Hebrews 11:6 - But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.
I want to take a look at this verse from the perspective of being a New-creation in Christ. Here are some important notations that help us understand our relationship to this verse, and these notations can be of encouragement to us as we recognize and realize our standing in the Lord that we already have, by being Born-again!
Most of the chapter this verse is contained in is dealing with the faith-(fulness) of Old Testament people. They are being used as examples of how God could work miraculously upon them, in them, through them, often in spite of them! These examples are used to exhort the Body of Christ to permit the Holy Spirit to work mightily in and through us!
Christians can't be without faith! Faith is part and parcel of the package of salvation! As partakers of the divine nature, we have the life of God, the Spirit of God, the nature of God, the love of God, and we're Born-again of the Word of God, and by both elements of the Spirit and Word being in us, we have the faith of God within us! Literally so!
We are already pleasing to the Lord, for we born of Him, and we're His vessels of righteousness. His Spirit is in every Christian, and every Christian is alive in God: how could He not be pleased with us, for we are His children! We have literally & positionally become one with Father, Son, and Holy Spirit: they're in us, and we're hidden in them!
According to Scripture, no one calls upon the Lord for salvation without the drawing power of the Holy Spirit, Who reveals Jesus to us. So no one without a Spirit-inspired revelation of God calls upon Him for eternal life! Thus, you already believe that He is & exists, when you ask Him into your life! So the verse listed above has already been fulfilled in your life, once and forever, by the Spirit of God now dwelling in you!
We don't have to seek the Lord in order to receive rewards! In the New-birth, we have received everything that pertains to life and godliness, and the Father of lights has already sent forth every good and perfect gift to His children, as the Bible tells us!
As Born-again people that have the Spirit of the Lord dwelling in us, our 'seeking the Lord' amounts to times of consciously interacting with Him in worship, prayer, & meditating upon the promises of God! God can't be
far from us at any time, for He is in us forever, and can never leave us nor forsake us (Heb. 13/5).
There's nothing that can ever separate us from the love of God which came into us when we were Born-again, and God is love, therefore we have already been set into full & free fellowship with God. We may not always avail ourselves of it, and we can be somewhat ignorant of it without proper instruction, but we are filled with God's love forever! (Romans 5:5, 8:35-39)
There is certainly blessing & benefit in seeking the Lord by having a consciousness of Him, and desiring to live in persistent fellowship with Him. He is in every Christian, has sealed them for the day of redemption, has given them the mind of Christ, manifests fruitfulness in and through them, operates gifts in and through them, and ministers to them and through them. Our identity in Christ is already fully supplied, our union with Him is complete, and it's our walk with Him and minister of Him that is being perfected, not by us, but by the Spirit of Grace within us!
Remember, that as Christians, we are members of the Body of Christ! We are already that closely joined to the Holy Trinity, as close as Jesus' head sits atop of His body! You are already fully and completely joined to the Father by calling upon Jesus and receiving His eternal life through the Holy Spirit! You're good to go!
Romans 12:3 tells us that God Himself dealt into every Christian a (or His) measure of (His) faith: thus, you must already have faith in God, for He put (His) faith into you (literally)!
We can fellowship with God freely and boldly, knowing that He is for us, with us, and in us! We always find mercy and locate grace to help us in every need! (Hebrews 4:16) He is already there, His provision is already there in us, His presence lives within us, and His power is always ready to flow through us!
An appropriate rendering of Hebrews 11: 6 concerning you would read as: "Because the faith of God dwells within you and you abide in Him, you are fully pleasing to the Lord as His own child, and when you came into union with Him, everything He is now indwells you, and everything He has in in your authority, and it is always His will for you to prosper and be in health, as your understanding is empowered by knowledge of your full redemption!"
Christopher Longgrear (D. Min., Ph. D.) of Fresh Fire Ministries International is senior pastor of Fresh Fire Church in Marietta, Parkersburg and Athens. Thoughts of Faith is a weekly column written by various ministers and lay people. Those interested in scheduling a date for writing a Thoughts of Faith column should contact Christy Hudson at 376-5446 or chudson@mariettatimes.com. Or, if a Thoughts of Faith column is written at the writer's convenience and sent to The Times, it will run the first available date.
