Faith and the Sin of Unbelief

The writer of Hebrews said: "But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him" (Hebrews 11:6, NKJV).

Here are some statements of truth:

1. Left to ourselves, if we were asked what we need to do to please God, few of us would offer the answer which Scripture here gives. Most often than not, people try to please God on some basis other than faith: by morality, by good works, by Church membership, by charitable contributions, by prayer or other religious activity. But without faith, none of these is acceptable to God. No matter what else we do, no matter how good our motives, no matter how sincere or zealous we may be, there is no substitute for faith. Without it we cannot please God. It is impossible!

2. God's single requirement is - "He who comes to God must believe ..."

3. The two things that we are required to believe are: First, we must believe that God is - that He exists. Secondly, we must believe that God is "a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him".

The ultimate object of faith

It is true that faith relates us to two invisible objects - God and His Word. The ultimate object of faith is none other than God Himself. It is true that we believe in God, but we do so because His Word is an extension of Himself. Our confidence in His Word rests on our confidence in Himself as a Person. If we ever cease to believe in God we will eventually cease to believe His Word also.

It is most important to see that, those whose faith goes no further than merely believing a form of doctrine or theology, will never get to know the fullness and richness of life that God offers us. His final purpose is to bring us into an immediate, intimate, person-to-person relationship with Himself. That is the ultimat object of our faith.

The sin of unbelief

We have seen in my previous message: "The just shall live by faith" that righteousness proceeds always and only from faith. The reverse is also true - sin has only one ultimate source - unbelief.

Jesus said, "And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: of sin, because they do not believe in Me; ..." (John 16:8, 9).

Therefore, the primary sin, of which the whole world is guilty, is unbelief. This the basis of all other sins.

The writer of Hebrews said: "Beware, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God; but exhort one another daily, while it is called 'Today.' lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin" (Hebrews 3:12, 13, emphasis added).

Here are some statements of truth:

1. Most believers tend to view unbelief as something regrettable, but comparatively harmless. But we are here told that an unbelieving heart is an evil heart. Unbelief is evil because it causes us to fall away from God. Just as faith establishes a personal relationship with God, so unbelief destroys it. The two are exactly opposite in their effects.

2. Unbelief causes our hearts to be hardened toward God and thus expose us to the deception of sin and of Satan.

3. The word "Today" is use deliberately to emphasize the fact that the effects of hardening of hearts for believers today are same as for those children of Israel who came out Egypt. They are just as deadly for us as they were for them.

The writer of Hebrews said further: "Now with whom was He angry forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose corpses fell in the wilderness? And to whom did He swear that they would not enter His rest, but in those who did not obey? So we see that they could not enter in because of unfelief" (Hebrews 3:17 - 19, emphasis added).

Notice that those children of Israel committed many sins - idolatry, complaining, and rebellion and so on. But the specific sin which kept them from entering their inheritance was unbelief. Unblieve is the source of all sins. An important spiritual principle reveled is - "Faith unites us to Him; unbelief separates us from Him." Both are mutually exclusive.

The writer of Hebrews confirmed this spiritual principle:

"'Now the just whall live by faith; but if anyone draws back, My soul has no pleasure in him.' But we are not of those who draw back to perdition, but of those who believe to the saving of the soul" (Hebrews 10:38, 39).

Once we have committed ourselves to this life that is based on faith, we cannot afford to turn away from it again. To go back into unbelief leads only to darkness and destruction. To go forward we must continue as we began - in faith!

The definition of faith

Hebrews 11:1 give the only definiton of faith found in the Bible: "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen" (Hebrews 11:1, NKJV).

Here are some statements of truth:

1. The above verse consists of two parts - "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for" and "(Faith is) the evidence of things not seen." These two parts consist of two basic principles of faith.

2. The first principle is "hope". "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for" indicates that faith begins with hope - confident expectation. We hope for things not yet attained, things not yet in our possession, with the unshakable confidence that the promises of God - "things hoped for" - whether they be for the distant future, or for the hours and days that lie immediately ahead, will be realized.

3. The second principle is "awareness" of the unseen spiritual world. This spiritual world, though not seen, is as real as the physical world which we relate to our physical senses. "(Faith is) the evidence of things not seen". It is easy to believe in things we can see, but not easy to believe in the things we cannot see. Yet this is exactly where faith operates. We do not need faith to operate in the realm of things we can see; it is sight, and not faith that operates there.

The operation of faith

The writer of Hebrews, having given us a definition, now proceeds to draw some interesting deductions from it.

"For by it (faith) the elders obtained a good testimony. By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible" (Hebrews 11:2, 3).

Here are some statements of truth:

1. The "elders" were the ancient Hebrew patriarchs. They bore testimony under the influence of their faith because, even in trying circumstances, they had unwavering confidence in God.

