Biblical Faith is a Theologically Driven Faith
0 Amens
Biblical Faith is a Theologically Driven Faith
Hebrews 11:1-3
May 25, 2008
Series 3 Sermon 46
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. 3 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.
Introduction
One of the fallacies of this generation of churches is the whole idea that faith in Christ does not need to be accompanied by theology. We see this demonstrated in much of the church today as people claim that theology is unnecessary because they just want people to have faith.
I was riding with a fellow pastor in our county association of the first church I pastored and I thought this would be a good time to discuss some theology. I was younger then and more naïve and I thought that when pastors got together they discussed the Bible and matters of theology. After offering a probing and conversation starting question this fellow pastor told me that his theological statement was and I quote, “Jesus loves me this I know, for the Bible tells me so.” Another trip to the state building for the convention put me in the car with our director of missions and another local pastor. The DOM and I began discussing some basic beliefs and the other pastor sat silent. The DOM asked him what he thought and he basically said that he did not have a clue what we were talking about.
These are just some symptoms of the major problem in the churches of our day. People are afraid of theology. Many pastors are so concerned with numbers that they refuse to deal with important theological truths found in Scripture. They are under the impression that if you avoid theology then you will avoid turning people off to the church. Therefore more people will be saved and join the church and the church will grow. But what this concept communicates to people is that Christianity is basically nothing. There are no hard truths in Christianity that people have to deal with. It communicates to people that there is no need for theology because you really only need to have faith in Christ. The problem with this view is that without theology you can’t be sure the Christ you are presented is indeed the Christ of Scripture. And if it is not the Christ of Scripture then that false Christ can not save to the uttermost like the Christ of the Bible can.
You have heard me say this hopefully every sermon that I have preached and that is it is imperative to have faith in Christ. And I have tried hard to communicate to you the whole counsel of God by preaching through books of the Bible and even covering theological topics. It is imperative that all of us have faith in Christ unto salvation. And if you do not have saving faith then I will plead with you to turn from sin in repentance toward God and trust in Christ with every fiber of your being. But that faith must be in response to what the Word of God has revealed about the One we must have faith in and that is the Lord Jesus Christ.
Many today offer the Lord Jesus Christ as Savior to people when they in fact no nothing about Him at all. Even the Lord Jesus in His earthly ministry wanted people to know who He was. Well into His earthly ministry He turns to the disciples and asks the question, “Who do men say that I the Son of Man am?” Folks, that is a theological question. Then the next question the Lord asks of His disciples is a very personal and theological question and He asked, “But who do you say that I am?” To that Peter responds, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Which by the way is not only a statement of faith but also a theological statement. Jesus Christ is not only the Messiah but as the Messiah is the very Son of God, very God of very God.
Let’s think about this way. We are now in our 46th week of studying Hebrews together. So far the writer over and over has called us to continued and steadfast faith in Christ.
But he only has done so after revealing to us deep theological truths. The faith that the writer has called us to demonstrate is in response to doctrine. First he gives us the doctrine of the divinity of Christ and His superiority. He then shows us the doctrine of the substitutionary atoning death of the Lord Jesus Christ in chapter 2. Christ is then put forward in the doctrine of His great High Priesthood in chapter three and after this wonderful faith establishing doctrines the writer calls us to steadfast faith in Hebrews 3:6.
6 but Christ was faithful as a Son over His house—whose house we are, if we hold fast our confidence and the boast of our hope firm until the end.
We are then told of the dangers of falling away which is the doctrine of perseverance and commanded to hold fast to Christ in faith. Hebrews 3:14 says:
14 For we have become partakers of Christ, if we hold fast the beginning of our assurance firm until the end,
In Hebrews chapter 4 the writer tells us that there remains a rest for believers in Christ which is the glories of Heaven itself promised to the people of God by God Himself. After that glorious truth the writer again calls us to steadfast faith in Christ in Hebrews 4:14.
Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession.
The writer then unfolds for us the glorious doctrine of the New Covenant in Christ and again calls us to hold fast our faith in Christ in Hebrews 10:23.
23 Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful;
Four times in ten chapters after the unfolding of deep theological truths the writer calls us to steadfast faith in Christ. I hope you see a pattern forming.
We just completed chapter 10 of the Epistle to the Hebrews and in that chapter the writer gives us two theological concepts. First is the all sufficient death of Christ on behalf of those in the New Covenant and after the writer unfolds that theology for us he calls us to faith in Christ. Then he gives us a theology of judgment and calls us to faith again in Hebrews 10:38.
