Assurance

“Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” Hebrews 11:1

Assurance – From 300 BC until 1500 AD, this word was about something very different than “assurance”.  But when Martin Luther accepted this translation of another theologian 500 years ago, the landscape of this word changed and the world of faith became a different place.  If you want to recover the older meaning, you’ll have to do a little digging.

Most modern translations follow Luther.  By using the word “assurance”, Luther shifted the idea of faith into the realm of inner personal conviction.  “Assurance” means self-confidence or personal guarantee.  Suddenly faith rests on what I feel.  In its current form, faith is now a private religious experience.  This view fosters the modern idea of tolerance:  that what I believe is my inner conviction and should not be pushed on what others believe.  They have their own inner convictions.

But here’s the amazing fact.  The Greek word hupostasis never meant inner personal conviction prior to Luther’s translation.  This Greek word was a scientific and medical term that meant “the underlying reality behind something”.  It has nothing to do with personal conviction.  It is a word that says, “this demonstrates the true but hidden reality”.

So what does this mean for Hebrews 11:1?  The author of Hebrews tells us that the real world is not this world as it appears but rather the world as it is demonstrated in the future, hidden reality of what is hoped for.  This is faith.  Not the personal, subjective, inner feelings of private confidence but the outward demonstration of a world that is based on what is to come:  the world of God’s kingdom values lived out here and now as a sign of what will be.  And how is that outward demonstration revealed?  It is revealed in the community of the obedient.  It is displayed first and foremost in the life of Jesus and secondarily in those who follow Him.  This is not a private, inner experience.  This is a tangible, outward expression of living according to a reality that is hidden for the time being but will show itself to be the true reality soon.

This is a heavyweight verse.  The impact that its proper translation has on believers is shocking.  Faith has nothing to do with my groping in the dark to try to find the right feelings or the proper inner conviction.  Faith is walking in obedience to a reality that is not yet obvious.  Faith is doing according to God’s truth regardless of what I see.