Theological Commentary: Click Here
Faith. Clearly, that’s the main topic in Hebrews 11. By faith, everything righteous in the Old
Testament was done. I can’t really say that
I disagree.
I do find it
interesting to realize that the faith examples involve the positive and
negative. In fact, that’s one of the
things about this chapter that lends truth to it. Nothing in life is every completely positive
or completely negative. The fact that
faith involves both positive and negative dynamics makes it very real.
By faith,
the exodus happened. By faith, Noah was
saved. By faith, Enoch was taken up into
heaven. These are all great
opportunities of faith.
However, by
faith Moses was rejected by the Egyptians as well as his own people. By faith others were tortured and
flogged. By faith, people were
imprisoned, stoned, or even sawed in two.
These are also great opportunities in faith, but not opportunities most
of us would sign up for.
How do we
think about the positive and negative elements of faith? That answer is simple. Our eyes are on the kingdom to which we
belong. Our eyes are on the eternal, the
kingdom of heaven. It is easy to say –
and far harder to execute – but what is a little suffering in this present
world when our future contains an eternity with God? We will not receive our reward in this life
but the next. That is why by faith we endure
persecution yet reap the harvest of God.
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