Study Desk

So all of you holy brothers and sisters, who were called by God, think about Jesus, who was sent to us and is the high priest of our faith.

We all share in Christ if we keep till the end the sure faith we had in the beginning.

The Good News was preached to us just as it was to them. But the teaching they heard did not help them, because they heard it but did not accept it with faith.

Since we have a great high priest, Jesus the Son of God, who has gone into heaven, let us hold on to the faith we have.

So let us go on to grown-up teaching. Let us not go back over the beginning lessons we learned about Christ. We should not again start teaching about faith in God and about turning away from those acts that lead to death.

We do not want you to become lazy. Be like those who through faith and patience will receive what God has promised.

let us come near to God with a sincere heart and a sure faith, because we have been made free from a guilty conscience, and our bodies have been washed with pure water.

Those who are right with me will live by faith. But if they turn back with fear, I will not be pleased with them." Habakkuk 2:3–4

But we are not those who turn back and are lost. We are people who have faith and are saved.

Faith means being sure of the things we hope for and knowing that something is real even if we do not see it.

Faith is the reason we remember great people who lived in the past.

It is by faith we understand that the whole world was made by God's command so what we see was made by something that cannot be seen.

It was by faith that Abel offered God a better sacrifice than Cain did. God said he was pleased with the gifts Abel offered and called Abel a good man because of his faith. Abel died, but through his faith he is still speaking.

It was by faith that Enoch was taken to heaven so he would not die. He could not be found, because God had taken him away. Before he was taken, the Scripture says that he was a man who truly pleased God.

Without faith no one can please God. Anyone who comes to God must believe that he is real and that he rewards those who truly want to find him.

It was by faith that Noah heard God's warnings about things he could not yet see. He obeyed God and built a large boat to save his family. By his faith, Noah showed that the world was wrong, and he became one of those who are made right with God through faith.

It was by faith Abraham obeyed God's call to go to another place God promised to give him. He left his own country, not knowing where he was to go.

It was by faith that he lived like a foreigner in the country God promised to give him. He lived in tents with Isaac and Jacob, who had received that same promise from God.

He was too old to have children, and Sarah could not have children. It was by faith that Abraham was made able to become a father, because he trusted God to do what he had promised.

All these great people died in faith. They did not get the things that God promised his people, but they saw them coming far in the future and were glad. They said they were like visitors and strangers on earth.