2. Note carefully what this statement says - "By faith we understand". It does not say, "By faith we accept", or even "By faith we affirm". The word "understand" in the context simply means, "the exercise of the mind under the influence of God". Men who shut out God from their thinking, and then exercise their minds to try to discover the origin of the universe, even using scientific study and research, believe that all this happened by chance! Men will never understand the origin of the universe unless they begin to think from God's perspective.

3. The second part of Hebrews 11:3 is: "The things which ar seen were not made of things which are visible". In other words, we can never explain the things which are seen until we come to understand the things tha are unseen. That is the reason why so many scientists and philosophers struggle over the mysteries of the universe. They fail to recognize the existence of unseen things, and therefore they are unable fully to understand the meaning of the things that are visible. Unless these scientists are "converted"; unless they come by faith to the cross, they will not be able to discover something greater than the creation - the One and only Creator! And the more they understand God and fellowshipped with Him in the world of the unseen, the more clearly they come to understand the secrets of the material world aroung them.

4. The above gives the reason why the writer of Hebrews said, "But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him" (Hebrews 11:6).


Everyone believes in God


As we have seen, we need faith to believe that God exists. But, strange may it seems to be, believing in God can be the easiest thing in the world. God created in the human spirit to relate to God. He also created in all of us a measure of faith (Romans 12:3). In fact, I believe it requires much effort to disbelieve, but it requires little effort to believe. Even though we are all born sinners with a sinful nature, but the fact is that each one of us starts out by believing God exists. It is only when we are trained not to believe, that we come to the place of declaring God does not exist. That is why children have very little difficulty with the concept of God. With their childlike faith they believe that God exists.


Someone had said, "The soul is naturally Christian". This does not mean that conversion and regeneration are unnecessary. The fact is that, the soul is created in such a way that left to itself and without the influences of secularism and atheism, it will come to the conclusion that Paul's words: "All thigs were created through Him and for Him" (Col. 1:16), are imprinted on it.


Living illustrations of faith


The writer of Hebrews, having given us the definition and opreration faith, goes on the give us a few living illustrations - beginning with Abel and ending with Jesus (Hebrews 11:4 to 12:3). Some Bible teachers call them "heroes of faith".


It is interesting to note that the writer of Hebrews did not pull these names out, as illustrations of heroes of faith, at random. Each name illustrates a particular aspect and characteristic of faith. Our task, as we look at each of these characters in turn, is to test ourselves to see how many of their distinguishing marks of faith are present to our own lives. Let us briefly consider each of these living illustrations.


Abel (Heb. 11:4)


The first name we encounter is that of Abel. Why? Because it is in Abel the primary note of faith is struck - in coming into God's presence an atoning blood sacrifice is required. Cain's offering of fruit and vegetables was not acceptable by God. Abel was the first man to learn this truth.


Enoch (Heb. 11:5)


Enoch was one of the only two men in the Old Testament who went to heaven without dying - the other being Elijah (2 Kings 2:11). Enoch walked so closly with God that he found a fellowship which death could not interrupt. Enoch has become forever a picture of what death is to the Christian - not a termination, but a transition.


Noah (Heb. 11:7)


Noah feared God and by faith, built the ark as commanded by God. Faith acts on what God says, even though circumstances seem to say that it is all futile. Noah was led on by faith to become an heir of righteousness.


Abraham (Heb. 11:8 - 19)


Abraham is held in high esteem, not only by Christianity but also by Judaism and Islam. There are three great movements of Abraham's faith - one, Abraham obeyed God's call (Gen. 12:1 - 9); two, he sojourned in the land of promise (Gen. 13:14 - 18); three, he offered up his son Isaac (Gen. 22:1 - 18). Abraham may not know where he was going, but he knew with whom he was going! Abraham was called the friend of God (James 2:22).


Isaac, Jacob and Joseph (Heb. 11:20 - 22)


Isaac, Jacob and Joseph are linked together in the list of heroes of faith. In ech case, the illustrations of faith given are drawn from the latter part of the patriarchs' lives.


Moses (Heb. 11:23 - 29)


Most of us are familiar with the wonderful story of Moses' life - a life which spanned a period of 120 years. The significant characteristic of which Moses illustrated is - he evaluates every situation before he exercised his faith. For example: "(Moses) esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt; for he looked to the reward" (Heb. 11:26).


The faith of others (Heb. 11:30 - 40)


Who are these "others"? Obviously this refers to the multitudes of people who, down the ages, have lived their lives by the principle of faith. If you are truly one of Christ's disciples, includes you also.


Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith (Heb. 12:1, 2)


"Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God" (Heb. 12:1, 2, NKJV, emphasis added).


Here are some statements of truth:


1. "Cloud of witnessed" refers to those heroes of faith mentioned in Hebrews 11.


2. We should fix our eyes upon Jesus who is the author and finisher of our faith instead of fixing our eyes upon any of the heroes of faith.

3. Jesus sat down at the right hand of the throne of God because His work had been completed.