Faith: The Better Way ~ Part 2a

Messianic Jews 11:1-3
Letter to the Messianic Jews

In my last post, we continue in our mini-series Exhortation to Hold Firm by examining The Future Reward for Those Who Endure in Messianic Jews 10:32-39. In this post, we start a new mini-series on our topic of Faith: The Better Way by exploring the Definition and Illustration of Trusting. Let’s start by defining Trust (Faith) in Messianic Jews 11:1-3.

“¹ Trusting is being confident of what we hope for, convinced about things we do not see. ² It was for this that Scripture attested the merit of the people of old. ³ By trusting, we understand that the universe was created through a spoken word of God so that what is seen did not come into being out of existing phenomena.” ~ Messianic Jews 11:1-3 (CJB)

To the author of Messianic Jews, trust is the absolute certainty that what is believed is accurate and that what is expected will happen. It is not the hope which looks forward with wistful longing; it is the hope which looks forward with absolute conviction.

As I have frequently noted before, Stern generally translates “faith” as “trust.” Well, here is why: [1]

“Trust: Greek pistis, “belief, trust, firm reliance, firm conviction, faith,” corresponding to Hebrew emunah. The Jewish philosopher Martin Buber, though he honored Yeshua his “elder brother,” tried in his book, Two Types of Faith, to demonstrate that the pistis of the New Testament and the emunah of the Tanakh are different. He claimed that pistis is primarily mental assent to doctrines and facts, while emunah is a heart attitude of trust that expresses itself in righteous acts. In fact, however, the latter is the only kind of faith God honors, in both the Old Testament and the New. True Messianic faith is not different in character from that of the Tanakh; it means acknowledging who God is and what He has done, believing His promises, relying on Him for power to live a holy life, and then living that life.

The Jewish New Testament generally uses the word “trust” instead of “faith” to translate pistis because “trust” more clearly signifies to English-speakers the confident reliance on God that generates holy deeds, as opposed to the mere mental acknowledgment of facts and ideas.”

Being confident, Greek upostasis (literally, “that which stands under”), is what gives present reality to what we hope for.

The importance of trusting is that Scripture(here the word stands for God Himself) regards it as the sole basis for human merit, that is, for righteousness and thus for pleasing God (vv. 5-6). “Avraham put his trust in God, and it was credited to his account as righteousness” (Genesis 15:6, quoted at Romans 4:3).

In contrast to the rest of the chapter, which analyzes various “heroes of faith” chronicled in the Tanakh, this verse sets forth an essential function of trusting, namely, that by trusting we understand. Those who refuse to take the tiny step necessary to trust in God cannot understand the most fundamental truths: the benevolent consequences of faith are not only emotional but affect the realm of the mind.

What is seen did not come into being out of existing phenomena but was created through a spoken word of God. In Genesis 1:3, 6, 9, 14, 20, 26, we read that God said and it was! Space and time keep me from postulating on creationism versus evolution.

In my next post, we will continue in our topic of the Definition and Illustration of Trusting by examining the Trust of the Early Patriarchs in Messianic Jews 11:4-7.

Click here for PDF version.

[1] Jewish New Testament Commentary by David Stern.