38 BUT MY RIGHTEOUS ONE SHALL LIVE BY FAITH;
Context
Now in the section that we are covering this morning, Hebrews 11:1-3, the writer is fleshing out for us what biblical, theologically fed faith looks like. Last week we did not see a definition of faith but we looked at the two ways the writer begins to put flesh on faith for us. Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.
We saw how biblical faith is assured and convinced of the faithfulness of God. What God has said resonates with the person of faith. And real faith is assured and convinced that what God said He will bring about.
Let me ask you a question. How do we know that God is faithful? By theology. God has shown us in His Word that He is indeed faithful by what He has revealed about Himself. Do you know the definition of theology? It comes from two Greek words that form the compound word theology. The two words are Theos which means God and Logos which means word or study. Theology is the study of God. By theology we learn to know more intimately the Lord that we serve. We learn His character. We learn His ways and we can appropriate that into our lives on a daily basis. By learning the character and the ways of God through the Word of God we gain the assurance and the conviction that biblical faith demonstrates.
The point of Hebrews 11 is to demonstrate for us what real, biblical faith looks like. The reason it is so important to come to grips with this is because of the mass confusion in our day concerning faith. Most have no idea what faith is and what it looks like and therefore only assume that what they possess is real saving faith when in fact what they have is faith in the American religion of easy believism and cheap grace. Many people are rooted in the American religion and believe faith is merely a confession unaccompanied by any change of life or lifestyle. So in essence one can confess Christ and have Him as their savior but have the flesh, Satan, and the world as their lord. Go to Heaven when you die and live like the devil and for him while you have breath and then upon your death you are ushered into the heavenlies where you are greeted as a hero because you made a confession of Christ.
The person that holds this position must either ignore Scripture or do exegetical gymnastics to explain away a plethora of biblical passages. I am not fit for gymnastics of any kind so I will live and die with the Scripture.
I think what we are going to glean from Hebrews 11 is going to be congregationally beneficial. We get to look at what biblical faith is in action. We get to place our own faith beside the faith of those that have preceded us and have an accurate measuring stick. This is not an exercise of pride or to see who we compare to in Scripture but rather it is an exercise of examination to see if we have the characteristics of true biblical faith.
That is the purpose of this chapter in the bible. I want you to notice verses 1 and 2 with me.
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.
What commendation was that? It was their commendation from God. In other words this commendation is the approval and the pleasure of God. We will see this word commendation several times. What about the pleasure of God? Does true biblical faith bring actual pleasure to God? Yes it does. Remember Hebrews 10:38?
but my righteous one shall live by faith, and if he shrinks back, my soul has no pleasure in him.
If faithlessness produces no pleasure then faithfulness brings pleasure to God. So who are these people of old that God commended and said that He had pleasure in? They are the people of the Old Testament. These are the ones who stood out of the crowd because of faith in God. I want you to understand that these men and women were not faithful all the time. They had their moments of faithlessness. They had their moments of crying out to God and asking why. They had their times of disobedience. But their lives were marked out by two things: God choosing them for a particular task or tasks and then their obedience in faith to that call.
We are going to get to see a number of marvelous truths in Hebrews 11. Let me whet your appetite. This morning we are going to see that biblical saving faith is a theologically driven faith. Next week we will see that biblical faith is a worshipping faith. Later we will see that biblical faith is a faith that is in communion with God. Then we will see that biblical faith is an obedient faith and that obedience is required and demonstrated in difficult times and in impossible situations.
But this morning let’s turn our attention to our one point. That point is this.
1. Biblical, saving faith is a theologically driven faith.
Notice with me verse 3.
3 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.
Notice the very first two words in verse 3. By faith… These two words are repeated in Hebrews 11 about 18 or 19 times. The reason it is repeated so much is because the writer is seeking to get across to his readers exactly what true faith, biblical faith, saving faith looks like, acts like, talks like, walks like, and lives like. Remember that the people who were the first readers of this letter were a suffering, persecuted people. They lost property and jobs and loved ones. They suffered public ridicule all because of their faith in Christ. Some of the people that were in this church had departed the faith because of the suffering that came with believing on Jesus for salvation.
So what the writer is doing is two fold. He is encouraging the readers to remain faithful in difficulty and also showing them from Scripture that those whom God has called to be His faithful people throughout history also had to be faithful in difficult times. But before the writer does this he starts off with the basic foundational doctrine of Christianity and that is in verse 3. Look at it with me.
