faith for faith

Being that in our course of questions we have to the question, “Why then the Law?” it is fitting that we remain with the one who drove us most quickly to the point—the apostle Paul. He answers this question, writing:

Why then the law? It was added because of transgressions, until the offspring should come to whom the promise had been made, and it was put in place through angels by an intermediary. Now an intermediary implies more than one, but God is one.

Is the law then contrary to the promises of God? Certainly not! For if a law had been given that could give life, then righteousness would indeed be by the law. But the Scripture imprisoned everything under sin, so that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe (Gal. 3:19-22).

To answer our present question, “Why then the Law?” the most obvious course is to unpack the answer that the apostle gives. However, before we begin to answer that question, it is good to reiterate what has brought us to this point.

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By faith Abel offered to God a more acceptable sacrifice than Cain, through which he was commended as righteous, God commending him by accepting his gifts. And through his faith, though he died, he still speaks (Heb. 11:3).

The first witness that is presented to testify in the courtroom of the Greatness of the Inheritance of Christ, is the righteous Abel, who offered to God a better sacrifice than did his brother Cain, and was killed by Cain because of the jealousy provoked by his better sacrifice.

Typically when the work of Abel is examined, it is concluded that the sole reason that Abel’s sacrifice was accepted and Cain’s was rejected is because Abel had faith and Cain did not. While it is indeed true that Abel had faith whereas Cain did not, Abel did in fact offer a better sacrifice than Cain did, for we know that without the shedding of blood there is no remission of sins (cf. Heb. 9:22). Would the situation have been reversed, had Abel offered up to God a sacrifice of fruit rather than of blood, Abel would not have received the same commendation from God regarding his sacrifice.

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In his letter to the Hebrews, the apostle to the Hebrews gives what is perhaps the most quoted definition of faith by Christians, namely, “Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen” (Heb. 11:1). The word that is translated “things” in the English Standard Version is pragmaton, from whose root we get the English word pragmatic. When we speak of things pragmatic, we speak of things that are practical, of things that are put into action and are demonstrative. Therefore, I believe that the King James Version translates the passage rightly, saying, “Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” Indeed this is valid in the context as well, for, in the eleventh chapter of the epistle to the Hebrews, the apostle shows, example after example, first the assurance and hope of faithful men of the past and then how that assurance and hope is manifested practically in the lives of those who had faith.

This translation is validated further by the testimony of the Scriptures, for true faith that rests in the blessed assurance of things to come always manifests in the lives of those who have faith. Thus, the brother of our Lord, James, writes in his letter:

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