11:1

Faith: This verse connects to the preceding one, where Paul assured the Hebrew Christians that they were “the sort who have faith.” (Heb 10:39) In his letter to the Romans, Paul had explained that Christians can cultivate faith based on what they see and hear. (Ro 1:16, 17 and study note, 19, 20 and study note; 10:16, 17) In other letters, he had shown that Christians walk “by faith, not by sight” (2Co 5:7), that faith is included in “the fruitage of the spirit” (Ga 5:22 and study note), and that “faith is not a possession of all people” (2Th 3:2). So here Paul does not provide a technical, all-inclusive definition of faith. Rather, he shows the power of true faith. He tells the Hebrew Christians that by means of this remarkable quality, the things “hoped for” and the “realities that are not seen” could become just as real and even more certain to them than the tangible material system of things that they saw and felt. In this letter, he discusses such unseen realities as Christ’s priesthood in heaven; the ransom that God had accepted in the heavenly Most Holy; and the future “city,” the Messianic Kingdom. (Heb 4:14; 7:26; 9:12-14; 11:10, 16) Paul also cites examples of the faith of “the men of ancient times” in order to paint a picture of this kind of faith in action. (Heb 11:2) Finally, he points to “the Chief Agent and Perfecter” of faith, the one whom each Christian must imitate.​—Heb 12:2 and study notes.

the assured expectation of what is hoped for: To describe how genuine faith affects people, Paul uses a Greek word rendered “the assured expectation” (hy·poʹsta·sis). As used here, the word might refer to “a guarantee of” or “a basis for confidence in” what is expected. This term was often used in ancient legal documents to refer to a title deed. A man who held a genuine title deed to a property could be certain that the property legally belonged to him. Earlier in his letter, Paul used the same Greek word to emphasize the importance of maintaining “confidence.” (Heb 3:14) In both contexts, the term seems to be closely connected with “the hope” of Christians. (Heb 3:6) Their confidence was not misplaced; the things “hoped for” had been promised by God, “who cannot lie.” (Tit 1:2; Heb 6:13, 18) Paul’s description of faith thus emphasizes that Christians are not gullible but confident that they have a real, solid basis for their faith.

the evident demonstration: The Greek word translated “evident demonstration” (eʹleg·khos) can refer to proof that demonstrates the truth or reality of something. A related word appears at Joh 16:8, where Jesus foretold that the holy spirit would give “convincing evidence” to his disciples regarding important matters. Here Paul brings together the two terms, “the evident demonstration” and “realities that are not seen,” thus indicating that a person with faith has responded to evidence presented to him and has become convinced of such invisible realities. (See study note on realities that are not seen in this verse.) The Christian gains this firm conviction because of the effect that God’s holy spirit and His Word has on his own “power of reason.” (Ro 12:1; Ga 5:22 and study note) The truths about God and His purpose are so compelling to a Christian that they become realities to him. Those truths are even more certain to him than the things he can see with his eyes.

realities that are not seen: Throughout this letter, Paul discusses visible features of Jewish worship, including the temple, the priesthood, and the animal sacrifices. Paul’s readers needed to understand that these visible things​—though impressive​—were merely shadows of greater spiritual realities, which could be seen only through the eyes of faith. (Heb 8:2, 5; 10:1 and study notes; compare Eph 1:18.) In subsequent verses, Paul shows that such faith was not new. The faithful ancestors of the Hebrew Christians had lived with absolute conviction that the things God had promised were “realities.” Even though they did not see the complete fulfillment of those promises in their lifetime, they knew that God’s word was certain to come true.​—Heb 11:13, 39.