IBS Application for Hebrews 11:1-4

“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. 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. And through his faith, though he died, he still speaks.”

Having a foundation for the things that we hope for in Christ and knowing that by faith alone we have evidence of the things in the heavenly places that we cannot see is unbelievably encouraging to me. In this life it is so easy to get lost in doubt and fear, particularly about God’s promises. The things that He promises to us seem so far off from us at times that it becomes a temptation to want to expedite the process of obtaining these promises. Essentially, we try to “help” God help us.

However, He has no need of our help. If anything, we have a tendency to mess things up for ourselves, and only seem to succeed in making things harder on ourselves during the periods where we wait upon God. It is only by faith that we can grow, and by faith that we can take comfort in His promises.

However, we needn’t worry about the times that we mess up and sin. As the author of the letter says, the people that Scripture remembers as being good servants are remembered for their acts of faith, not their failures to be faithful. This means that God does chooses to forget our sins. We have this truth as an encouragement to not fall into despair over our failings.

It is important that we take this to heart, for I find that it is all to easy to try to earn our salvation when we find ourselves failing. But God has given us an example in the form of Abel to encourage us in this truth, that salvation and atonement are not earned, but received. Abel knew that his sacrifices and the work he did to prepare them were not what counted; it was his own brokenness and realizing that he needed grace to be forgiven of his sins that enabled him to receive the atonement necessary for him to go on living in God’s righteousness. It is why his sacrifice was more acceptable to God than Cain’s. Cain thought that his hard work would make his sacrifice more appealing to God, but this was not the case. Hard work earns us no favor in God’s eyes. As David tells us, “For You will not delight in sacrifice, or I would give it; You will The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, You will not despise.”

God desires for us to realize our need for Him. This isn’t for any reason other than that He loves us and cares about us, and wants us to see that our sin is killing us. He also wants us to realize that trying to earn salvation is a vain endeavor. Part of the reason as to why God introduced the Law into the world was to demonstrate that we cannot reach the standard of righteousness necessary for us to have salvation by any measure of goodness or strength or power we have within ourselves apart from Him. We have no goodness, nor strength, nor power great enough to reach that standard. It is only by the grace of God that we have this salvation. It is only by grace that we can be forgiven of sins and see redemption take place within our own souls. It is only by grace that we are made righteous. It is only by grace that we can realize our own wretchedness and need for atonement. It is only by grace that we receive any measure of blessing and good things in this life.

I’m being shown more and more in my walk with God that I am still trying to earn things that I can only have by grace. To be given promises, to be continually encouraged about my own salvation, to be given the opportunities I’ve been given to serve the Lord, to be blessed to have the people I have around me in this time, to see Jesus in all of this; it’s all grace, and I didn’t earn any of it. God simply desires to give to me all that which is good for me to have, and to see Him more and more in it all. And in seeing Him, I see the Face of Love made manifest in Jesus, and find more and more joy and peace. And I needn’t struggle to have any of it. I need only say “yes, Lord” whenever He wants to give.

However, I have a hard time receiving blessing. I didn’t even think that I should ask for blessing, because I am unworthy to receive it. But God is trying to break me out of those feelings, and trying to make me realize that He wants to give to me all that which will help point me back to Him, so that I will grow in my love of Him. He wants to give me that which is good for me to have. I get in the way of receiving the gifts that God has for me. This is sometimes due to a lack of trust, sometimes my own arrogance, sometimes even letting these good things become distractions. But I can also have rest in knowing that God is faithful to fulfill His promises, and though I get in the way sometimes, I only get in the way in that God lets me say “no,” but I cannot stop Him from blessing me when He decides to.

My application for this passage will be to pray for the faith I need to trust in Him for His grace, and to realize my own need for grace in my life, as much as I will also ask that God would break me out of living by works for blessing and forgiveness. Ultimately, I need to start walking in God’s love and grace, wholly separated from a life of works, and I will pray for that as well, even though I know that there is still much within me that still seeks to earn what God gives me freely. But His grace is sufficient, and it will continue to be sufficient for me even when I do not seek it.