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The people of faith who are written about in the Bible truly did some wonderful and amazing things. They did all of those things by faith - trusting in God. One thing stands out, as Kap and Joel discuss these people of faith this week. None of them were super people ("super saints") in and of themselves. Some of them may have done extraordinary things, but all of them were ordinary, average, normal people who simply believed God - took Him at His word - and simply acted and responded according to their trust in Him.
If we look into the lives of people such as Abraham, Noah, Moses and the others who are mentioned in the "Faith Hall of Fame" (Hebrews 11), we find that all of them were nothing special when compared with other human beings. They had their own issues in life. They sinned. They had times of doubt. They didn't have their acts together all the time! But God used them, and they were credited with having great faith - all because they simply trusted God.
And not only that, but as we begin to wrap up our current look into the book of Hebrews, we find that their great faith and the things that they did weren't even really the main point that the writer was making. He says a lot of things to say: "Let us look unto JESUS, the author and finisher (perfecter) of our faith."
One interesting, even important, point to note about each one of these people commended for their faith is that *every singe one* of them was before the Law. Even Moses is mentioned for the crossing of the Red Sea, which preceded Sinai, but nothing after that. They were all under Grace.
ReplyDeleteWell Hebrews 11 does mention David, Samuel, the prophets, Samson and others who lived under the law. I think the main thing is that whether they were under the law or not under the law, they were weak people who sinned and didn't have it all together, and yet they trusted God, and through faith were accounted as righteousness. And yet even bigger than all of this, they didn't even "receive the promise, God having provided something better for us, that they should not be made perfect apart from us." So indeed, in the end, it's all about being under grace!
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