3 By faith we (who is we? We Christians.) 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.
That is so basic right? “In the beginning God created the Heavens and the earth.” These are the first words of Scripture, Genesis 1:1. We teach that to our kids. The catechism’s first questions are, kids: “Who made you? What else did God make? Why did God make you and all things?” Foundational right?
But in our theologically driven faith we never get past the foundational doctrine of God creating the world out of nothing. He spoke it into existence. By His word and His will all things were created and they are sustained until He says they are not anymore. We people of faith believe this right?
The world does not believe this. The ancient pagan world did not believe this. They came up with a multiplicity of gods that was responsible for part of the created order or they simply worshiped the earth or the sun, moon, and stars. Today the pagans are more sophisticated and they now believe that the great god accident or evolution brought everything into existence. Or they continue to worship the creation rather than the creator and we see this in the explosion of the cult of global warming in our day. So the world has not changed much in 2000 years. There are people who still believe lies, they just happen to change the name of their lies and then there are believers in the Lord Jesus Christ who by faith understand that all things in the universe were created by God out of nothing.
This is so foundational to our faith. The Bible teaches that God has abilities that you and I can only vaguely fathom. God has endued us with some of those abilities but not in the sense that He has them. We can create a work of art but that is just a copy of what God has already done. And we need material for that. God out of nothing, not even out of thin air, but out of nothing spoke the universe into existence. And He accomplished the most magnificent masterpiece that real art is a celebration of. We stand outside at night and we see blankets and blankets of stars and we know that with the word of the mouth of God He flung the stars into their place. He hung the planets in their proper order and they stay there. Everything is just so and it is all intentional and glorious.
So let’s ask the hard question this morning, can a person who calls themselves a Christian refuse to believe the creation account in Genesis 1 and still be a real Christian? And the biblical answer to that question is a resounding “No.” Look at verse 3.
3 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.
This is the testimony of the Scripture both Old Testament and New Testament. Listen to Psalm 33:6-9.
6 By the word of the LORD the heavens were made, And by the breath of His mouth all their host. 7 He gathers the waters of the sea together as a heap; He lays up the deeps in storehouses. 8 Let all the earth fear the LORD; Let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of Him. 9 For He spoke, and it was done; He commanded, and it stood fast.
Colossians 1:15-17 is Paul’s declaration that Christ is the Creator. Listen as I read.
15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. 16 For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things have been created through Him and for Him. 17 He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.
John 1:1-5 says:
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being. 4 In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men. 5 The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.
This is why I say you can not be a true believer and not hold to the Genesis account of creation. It is the darkness of the mind of man that can not comprehend the majesty and glory of God in creation. So what if a person has never read or heard Genesis 1:1? Does God still hold them accountable? Paul states in Romans 1:18-20 that God indeed does hold them accountable. Listen as I read.
18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, 19 because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them. 20 For 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.
Verse 21 tells us why they are without excuse.
21 For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened.
So why do we have this faith that Hebrews 11:3 speaks of? How do we know that God indeed from nothing framed the universe and made all that is within it? How has the light of God in the glory of creation shined in our hearts and we comprehend the light when the majority of the world sits in darkness facing eternal darkness?
Are we just more intelligent? Are we more spiritually sensitive than our lost friends, family, and neighbors? Or has some work of creation happened in our own hearts and lives? We need assurance that indeed we have biblical, saving faith. We find our assurance grounded in the character and actions of God in saving us.
Theology driven faith understands that God created out of nothing the entire universe and theology driven faith understands what the writer of Hebrews understood and that is out of wretched, sinful humanity God has created a new community of people that walk by faith and not by sight. This is called the New Covenant community in Christ. It is all through the work of the Creator God who condescended to take on human flesh, walk among His sinful creatures, suffer at the hands of evil men in order to redeem for Himself a people for His own possession.
Most people will agree that humanity is God’s crowning glory in creation. Only people are the image bearers of God Himself although that has been marred by sin. And so God in His mercy and grace instead of condemning all humanity to eternal perdition decided that out of nothing, out of worthless, sinful, depraved, human beings who are deserving of death and hell He would create a new people.
How does God do this? Let’s think about this theologically. What did He do to create everything? He spoke. And how does He create a new people for Himself? Listen to Ephesians 1:13-14.
