Continuing from Hebrews 10 (whose last verse was covered in the previous article), let’s see how the famous “faith chapter” of Hebrews 11 starts out. This is a verse that gets quoted often, but it’s also important to understand verses of the Bible correctly, especially when they are shared out of context.
Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.
Hebrews 11:1 NIV
https://bible.com/bible/111/heb.11.1.NIV
I’ve probably written about this before, but I think that there are some misunderstandings about what certain words mean in Christianity. English is a tricky language, and sometimes a word can mean more than one thing. In this case, let’s look at the word, “hope”.
To the person on the street, “hope” often means something like a “wish” or something that they would like to happen, even when they really don’t know whether it will or not. And, in fact, some of the uses of the word “hope” in the New Testament – at least, as translated into English – seem to be used by those who don’t know if God has planned for a certain thing to happen or not. An author of one of the epistles, for instance, might hope that they will be able to visit someone in the future.
To followers of Jesus Christ, though, our “hope” in salvation is 100% certain. It is a fact. It is secured by the completed sacrifice of Jesus on the cross, confirmed by the fact that God raised Jesus from the dead (attesting – among other things – that the sacrifice was sufficient), and guaranteed by the faithfulness of God to His promises (through His very nature of being perfectly holy).
For more context, please read Hebrews 6:18-20 and Hebrews 10:23, from earlier in the book of Hebrews, and both referring to a certain hope.
Back here at the start of Hebrews 11, faith is described in a manner complementary to hope. Faith is that very “confidence” [NIV] or “certainty” [NASB] in what we hope. In fact, the NASB has a footnote on “hoped”, suggesting that it could be translated “expected”. I like that term: we don’t just wish or want Jesus to return and save us. We expect it.
However, we now have another term, “faith”, which – by itself – means different things to different people. To some people, someone’s faith means their “religion”. Their idea of a faith might include Buddhism, self-reliance, or a New Age concept, just as much as it might refer to Christianity. To followers of Jesus Christ, though, “faith” is knowing – for sure – that Jesus died for our sins, that He is coming back, and that we will spend eternity with Him.
Faith – to the Christian – is “assurance” [NIV], “proof” [NASB], or “conviction” [NASB footnote]. Other translations explain it as “substance” [KJV, and others], “evidence” [KJV], “reality” [multiple], and “being sure” [multiple] (which is the same as “assurance”, I suppose).
Now, some theologians [ref. Girdwood & Verkruyse, p.339-340] separate out two definitions of faith as being more like, 1) what we believe and, 2) the confidence that what we believe is correct. We can talk about our faith as what we believe, or we can talk about our faith as our confidence that it is true. Regardless of how we look at it, though, let’s remember that our faith is not a wish or a preference or a dream. It is a certainty, based on a guarantee from God Himself.
From Sunday School lesson prepared for April 12, 2026
References:
- Scripture taken from the Holy Bible, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
- Scripture quotations taken from the NASB. Copyright by The Lockman Foundation.
- The College Press NIV Commentary – Hebrews, by Jim Girdwood and Peter Verkruyse. © 1997 College Press Publishing Co.
