Philip Dampier's Blog

“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.” Two sacrificial offerings are under consideration in this verse. First, there is the offering…

“By faith, we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible.” We begin the ‘by faith’ section of chapter eleven. What follows is an example after example of faith at work; people who…

“For by it, the people of old received their commendation.” How were all those wonderful figures in the Old Testament able to do the things they did and receive God’s blessing for their actions. Simple one-word answer: faith. They actually believed that God would do what He said He would…

“Now, faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” Trusting faith provides a concrete reality to the hope in our hope. Our hope is built on the word of God, the actions of Christ, and the presence of the Holy Spirit. Faith turns hope…

“But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who have faith and preserve their souls.” I hope this is our mantra. Many who confess the Christ, deny the severity of this verse. There are two groups of people within the Christ believers. Those…

“…but my righteous one shall live by faith, and if he shrinks back, my soul has no pleasure in him.” Continuing with the prophet Habakkuk the writer reminds us of how God views His coming. The major subject again is faith. Hebrews is the book on faith. Paul states the…

“For, ‘Yet a little while, and the coming one will come and will not delay;’” Our writer retreats to the prophets and combines comments from Isaiah and Habakkuk. The prophets, as we well know, spent a lot of time warning the children of Israel that they needed to trust God,…

“For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God you may receive what is promised.” This verse, perhaps unintentionally, answers a question that many people have about their salvation security. That question takes the form of “Can I lose my salvation?” or, “If…

“Therefore do not throw away your confidence, which has a great reward.” He reminds them of what they have already come through as soldiers of the cross with the encouragement to not give that up. And why should they hold on to their confidence? Because the route they have chosen…

“For you had compassion on those in prison, and you joyfully accepted the plundering of your property, since you knew that you yourselves had a better possession and an abiding one.” These Christians had witnessed a lot, and they had been through a lot, and our writer wants to remind…