13 In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation—having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise, 14 who is given as a pledge of our inheritance, with a view to the redemption of God's own possession, to the praise of His glory.
Isaiah 43:1-3 echoes this same Gospel call.
1 But now, thus says the LORD, your Creator, O Jacob, And He who formed you, O Israel, "Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name; you are Mine! 2 "When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; And through the rivers, they will not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be scorched, Nor will the flame burn you. 3 "For I am the LORD your God, The Holy One of
God speaks and in sinful humans faith unto salvation is brought about. Folks that is as much a miracle as the creation of the Universe was. So where does this faith come from? Is it innate within the dead sinner just waiting to pop out when the right words are spoken or the right lighting is present or if the piano plays softly in the background? Is it just waiting to spring forth when the right apologetic is applied to the mind of the seeker or the right bait is used?
Dani and I were listening to a John Piper sermon on the way to the
If heaven is a huge sporting event that never ends or a large family reunion that goes on and on forever or all the fun that we humans can imagine then what human being would not want to go there? It’s the big Six Flags over the Universe. Line up and get a ticket. There free.
But the Word of God says that we, who have heard and believed the Gospel, that He who knew no sin became sin so that we might be the righteousness of God, have the Holy Spirit within us that longs to worship in the very presence of almighty God. Something within the truly converted cries out with the Psalmist:
11 You will make known to me the path of life; In Your presence is fullness of joy;
In Your right hand there are pleasures forever. Psalm 16:11
What makes a vile wretched sinner cry out to be in the presence of God when we know that when Adam and Eve sinned they hid themselves from the presence of God?
It is a theologically driven faith. And where does that come from? Everyone wants to go to heaven when they die. But not everyone wants to be in the majestic presence of God for all eternity and see His glory as the Seraphim see it and cry out over and over again, “Holy, holy, holy….” Where does that type of faith come from? Listen to Paul’s proclamation in Romans 10:8-17.
8 But what does it say? "THE WORD IS NEAR YOU, IN YOUR MOUTH AND IN YOUR HEART"—that is, the word of faith which we are preaching, 9 that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; 10 for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation. 11 For the Scripture says, "WHOEVER BELIEVES IN HIM WILL NOT BE DISAPPOINTED ." 12 For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, abounding in riches for all who call on Him; 13 for "WHOEVER WILL CALL ON THE NAME OF THE LORD WILL BE SAVED." 14 How then will they call on Him in whom they have not believed? How will they believe in Him whom they have not heard? And how will they hear without a preacher? 15 How will they preach unless they are sent? Just as it is written, "HOW BEAUTIFUL ARE THE FEET OF THOSE WHO BRING GOOD NEWS OF GOOD THINGS!" 16 However, they did not all heed the good news; for Isaiah says, "LORD, WHO HAS BELIEVED OUR REPORT?" 17 So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ.
By the Word of the Lord the worlds came into existence and by the Word of the Lord the new creation in Christ comes into existence. If any man is in Christ He is a new Creation. Old things have passed away and all things have become new.
The first act after the universe is called into existence is God creating light. One Hebrew word is used in Genesis 1 and is translated “Let there be light.” God said “Light” and it came forth.
Let’s put this together. In order to have genuine, biblical, saving faith we must have a theology driven faith. Hebrews 11:3 says that by faith we understand that God spoke and out of nothing the universe came into being. So in salvation God performs a work of regeneration to cause nothing, a dead spiritual heart, to spring forth to life and joy and now the light has shined in our hearts through the proclamation of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and we have been made alive to Christ and our whole lives are consumed with Him and His glory. Listen to 2 Corinthians 4:6.
6 For God, who said, "Light shall shine out of darkness,"(an allusion to Genesis 1:1) is the One who has shone in our hearts to give the Light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.
A few years ago our family went on a little vacation and stopped in just north of
In the dark universe before God created light there was perfect darkness. Then He said, “let there be light.” In the perfect darkness of the depraved human heart there is no light. In our natural sinful state we flee from the light like cockroaches. But then on those whom the Father has chosen the Holy Spirit comes and shines in our dark hearts the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ and we become a new creation.
It is like Jesus standing at the tomb of cold, dead, stinking Lazarus and saying, “Lazarus, come forth.” And Lazarus comes hopping out of that tomb bound in His grave clothes and the Lord says to loose that man. Out of deadness, the Lord creates life. Out of spiritual deadness the Lord creates spiritual life and we are forever changed.
