Hebrews 11
1 Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. 2 This is what the ancients were commended for…
39 These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised, 40 since God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect.
On Faith:
Verses 2 & 39 • Com·mended – entrusted someone [with] or something to.
It’s obvious to us that faith is an indication of our trust in God. That’s our confidence and assurance but these verses tell us that long ago “God had planned something better” that includes us today. These “by faith” verses are the record of those ancients’ faith that God had entrusted/commended them with. Our faith today’s is the same: God’s Own Faith entrusted to us so we can understand:
V3 the mystery of creation
V4 the choice of our offerings to him
V7 how to build our obedience
V8 he is there in unfamiliar circumstances
V17 testing is sometimes the sacrifice
V20 that he can redeem deceit
V22 the need to remember his history
V24 we have our identity in him
V31 we can live beyond the past
That’s “perfect.”