Scripture: Hebrews 11:4 (ESV)
“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.”
Yesterday we asked the question “What is Faith”. Today and over the next few days we are going to do a deep dive to help us answer this question in more depth. Now Hebrews 11 as a chapter is sometimes called the “Heroes of Faith” chapter. In this chapter, the author of Hebrews does a survey of several key Old Testament figures and as he does so, we learn a little more about how faith works. It is well worth our time to think about these passages in depth as we strive to grow in faith.
The first “faith hero’” is Abel. Now we are going to get a little technical for a moment, so bear with me. Verse 4 reads “By faith Abel offered to God a more acceptable sacrifice than Cain”. The clause “by faith” is in the dative case in Greek. Now the dative case in biblical greek performs a bunch of different functions, but here it is most likely the “instrumental dative”. Now that all makes me sound somewhat like a textbook, and that’s not what is important. What is important is that this shows us specifically “the means by which” Abel was offering his sacrifice. Able could only offer the superior sacrifice because of his faith. It is not that God didn’t like the plant-based offering Cain brought. Leviticus teaches us that God is very well pleased with plant-based offering. Rather it is Cain’s lack of heart-changing faith that is the problem. His offering is inferior, because it is offered not out of faithful love, but out of faithless obligation.
Both brothers brought an offering after all. Both did what was required. But only one was commended for his offering. The difference was what the faith did to the heart of the giver. Abel’s offering showed his changed heart – he brought the very best of his flock to offer to God. Cain showed the kind of faith James talks about in James 2:19b “Even the demons believe—and shudder!”.
So how do you know what kind of faith you have? By looking at what the faith does to your heart.
Does your faith stir you to give your best to God in response to what he has done in Jesus for you on the cross?
Or does your faith give to God begrudgingly like Cain, stingily and out of obligation?
Prayer:
Dear Lord, today we pray like the man in Mark 9:24. Lord we believe, help us overcome our unbelief! Thank you for the gift of faith. Help us to live accordingly. Amen.
Spiritual Challenge:
Today, identify one area of your life where you struggle to trust God fully. Surrender it to Him in prayer and take a step of faith, showing your trust in His guidance.
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