Naked Bible 197: Hebrews 11

Many Christians refer to Hebrews 11 as the “hall of faith.” The label is appropriate, but the chapter raises questions. Why did the Old Testament individuals listed in Hebrews 11 “make the cut”? Was there something extraordinary about them? This episode explores the relationship of this famous passage to its far less famous context: Heb 10:35-39. Those in the “hall of faith” are not there because they were shining examples of moral purity, or because they never had doubts about what God was doing, or because they weren’t tested. Rather, they are there because they all held fast to faith—they did not “shrink back” from their believing loyalty in what God had promised. Hebrews 11 illustrates that we must have faith in what God has done for us, not our performance.