The Two Wolves - Pt 6

Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. For by it the people of old received their commendation. By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible. (Hebrews 11:1-3 ESV).

Yesterday’s reading (cf. Hebrews 6:9-12) used the phrase “the full assurance of hope.” It means hope which is fully assured; hope which is confident; and, hope that has moral certainty in it. It is not finger-crossing hope. There is a firm connection between faith and hope. The term “full assurance,” is plerophorian in the original language. It is also found in one other place in Hebrews (cf. Hebrews 10:22). However, there it is “full assurance of faith” instead of “full assurance of hope.” It says, “Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith.” Then in the next verse it says, “Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful.” Notice, hope is something that should not waver, because it is rooted in the faithfulness of God. There should be moral certainty in it because the will and purpose of God are like iron, not chalk. We cannot help but wonder about the relationship between full assurance of faith and full assurance of hope. Faith is the larger idea and hope is a necessary part of biblical faith. Hope is that part of faith that focuses on the future. In biblical terms, when faith is directed to the future, you can call it hope. But faith can focus on the past and the present too, so faith is the larger term. You can see this in our reading today. These verses are the closest thing we have to a definition of faith in all the New Testament. Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. Here’s how I would paraphrase this verse. Wherever there is full assurance of hope, there is faith. Faith is the full assurance of hope. Biblical faith is a confident expectation and desire for good things in the future. But faith is more than that. It is also the “conviction of things not seen,” and some of these are not future. For example, he says “By faith we understand that the world was created by the word of God” (v. 3). Faith can look back (to creation) as well as forward. So faith is the larger idea. It includes hope, but is more than hope. You might put it this way: faith is our confidence in the word of God, and whenever that word has reference to the future, you can call our confidence in it hope. Hope is faith in the future tense. We’ll look more at this tomorrow. Today, recognize the important of just believing what you have already seen in others and yourself. Trust in the consistently good will of God at work in your life!