Faith teaching, part 3

Here are the earlier parts of this teaching:

Faith teaching part 2
Faith teaching part 1

OK, so back to this verse:

Hebrews 11:6 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. (NIV)

We are talking about the type of faith that pleases God. Moreover, the type of faith that is necessary if we are to please God. We talked about the first aspect of this faith, which I termed the He can aspect of faith.

The second aspect of the faith that pleases God is to believe that he rewards those who earnestly seek him. This is an interesting contrast to the first characteristic of faith. The first aspect of faith talked about is belief in who God is. This second aspect talks about what God does. And of all the various activities that God engages in - creating, loving, judging, etc. - faith is the belief that he rewards.

Interesting word, reward. A reward is not an unmerited gift; it is a prize for having done something. In English the word is often used when the thing given is out of proportion to the actual work done, as in "a reward of $1000 will be given for any information leading to the capture of this dangerous criminal." However, in Greek, the word connotes being paid wages for doing work. There is a sense of duty in the giving, of obligation; that the reward given is in proportion to the work done. An amazing thing, this: to be paid wages for earnestly seeking God.

It reminds me of another verse, originally found in Genesis 15:6, but quoted three times in the New Testament. I'll quote it from Romans, because I'm allowed:

Romans 4:3: ...Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness. (NIV)

Similar to Hebrews 11:6, a reward (credit) is given for belief. This word translated credited connotes in both the Hebrew and the Greek the ideas of calculating and counting. Again, there is the idea that there is a fair exchange here - on one side, the belief, and on the other, what is rewarded or credited. This is astounding, that one can receive a reward from God just for believing, and it is treated as his or her due to receive it! For this is what Paul goes on to say in Romans chapter 4:

4 Now when a man works, his wages are not credited to him as a gift, but as an obligation. 5 However, to the man who does not work but trusts God who justifies the wicked, his faith is credited as righteousness.

Some people would say that God is obligated by the rules of the spiritual realm to credit our faith as righteousness. I don't like to think of it this way, because this makes God subordinate to what He has created. Instead, I believe that He has obligated Himself to repay our belief.

OK, so back to Hebrews. What is the reward given for belief? I think that there are many rewards, but the big one, the ultimate one, the one that really matters is given at the end of Hebrews 10:

39 But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who believe and are saved. (my emphasis)

This actually comes right before the "faith chapter" of Hebrews 11. We believe and are saved. The reward of our belief is to be saved. Lest there be any confusion over what it means to be saved, the New American Standard renders "saved" as "preserving of the soul." The reward of God, given to those who earnestly seek him, is that their soul may be saved to eternal life, that they may survive the great judgment that is coming and escape death.

Now here is another cool part. In the New Testament, God reveals a new name for Himself. It is the name of his son, who is God in the flesh. That name is Jesus. Jesus is the Greek form of the Hebrew name "Yehoshua" (English "Joshua"), which means "Yahweh is salvation." More loosely, it might be said to mean "He saves," as from Matthew 1:21:

"She will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins."

Above, we saw that salvation is our reward, so to say "He rewards" is similar to saying "He saves." So, in this verse of Hebrews 11:6, we have both of the personal names of God: Yahweh ("He is") and Jesus ("He saves"). Isn't that cool? Faith, then, is believing in the two major revelations of God's personal nature - that He is, and that He saves.

Finally, I want to talk more about this idea that rewarding is something God does. Because rewarding is something that God does, it is connected to the will or desire of God. He is not compelled to do anything; He is God! So God wants to save; God wants to reward. This concept was very important to my growth in faith, that I am pleasing to God when I believe that he wants to reward me. This shatters the idea that it is godly or holy to shrink away from God's provision, to say "oh no, God, you are so very busy, don't bother with poor lil ole me." I can ask God for what I need not only because He can give me what I need, but because He wants to give me what I need - and it pleases Him when I adopt this attitude! Part of the faith that pleases God is the belief that he wants to reward those who earnestly seek Him.

Hebrews 11:6 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.

So, finally, let me say that I think of these two portions of faith in this way: Faith is belief that God can, and that God wants to.

Application

I have found that when I lack faith for something, I can usually trace it to having a deficiency in one of these two aspects of faith. Either I am believing that God can't act (He isn't powerful enough, or He is prevented from acting, etc.), or that He doesn't want to. Knowing this allows me to focus in on the specific beliefs that I need to correct. I can then challenge those thoughts and feelings with what I know about God from the Bible.

For example, suppose that I have trouble believing that God will save someone that I am praying for. When I examine my thoughts, I find that I am failing to believe that God can. I am, instead, believing that God cannot violate that person's free will to ignore God. However, I know that God turned the heart of Saul of Tarsus, who was very much against Jesus. My friend is not that hardened against God, so certainly God can turn their heart to Him.

Or suppose that I am praying for my healing, and I find myself lacking in faith. In looking more closely at my attitudes, I discover that I feel that God doesn't want to heal me. Maybe I feel that He can't be bothered with my sickness because it is small compared to others, or that he considers my physical health a less important thing than my spiritual health.

But this isn't what the Bible says. The Bible says that Jesus healed a lot. In fact, the Bible says in several places (for example, Matthew 4:24, 12:15, and 14:36) that Jesus healed all that came to him - regardless of how big or small their illness. Also, in James Chapter 5 the author commands that the sick should be prayed over, and they will get well. James, who comes across as a pretty tough character in his letter, didn't offer up any nonsense about how the sick should be content to stay sick. Clearly, God wants us to be healed.

So, my charge to you is to examine your faith, to see if it is lacking in either of these areas. If it is, convince your heart from the Bible, or through the ministry of the Body of Christ, that God can and that God wants to.