The Faith Rests in Christ :: Hebrews 11:1

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Now faith is the basis of things hoped for, the [divinely given] conviction of things not seen (v 1).

A lot of people think they have faith. They will talk about “their” faith. They will talk about how they established their faith, build their faith, restore their faith, test their faith. They will talk about how they made a decision to come to faith. They will convince themselves that they believe something on account of what they have done. 

The concept of faith is most often used in a religious sense. Accordingly, the world will then try to convince you that there are many faiths. They think if you have religion, you have faith, as if there is more than one faith, because there is more than one religion. But nothing could be farther from the truth. Faith is one of the most misunderstood words in the world.

So today, as we begin an Advent sermon series on Faith, Hope, and Love, we will explore our Faith, what it is, what it means for us, and what it apprehends as we look with eager anticipation to the Advent of the Lord.

1. [What Faith is not]

What is Faith? Or maybe I should ask you more precisely, what is The Faith? I will answer the question the simplest way I know how first. Faith is The Gift that the Holy Spirit provides that apprehends the saving grace that God offers in Christ. (REPEAT).

Wow, that was a mouthful. There is much to chew on there. 

So let’s talk first about what faith is not. Faith is not a quality of yourself. It is not a substance. You cannot measure the quantity of your faith. It is not something we can do. It is not a decision we can make, no matter how many times Billy Graham said it. Faith is not a general belief in the existence of God. To explain this, Saint Paul tells us this in his epistle to the Romans that claiming to be wise, they became fools ... or μωραίνω (Rm 1:22). Most non-Christians say they believe in God, but that does not mean they have faith. According to Paul they are morons.

2. The evidence for faith in God, his creation, is before our eyes, and we ignore it. 

If you know anything about the human body, you understand. Only God can create this [the human body] yet we slaughter it, aborting babies. We demoralize it, making sex a free for all. We shun marriage. We marvel at creation, then we poison it. We know the truth, then we deny it. As Saint James tells us, we should shudder like the demons who believe (2:19). But like the demons, people have heard Jesus preach and have seen him raise the dead, and yet they still couldn’t make a decision for Jesus. They heard and saw all things, and they remained faithless.

You might say “I have faith. That’s why I’m saved.” If you have said that recently, I will encourage you now to stop doing that. Although you may mean the right thing, there is something very wrong with that statement. To say “I have faith. That’s why I am saved” ... turns faith upside down. When we say that, the object of our faith is not God in Christ, but something we identify as “faith.” That is fideism, faith in faith, a doctrine that depends on your reason and strength. It’s hearing and seeing, then denying the source.

3. So what is faith? Or again, I should say, The Faith?

Identifying the object of the faith is a key to this whole issue. Faith always rests in something ... or better yet, in someone. We can’t cling to an empty dream, our imagination, or our ever fleeting feelings. Nor can we trust in material things that will erode over time (Mt 6:19). 

Faith ... holds on ... to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him, endured the cross, despising its shame (Heb 12:2). A person is never saved “on account of faith” by itself. You are saved by grace “through” faith ... the faith in Jesus. This is why there is only one faith: There is only one Jesus. Salvation comes through no other name than Jesus (Acts 4:12). There is no salvation without the blood of Jesus (Hb 9:22). Jesus was born to shed his blood for you. Jesus was born without sin for you, and he lived without sin for you ... historical facts that faith apprehends. And while you were a sinner, another historical fact, Christ died for you. As Caiaphus even said, it was better that this one man should die for the sin of the people (Jn 11:50). 

On account of Jesus, the Word in the Flesh, we can now have faith that our sins have been forgiven forever. To give you the forgiveness of sins, Jesus took your place on the cross. There and then, in the good work of good works ... all in good faith ... Jesus died for you and rested from his labor of redemption for you ... on the Sabbath no less. And because Jesus was sinless ... God then raised Jesus from the dead as the firstfruit of the resurrection. And that which we have seen and touched we proclaim to you ... ... so that in hearing this Gospel, you will have the faith in Jesus and receive the gifts of life and salvation in his name.

4. [This brings us back to the beginning.]

Brothers and sisters in Christ, this is the Gospel, and apart from all of this, we have no basis for faith, hope, or love. And this brings us back to the beginning. Now faith is the basis of things hoped for, the [divinely given] conviction of things not seen, for in this, [our] elders received their commendation (v 1-2) by faith. He gave that promise first to the woman in the garden. And then to the patriarchs and the prophets. As YHWH told the prophet Habakkuk in our Old Testament reading (Hab 2:2-4), literally ... the righteous will live by “his” faith ... or you could say more accurately, by the faith of Christ, who sanctified you in holy Baptism, washing you and cleansing you of all sin, in order that you may become a temple of the Holy Spirit, where God lives and moves has his being. He gives you the faith. And this faith apprehends all of God’s truth, which is rooted in historical fact. I cannot by my own reason or strength have faith in any of what I just said, but the Holy Spirit has called me by this Gospel, enlightened me with his gifts, sanctified and keeps me in the one true faith. And in the same way, he does this for you because without faith it is impossible to please [God] (Hb 11:6).

And now you can. To be a Christian one must have the faith. This faith will lead you to the hope of everlasting life that comes from the love of God in Christ. Now you who have the faith can rest securely knowing the Gospel that even though we have not seen him, we have faith in him, and even though we do not see him now, we love him, are filled with a glorious and inexpressible joy as we await the outcome of our faith, the salvation of our souls (1 Pt 1:8-9) ... in Jesus’ name. 

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