand, he still speaks, through the commendation he received from God.

We’ve already talked a bit about Enoch (5), so Noah is the next example (7). He listened to God’s warning concerning events no one had ever seen and, in reverent fear, he constructed an ark, a big boat well away from the sea, for the saving of his household. By this, he set himself apart from all those around him: he condemned the world, evil as it was (Gen.6:5-7), and became an heir of the righteousness that comes by faith. He received this rich, blessed inheritance just by believing God and acting on that belief. His faith supplied the proof of “things not seen” (Bruce 287), so he received God’s commendation and stands to this day as a witness to faith.

Distillations of Enduring Faith

We know what the author is doing here. He’s reminding his readers of well-known historical figures from their own family tree (physical or spiritual) who exhibited the sort of faith he’s calling for in them. 39 And all these, though commended through their faith, did not receive what was promised, 40 since God had provided something better for us, that apart from us, apart from what we’ve seen and experienced, they should not be made perfect. So, they endured, waiting for what we’ve now seen. Surely there’s no excuse for us now not to endure!

There’s the intended outcome of this chapter that lists and celebrates such faith-filled people. In his own words: 12:1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 2 looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith…. But what do we learn about faith, endurance, and commendation from God as he’s getting started here? A few observations, distillations:

First, following a vividly worded definition of faith (1) including the rich fruit it bears in our lives (2), both of which mean much to we who’ve experienced them, we’re given an illustration (3) of the fact that it’s not nonsense to have assurance and conviction regarding things that are not seen; the very universe we inhabit, visible as it is, was not made out of things that are visible! (1) Nor was it made by Someone Who’s visible, or used visible tools. So, this visible world, with all its visible content in which we find it so easy to trust, was actually made by and out of things that are not visible. And we know that not by inspection and proof, but by faith. Yet, here it is!

Second, we can think that, as ordinary Christians—meaning, not heroes of the faith—we can hear this as a listing of people who are out of our league spiritually. And these first three examples don’t help us much to change our minds on this point. But what about Noah? Yes, [he] found favor in the eyes of the Lord. He’s described as one who was blameless in his generation and who walked with God (Gen.6:8-9). But no sooner do we see God’s covenant with him (Gen.9:12-17) than we hear the sordid account of his bout with drunkenness (Gen.9:20-23). And we’ll see a lot more of this. The people of the old covenant who made it onto this list—the Faith Hall of Fame as it’s often called—were by no means perfect. With some, we’ll wonder how they made it at all! From the OT account of their lives we might wonder if we’ll even see them in heaven. But then, it’s not about them! None of the ones we’ll see here generated the strength of faith by which they laid hold of their hope in the promise of God. Each of them is nothing more than a trophy of God’s grace whose name is listed to the praise of His glory.

But, third, remember this final point. Never forget it. Each one whose faith is fixed in the hope of God’s salvation will be commended by Him in the same way each of these in c.11 are—even if they’re never commended by anyone else! He’ll bear faithful witness to the fact that they have pleased [Him] and thus will enter into His promised reward. That is the inheritance of all who believe. And that’s what puts each of us in the privileged place of bearing faithful witness ourselves. Some in this chapter lost their lives bearing this witness. And many, many more also have over the centuries since it was written. But none of them would change their story, even today, if they were able. That’s just the way it is among those who don’t shrink back to save their sinful, earthly lives, but who have faith and preserve their eternal souls (10:39), knowing He Who called them, and secured their inheritance, and commends their faith, bears truthful witness to it, willingly gave up His life to do so, to provide their salvation.

Conclusion

To know Him is to live. To trust Him by faith is to live in hope of His promised eternal reward. And as we live that way, even while we continue on in our battle with stubbornly ensnaring sin (cf. 12:1), we’re living in the way that pleases him (6).

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Resources

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Hubbard, David A., & Glenn W. Barker, gen. eds. Ralph P. Martin, NT ed. 1991. Word Biblical Commentary. Vols. 47a, Hebrews 1-8; Vol.47b, Hebrews 9-13, by William L. Lane. Dallas: Word.

Hughes, Philip Edgcumbe. 1979. A Commentary on the Epistle to the Hebrews. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans.

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Owen, John. 1855. Exposition of the Epistle to the Hebrews, 7 Vols. Edinburgh: Johnstone and Hunter.

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NEXT SUNDAY: Hebrews 11:8–16, Steve Leston