Pleasing God by Faith

Hebrews 11:5-6

Note: Pagkatapos ipakita ng author na ang sacrifice ni Abel ay naging katanggap-tanggap dahil sa pananampalataya sa pangakong Messiah, and in obedience to the sacrificial system established by God Himself (Gen. 3:21), ang sinunod naman niya ay patungkol sa pananampalataya ni Enoch.

• At first glance, we can think that the author presents these heroes of faith chronologically, remember, si Enoch is the seventh in the line from Adam.
• But some commentators think it is more than chronology.
• A.W. Pink observes, “Abel is mentioned first not because he was born before Enoch and Noah, but because what is recorded of him in Genesis 4 illustrated and demonstrated where the life of faith begins. In like manner, Enoch is referred to next ... because what was found in him ... must precede that which was typified by the builder of the ark.”
• Pink's outline traces faith's worship in Abel, faith's walk in Enoch, and faith's witness in Noah.
• According to the author, Enoch did not experience death not because he was a righteous man, but because of faith.
• At ang sabi ng author ang totoong makakalapit lang sa Diyos ay ang may totoong pananampalataya, at ang pananampalataya na ito binubuo ng dalawang katotohanan.
• Sa ESV, “must believe that He exists”, pero sa ibang translation like The Syriac Translation, “must believe that God is, and will be, the rewarder of them that diligently seek him,”
• Kay sa LSB “that He is”, this is connected sa burning bush, kung saan nagpakilala ang Diyos kay Moses bilang “I AM” Exodus 3:14, God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM.” And he said, “Say this to the people of Israel: ‘I AM has sent me to you.’”
• This pertains to the being of God as immutable, all powerful, all knowing…
• He is the sovereign God, the rewarder and giver of salvation.

True Faith Gives Eternal Life

Note: Kakaunti lang ang information na ibinigay sa atin ng Scripture patungkol kay Enoch, ito ay nasa bahagi ng Genealogy sa Genesis 5, he is the seventh generation from Adam (Jude 1:14).

• Enoch did not die not merely because he was a righteous man, but ultimately because of Christ.
• The greatness of what happened to Enoch is not simply that he did not die, but that God took him and granted him eternal life through Christ.

Point: The faith that justifies and saves is the faith that rests upon the Person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ.

[Case] – Faith on account of faith

Historically, according to the judgment of many Reformed divines, Jacob Arminius and his Remonstrant (Arminian) successors deviated from the Reformed doctrine of justification by faith alone in a significant way

• As in other doctrines, Arminius and his followers seem to hold to a view that is more Socinian and Roman Catholic than Reformed

[Jacobus Arminius] – “I affirm, therefore, that faith is imputed to us for righteousness, on account of Christ and his righteousness. In this enunciation, faith is the object of imputation; but Christ and his obedience are the impetratory [procuring] or meritorious cause of justification. Christ and his obedience are the object of our faith, but not the object of justification or divine imputation, as if God imputes Christ and his righteousness to us for righteousness.” 

• For Arminius, because of the gracious estimation of God, he credits our faith as our righteousness.

[Herman Bavinck] – “Faith never occurs as righteousness itself or as a part of it. . . . Faith does not justify by its own essence or act because itself is righteousness, but by its content, because it is faith in Christ, who is our righteousness.”

[John Owen] – “Faith alone is the gracious power which takes us off from all confidence in ourselves, and directs us to look for all in another; that is, in God himself. And therefore it must see that in God which is suited to give relief in this condition.”

[Sin to mortify] – Ang takot sa kamatayan.

• Bagama’t totoo na hindi magandang pangyayari ang kamatayan, hindi dapat tayo maging alipin ng pagkatakot sa kamatayan.

True Faith Pleases God

Note: The author of Hebrews translated “Enoch walked with God” as “He pleased God”

• The writer of Hebrews comments that Enoch was pleasing to God and therefore must have lived by faith.
• While Enoch was commended because he pleased God by walking in faith, he was only a shadow of the One who perfectly pleases God—Jesus Christ.
• After His baptism, the Father declared, Matthew 3:17, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.”
• Hindi lang ito dahil Siya ay ang Natural Son of God, pero pinatunayan Niya ito sa Kanyang buong buhay noong narito pa Siya sa lupa.
• Ang component ng faith na pagkakilala sa karakter ng Diyos ay totoo sa Panginoong Hesu-Cristo, John 8:55
• Siya ay nagtiwala sa Ama na ang Siya ay makakatanggap ng gantimpala based on covenant of Redemption (Isaiah 53:11-120)

[Mark Jones] – “At its core, faith believes God and every word that proceeds from his mouth (Deut. 8:3; Matt. 4:4). Jesus did not have to believe in God so much as he had to believe God. He knew that God exists; but he had to believe that the Father’s will was good, even when circumstances seemed to suggest otherwise. That is why mere belief that God exists may simply reflect a devilish spirit (James 2:19). As Bavinck says: ‘faith for … Christ was nothing other than the act of clinging to the word and promises of God.”

• Enoch was spared from physical death, just as we are spared from eternal death because of the death of Christ.

[John Owen] – “God himself, in his self-sufficiency and his all-sufficiency, meet to act towards poor sinners in a way of bounty, is the first motive or encouragement unto, and the last object of faith. ”

[Sin to Mortify] – Kapag mas pinipili at pinahalagahan natin ang mga pagpapala kaysa Diyos.

• Halimbawa: Kapag may panalangin tayo na hindi ipinagkaloob, may mga panahon na nagrereklamo tayo sa Diyos.

[Gospel Cure] – Kailangan nating tandaan na tinanggap na natin ang pinakadakilang pagpapala ng kaligtasan, ang Diyos mismo.