NOTES for Heb 11:1-19
How impoverished our concept of faith has become. We call someone a believer if they declare that they belong to a particular religion or simply believe that God exists. In many passages of Scripture, faith is spoken of in an entirely different way. Faith is our openness to God, a channel of communion with Him through which we receive His revelation. What is beyond comprehension becomes known to us with certainty. Paul calls this “the assurance of things not seen.” More than that, through this connection God's active power can pour into this world, and then things happen in it that we could only dream of. The Apostle says, “Faith is the substance of things hoped for.” Thus, faith is a living connection with God through which we come to know Him, while He acts in us and in the world.