Hebrews 11 - 13

Faith

The book of Hebrews concludes a prayer by Paul for the recipients of his epistle and, by extension, all believers (see 13:20-21). "May he equip you with all you need for doing his will."  This equipping is a direct result of faith which Paul extols in chapter 11 - the faith chapter.

Paul begins by defining faith as a "substance" or "confidence," and an "evidence" or "assurance."  It is what allows the Christian to believe and fully accept our expectations will materialize and further allows us to believe in the unseen work of God in our lives (11:1).  He then explains that "without faith it is impossible to please God." (11:6) citing that Abel's faith in offering his more excellent sacrifice still cries out to us and against Cain to this day.  Paul provides many examples of faith from the Old Testament explaining that "All these people earned a good reputation because of their faith, yet none of them received all that God had promised." (11:39).