Heb.11:13. These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.
The Christian life is not a formula, it’s a relationship. It’s not a how to, but a Who to. Having said that, there are some what’s, and how’s as we learn to live out our relationship with Christ. In verse 13 we see a little bit of how faith operates. It’s a process that when acting in faith, we are usually not even conscious of, but at least part of these realities are happening. I chose the King James version because I like the way it says it.
This verse refers to the old testament saints referred to at this point in Heb.11 who were looking for he Messiah and His Kingdom. Notice the sequence. They saw the promises from afar. In other words, they heard God speak, (the PROMISE. Remember faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God) but what He spoke seemed so unlikely, far off in time, in light of the situation of their lives. Yet, in spite of everything they were PERSUADED that if God said it, it must be true, and therefore they EMBRACED the promises. This is believing in your heart. What happened next completes The Spirit of Faith 2 Corinthians 4 talks about. They CONFESSED that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. This is the Confessing with your mouth what you believe in your heart. This is the Work of faith. James says, faith without works is dead. The act of Confessing what you believe gives life to faith; to the thing you believe in. Without that daring act, faith is lifeless. It is simply believing what even the demons believe. True faith (living faith) always invokes the ability of God. Believing is seeing. The world operates just the opposite way. Jesus said He was the High Priest of our confession. I don’t think that just means when we confessed Him as Savior. Tomorrow we will talk about the unconditional commitment of faith. Have a great day walking in faith. Acting like it is so, when it isn’t so, in order for it to be so, because He says it’s so.