I N D E X
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PERFECTION
PERDITION
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OR
been investigated, and that all point in one direction, namely, that elengchos does not mean `evidence' but `rebuke'.
Let us see a few examples:
`And Abraham REPROVED Abimelech because of a well of water' (Gen. 21:25).
`Thou shalt in any wise REBUKE thy neighbour' (Lev. 19:17).
`The Lord had REBUKED him' (2 Chron. 26:20).
`Behold, happy is the man whom God CORRECTETH' (Job. 5:17).
`My son, despise not the chastening of the LORD; neither be weary of HIS CORRECTION: for whom the `LORD
loveth He CORRECTETH' (Prov. 3:11,12).
The apostle has quoted this passage of Proverbs 3:11,12 in Hebrews 12:5,6 and there, instead of giving the word
`correction' twice as does the LXX, he uses the word `chasteneth'. For confirmation of this synonym we may turn
to Revelation 3:19, `As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten'. Those desirous of searching out this matter more
fully will doubtless find opportunity. Sufficient has been here noted to show that the primary idea of Hebrews 11:1
is `Faith is a substance of things hoped for, a reproof of things not seen'. This, however, does not convey sense to
English ears, so we must consider the matter further. As the verse stands in the A.V. we have a repetition. Faith is a
substance and an evidence. When we look at the actual thing in progress and in fact, we find that faith has a
two-fold association: (1) It looks forward to a future glory (2) It endures present suffering. The two are linked `For
the joy ... He endured the Cross'.
The Hebrew believers would readily believe that faith was the substance of things hoped for. They would
rejoice in Enoch's translation; but would they so readily rejoice in Abel's death? They would rejoice in Noah's
preservation and inheritance, but would they so readily rejoice in Abraham's surrender? Were they ready for the
fact to be applied to themselves that these examples of faith all died `NOT HAVING RECEIVED the promise'? Were
they ready to follow Moses not only for the future reward, but in the reproach and suffering of the present? What is
this `reproof' then? lt is the Lord's discipline meted out in love to every son, to every one of the `many sons' who
by this very selfsame Author, Captain, and Perfecter of faith are being led as He Himself was led through suffering
to glory (Heb. 2:10). It is the Gethsemane experience of Hebrews 5:7-9, for there in the garden, the Lord sweat as it
were great drops of blood, and in Hebrews 12:4 is the application to `every son': `Ye have not yet resisted unto
blood'. Here then is the twofold character of perfected faith. A hand that reaches out on either side to join together
suffering and glory. No one can fail to see the tremendous value of such a word to those who were passing through
the experiences of these Hebrews at the time of writing the epistle. Here then, in this present time, faith is hope in
embryo, with its accompanying sorrows; it is both substance and reproof, both crown and cross.
In attempting the translation of Hebrews 11:1 and retaining the rendering `reproof', care must be exercised in
ascertaining the meaning of the genitive case expressed by `of'. It may be the genitive of character, like `the bond
of perfectness'; or of origin, `the gift of God'; or of possession, `the sword of the Spirit', i.e., `the Spirit's sword'; or
of apposition, `the firstfruits of the spirit', i.e., `the firstfruits (of our inheritance), that is to say, the spirit'; or of
relation, `the reproach of Christ', i.e., reproach in connection with Christ. Of all these the last appears nearest to the
meaning of Hebrews 11:1, `The reproof in connection with faith' being very parallel with `The reproach in
connection with Christ', and in this way we should translate the passage. Faith assumes the invisible. Every
believer should be able to say, though with purer intent than she who first uttered the words,
`Thy letters have transported me beyond
This ignorant present, and I feel now
The future in the instant'.
This faith characterized the elders who received a good report. Report is martureo, and this constitutes them the
great cloud of witnesses (martur of Heb. 12:1). These elders come before us again at the end of the chapter, `These
all, having obtained a good report through faith, received not the promise' (Heb. 11:39), but although they received
it not, `These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded
of them' (Heb. 11:13). They had both the substance and the discipline, and these alone will enable the believer to go
on unto perfection.