Bible Study on Hebrews 11:1 ("Faith is confidence in what we hope for")
Hebrews 11:1
“Faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.” (NIV)
Welcome to the Bible Study Guide for Hebrews 11:1, which leverages questions from the CHARA Bible Study Guide when studying this verse. Below are the questions the Chara team chose to ask, in the order they chose to ask them, but feel free to use other questions or change up the order as you dive into this passage. For ANSWERS from the Chara team on these questions, check out the video below.
AUTHOR
Purpose: What was the author's purpose, why was it written, and what insight does it provide into the passage? (Hint: see book intro in a Study Bible) We’ll spend most of our time in the immediate context surrounding Hebrews 11:1, predominately in chapters 10 and 11. Yet it will help to have some familiarity with what came before it. The author spends the first ten chapters contrasting the Old Testament system of laws with the superiority of Christ and His salvation. Throughout Hebrews, we see the word “better” or “superior” used thirteen times and “perfect” used fourteen times in the original Greek. At the heart of the message of this letter, is that Jesus is all we need to have perfect standing before God and believers should rest in God’s grace given through His Son instead of ceremonies and rituals. Read Hebrews 1:1-4. What do you learn about Jesus and why do you think the author wasted no time making this point?
HISTORY
Who was it written to and who was it written about? How does the Bible describe them? The author of Hebrews does not identify himself or his audience, but there is much we can learn about those to whom this letter was written from the text itself. For instance, in Hebrews 2:3, we learn that they were second-generation Christians, having received the message of Christ from “those that heard him.” In addition, the many references to the Old Testament suggest this letter was predominantly written to early Jewish Christians. What else can you learn about the recipients of this letter from Hebrews 5:11-14 and 10:32-34?
RESEARCH
Resources: What insights do you learn from Biblical scholars provided in Study Bibles, commentaries, and credible online resources?
What can you learn about the early Jewish Christians and why they were experiencing persecution?
The following historical insights might be helpful. How do these resources check out with the passages you’ve already read?
“For many Jewish Christians things were not easy. Lots of their family members and friends and neighbors had not accepted Jesus as the long-awaited Messiah, and they regarded them as dangerous, misguided and disloyal to all that God had said earlier on. All sorts of pressure would have been put on them to try and make them go back to where they had been before, to abandon this new-found movement with its strange claims and to take up again a position of living under God’s law, the law given through Moses.” (Hebrews by N.T. Wright)
“For a first-century Jew to become a believer in Jesus Christ required a great sacrifice. He was immediately branded as an apostate and a blemish to the Jewish nation. He was considered “unclean” in the strongest possible sense. Defecting Jews were immediately expelled from the synagogue; their children were denied the privilege of attending the synagogue school; they lost their jobs in geographical areas controlled by the Jews; in short, they lost everything of earthly value to them. Furthermore, the Jewish high priest had the authority in Judea, and to some extent in other provinces, to throw troublesome Jews in jail (compare 10:33-34). It was circumstances such as these that apparently caused many of these Hebrew believers to wane in their commitment to Christ.” (Hebrews by NavPress)
AUTHOR
Style/Letter: What instruction was given and what prompted it in Hebrews 10:35-39? How does this build off of the instruction given a bit earlier, in Hebrews 10:19-23?
RESEARCH
Observations & Questions: What observations or questions do you have? There are times when we may not feel confident in our faith. It is often in those times that we desperately want to draw near to God in faith, but we may feel helpless and we don’t know how. We may feel that our sins are holding us back. In the first half of Hebrews chapter 10, we learn that Jesus’ once-for-all sacrifice paid the penalty for our sins, and through faith in Christ we are forgiven. Notice Hebrews 10:19 begins with “therefore” referring us back to what was written before it. In essence, it’s saying therefore because of Christ’s sacrifice, because we are forgiven - this is why we can have confidence and draw near to God. How does Hebrews 10:19-23 help build your faith?
Translations: Does another Bible translation (or version) add perspective or clarity on what the original language was trying to communicate? With a little background, we can now move into our verse with a better understanding of how the original audience would have heard it. Look up Hebrews 11:1 in multiple Bible translations (Hint: check out NIV, KJV, ESV, CSB). What insight do you gain about faith and how does it build off everything you’ve already learned in Hebrews?
CONTEXT
Bible: Does the text quote or allude to another passage in the Bible and what understanding does that give? Faith is placing your hope and belief in something unseen. Yet, the author of Hebrews has built a case that would counter any claims that faith is blind to reason. In Hebrews chapter 11, he now gives example after example of people in the Old Testament who displayed great faith in God. You can spend as much time as you like in Hebrews 11 looking up cross-references that point back to the Old Testament where you can read the stories of each one of these faith heroes. For the sake of time, we’ll just focus on a few. Read Hebrews 11:8-19. What do you learn about faith from Abraham and Sarah?
RESEARCH
Observations & Questions: What observations or questions do you have? It could be easy to assume that if we have enough faith our life will look a certain way - it will be comfortable, blessed, or successful. But the reward we gain for faith in Christ is being forgiven of sin and reconciled to God for eternity.
Read Hebrews 11:32-38. What do you learn about the lives of these faith heroes and why is their story important? What is the risk if we falsely believe that God promised a comfortable or successful life here and now to those who are faithful?
APPLY
Ask: What do you learn about God - His character, attributes, or desires? What did Abraham and Sarah know about God that allowed them to place their complete trust in Him (Hint: see Hebrews 11:11,19)? Can you relate?
Pray: “Lord, what do you want me to learn and how should I apply this to my life?” Just after the list of Old Testament faith heroes in chapter 11, Hebrews 12:1 begins with “therefore.” Read Hebrews 12:1-2, how are we to apply this to our lives today? According to verse two, why should we keep our eyes on Jesus?
Join the Chara Project team as they study Hebrews 11:1 and see their ANSWERS to the questions asked from the CHARA Bible Study Guide.