Look at verse 3 again of Hebrews 11.
3 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.
Saving faith is a theologically driven faith.
This is why we are not seeker sensitive. This is why we are not purpose driven. This is why we don’t chase after the latest and the greatest schemes and fads of church growth. This is why we trust in Christ who is the only one that can give sight to the blind and hearing to the deaf, and speech to the mute, and life to the dead. Yes we plant and we water, and we cultivate but we know that it is God who gives the increase. And to waffle on that is to waffle on the very Word of God.
Let me ask you this morning, do you have a theology driven faith? Are you trusting in Christ alone for your salvation and for your perseverance? We can trust in all kinds of things and not be trusting in Christ. We can trust in a decision that we made or in our baptism. We can trust in what someone told us about our salvation. We can trust in our parent’s faith or grandparent’s faith but all of that is worthless. A godly heritage is a wonderful thing but many people have gone to hell who have had that heritage.
Saving faith has for its object the Lord Jesus Christ, not a Jesus of our liking or what we are comfortable with but the Lord Jesus Christ of the Bible. Is the Christ of the Bible where your faith is rooted? If not you must repent of your sin and false religion and turn to Christ in faith. You may say, “But Joe I don’t have that kind of faith in me so that I can be saved.” And let me say to you that you are absolutely right and so go to the One who can create faith from nothing and that is the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. Seek Him for repentance and faith until He grants that to you. Be like the woman with the issue of blood and know that if you can just touch the hem of His garment you can be saved.
Here is the application of our point this morning. Biblical saving faith is a theology driven faith. And what we are going to see is this faith leads us to do very difficult things in the face of great opposition.
What we have seen so far in Hebrews and in 1 Peter when we went through that epistle is that saving faith by nature is in opposition to the world and the Christian has become the enemy of the world. This status now invites the wrath of the flesh, the world, and the devil on us. This is why it is so important for us to understand that our faith must be a theology driven faith. If it is based on what we think faith should be and what we think our Christian life ought to be then we are going to be greatly disappointed.
How do you handle adversity? How do you endure in the face of difficulty? What about when a friend or family member becomes like an enemy to you because of your faith and what you believe? What about when you stand up for the cause of God and truth in a public setting and you are mocked and belittled because of your narrow mindedness and belief in Scripture? What if it gets worse and physical persecution comes your way and you are beaten for your faith or even killed? What if like Christ everyone leaves your side save but a few? What do you hold onto then? You understand and hold on to the theology of suffering that accompanies saving faith. Listen to 2 Corinthians 4:7-11.
7 But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, so that the surpassing greatness of the power will be of God and not from ourselves; 8 we are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not despairing; 9 persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; 10 always carrying about in the body the dying of Jesus,(Why? Why are we carrying around in our bodies the dying of Jesus? What is the purpose of that?) so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body.(We are His image bearers and we are being conformed to His image and in His earthly body He died. Listen to verse 11.) 11 For we who live are constantly being delivered over to death for Jesus' sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh.
So with all that in mind, and the faith that is given as a creation of God, then we know by faith that even if we are destroyed because of our persecutors or disease or accident or whatever that God has the power to raise us up to everlasting life.
All of our hope as Christians is rooted in the act of God’s creation of the universe from nothing. If God did not create the universe by speaking it into existence then how can we trust Him in death? But we can trust the Lord who raised us from spiritual death to spiritual life to raise us from physical death to eternal life. Listen to 2 Corinthians 4:13-18.
13 But having the same spirit of faith, according to what is written, "I BELIEVED, THEREFORE I SPOKE," we also believe, therefore we also speak, 14 knowing that He who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus and will present us with you. 15 For all things are for your sakes, so that the grace which is spreading to more and more people may cause the giving of thanks to abound to the glory of God.
16 Therefore we do not lose heart, but though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day. 17 For momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison, 18 while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal.
The church today seems to think that theology is a bad thing. It is indeed divisive but it should be. It is indeed difficult but that is okay. It is indeed hard sometimes to grasp the teachings of Scripture but the Scripture is the Word of God which proclaims the Gospel of God that is the only hope for our salvation.
A theology driven faith is of the utmost importance as we look together at the rest of Hebrews 11. How did great men and women of old live out the faith? Because they were assured of God’s character and convicted that He would fulfill His promises. Do you have that same conviction?
Let’s pray and ask the Lord for it.
Comments:
Login to post comments