Imagine waking up one day, getting rid of everything you own, and confidently moving across the country in anticipation of a job you had not been offered, let alone applied for.
Most people would call that foolish, and they’re probably right, especially if this was done on a whim with no planning or practical assurance of success.
But what if you had a job offer first — or, even better, knew God had promised you’d get the job, and all would go well? That would be different. You’d be able to make your move with certainty and conviction.
At the start of Hebrews 11, we find not only a beloved line of Scripture but a pragmatic definition of faith.
“Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see,” the writer asserts, then goes into a long list of faithful people from the Old Testament who exhibited that confidence and assurance — and received their promised reward.
What does this mean? How is faith confidence in what we hope for and assurance of what we do not see?
In short, it’s trusting in the promises of the One who made the universe and walking boldly into the future, knowing all is truly and perfectly well, now and always.
What Do Confidence and Assurance Mean Here?
The original Greek uses the words hypostasis elpizō, which translates roughly to confident hope or being certain of what we expect. Hypostasis can also refer to a firm or substantial foundation.
For “assurance,” the Greek is elenchus, which means certainty or proof, such as assurance gained through questioning and testing. Modern dictionaries use the word elenchus to refer to the Socratic method of drawing out the truth by question and answer, especially in an argument.
Essentially, the text is saying that genuine, true faith means being fully certain that what we hope for (that is, everlasting life in the Kingdom of Heaven) will absolutely come to pass, as it has been tested before and is certain.
The verse is saying that what God promised us is real and true; we can have full security in it, and even if we can’t see into tomorrow, we still can count on it coming to fruition.
What Is the Context of This Verse?
In the previous chapter, Hebrews 10, the writer talked about faith, calling us to persevere. He said the new covenant had replaced the old, and now we must press on with bold faith. We must “hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful” (Hebrews 10:23).
He concludes the chapter, “But we do not belong to those who shrink back and are destroyed, but to those who have faith and are saved” (v. 39).
In Hebrews 11, after defining faith as “confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see,” he then explains how the actions of various biblical figures proved their faith was true.
For instance, Abel was faithful and righteous with his sacrifice, even though he was murdered by Cain, “and by faith Abel still speaks, even though he is dead,” Hebrews 11:4 tells us.
Enoch was so faithful he didn’t even experience death (v. 5).
Noah was faithful to build the ark and save his family, becoming the heir of the salvaged world (v. 7).
Abraham lived as a stranger in a foreign country because of his faith in God, and from him and his faithful wife, Sarah, “came descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as countless as the sand on the seashore” (v. 12).
By faith the people passed through the Red Sea, but the Egyptians drowned (v. 29).
By faith the walls of Jericho fell (v. 30).
The whole chapter and all of Hebrews 11:1 is summed up in another, just as critical verse: “And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him” (Hebrews 11:6).
What Did God Promise?
God promises us a future, a healing of all humanity that comes in the Kingdom of Heaven.
In John 3:16-17, we’re promised that “God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.”
In Romans 10:9-13, he promises, “If you declare with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved. As Scripture says, ‘Anyone who believes in him will never be put to shame.’ For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile — the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him, for, ‘Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
In John 6:47, he promises, “Very truly I tell you, the one who believes has eternal life.”
In Ephesians 2:8-9, he promises, “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God — not by works, so that no one can boast.”
In Acts 4:11-12, he promises, “Jesus is ‘the stone you builders rejected, which has become the cornerstone.’ Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.”
Why Can We Trust God?
We trust God because he is holy, awesome, righteous, and good in every way — he is God. He knows better than we do, he is able to do all things, and he is worthy of our trust.
Scripture tells us, “God is not human, that he should lie, not a human being, that he should change his mind. Does he speak and then not act? Does he promise and not fulfill?” (Numbers 23:19). Titus 1:2 proclaims that God “does not lie.”
Faith Requires Action
But while we have salvation based on our faith, we know full well what is said in James 2:26, “As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.”
All of the people listed in Hebrews 11 acted in faith, and God worked through that faith.
Faith starts by trusting and believing God. Then, it progresses to actually living out that faith through our actions.
What is interesting is what the writer says at the end of the chapter, in Hebrews 11:39-40: “All of these people, from Abraham to Joseph to Gideon, Barak, Samson, and Jephthah, are highly respected for their faith — yet not a single one of them received what they had been promised.”
That’s perhaps the lesson for us today as we try to live our own lives: We won’t see God’s plan come to fruition until Jesus returns and God’s kingdom is restored.
But we can have full confidence and assurance that this will happen.
Thanks be to God. Amen and amen!
For further reading:
How Is Faith the Assurance of What We Do Not See?
How to Live Out Faith Found in Hebrews 11
What Is the 'Hall of Faith' Found in Hebrews 11?
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