Commendable Faith

Hebrews 11:4 English Standard Version

Hebrews 11:2 For by it [faith (v.1)] the people of old received their commendation.

Commendation - to be approvingly testified of v. — to be or become affirmed favorably by firsthand authentication.

After defining faith in verse 1 and illustrating faith in verse 3, the writer of Hebrews begins to list people from the past who were commended for their faith in the remainder of the chapter.

This chapter is sometimes called the Hall of Faith, the Rollcall of Faith, or the Heroes of Faith.

Hebrews 11 lists sixteen people by name as well as groups such as the people, the prophets, others and women.

What makes a person’s faith commendable or acceptable to God?

Three Keys to Commendable Faith:

1. Faith prompts us to respond to God.

a. Hebrews 11:4 By faith Abel offered to God a more acceptable sacrifice than Cain,

i. The reference to Abel’s faith in v. 4 is an allusion to Gen 4:3–5.[1]

1. Genesis 4:3 In the course of time Cain brought to the Lordan offering of the fruit of the ground,

2. Genesis 4:4 and Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat portions. And the Lord had regard for Abel and his offering,

a. regard/to accept (Genesis 4:4) v. — to react favorably to, and thus consider right and proper.

b. acceptable/greater (Hebrews 11:4) adj. — greater in size or importance or degree.

c. pertaining to being more appropriate or fitting—‘more appropriate, better, more acceptable.’[2]

3. Genesis 4:5 but for Cain and his offering he had no regard. So Cain was very angry, and his face fell.

ii. What made Abel’s offering acceptable and Cain’s not?

1. Abel offered in faith.

a. Hebrews 11:4 By faith Abel offered to God a more acceptable sacrifice than Cain,

2. Living by faith is living by the word of God.

a. Hebrews 11:3 By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible.

3. Examine their offerings:

a. Genesis 4:3 In the course of time Cain brought to the Lord an offering of the fruit of the ground,

b. Genesis 3:18 thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you; and you shall eat the plants of the field.

c. Genesis 3:19 By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread, till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you shall return.”

d. Deuteronomy 26:10 And behold, now I bring the first of the fruit of the ground, which you, O Lord, have given me.’ And you shall set it down before the Lord your God and worship before the Lord your God.

e. Genesis 4:4 and Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat portions. And the Lord had regard for Abel and his offering,

f. Genesis 3:21 And the Lord God made for Adam and for his wife garments of skins and clothed them.

2. Faith prompts us to trust in Jesus.

a. Hebrews 11:4 through which he was commended as righteous, God commending him by [accepting] his gifts.

b. Hebrews 11:2 For by it the people of old received their commendation.

c. Hebrews 10:38 but my righteous one shall live by faith, and if he shrinks back, my soul has no pleasure in him.”

i. Habakkuk 2:4 “Behold, his soul is puffed up; it is not upright within him, but the righteous shall live by his faith.

1. Habakkuk 2:4 (LES) If he draws back, my life does not find pleasure in it, but the righteous one will live by my faith.

ii. Romans 1:17 For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith.”

iii. Galatians 3:11 Now it is evident that no one is justified before God by the law, for “The righteous shall live by faith.”

d. Romans 3:23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

e. Romans 3:24 and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus,

f. Romans 3:25 whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins.

g. Romans 3:26 It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.

3. Faith prompts us to tell others about Jesus.

a. Hebrews 11:4 And through his faith, though he died, he still speaks.

b. Genesis 4:8 Cain spoke to Abel his brother. And when they were in the field, Cain rose up against his brother Abel and killed him.

c. 1 John 3:12 We should not be like Cain, who was of the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his own deeds were evil and his brother’s righteous.

d. Genesis 4:10 And the Lord said, “What have you done? The voice of your brother’s blood is crying to me from the ground.

e. Revelation 6:9 When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God and for the witness they had borne.

f. Revelation 6:10 They cried out with a loud voice, “O Sovereign Lord, holy and true, how long before you will judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?”

g. Hebrews 12:24 and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.

h. Luke 23:33 And when they came to the place that is called The Skull, there they crucified him, and the criminals, one on his right and one on his left.

i. Luke 23:34 And Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” And they cast lots to divide his garments.

Work It Out:

1. By faith trust in Jesus to make you righteous.

2. By faith give your first and best to God.

3. By faith speak to others about Jesus.

[1]David L. Allen, Hebrews, The New American Commentary (Nashville, TN: B & H Publishing Group, 2010), 545. [2]Johannes P. Louw and Eugene Albert Nida, Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament: Based on Semantic Domains (New York: United Bible Societies, 1996), 627.