Then the author proceeds to define "God's righteous one will live by faith." The definition is found in the eleventh chapter of Hebrews.

When we study the eleventh chapter of Hebrews in order to gain an understanding of what the Bible means by "faith" we notice that the current understanding of "faith," which is belief in theology, is not mentioned. Also, the contemporary "go out and do great things for God and God will meet you" is not emphasized. The faith is that of love for God, the fear of God, obedience to God's commands, and trust. It is an attitude toward God and His Character that is at issue. Faith is a personal relationship between man and God.

The remarkable thing about the definition is that all of the examples are from the Old Testament.

We see therefore that justification by faith is not a unique characteristic of the new covenant. No person under any covenant has pleased God other than by faith—even under the Law of Moses. In fact, according to the eleventh chapter, Moses himself and those who are listed after him pleased God by their faith.

But did not Paul argue that those under the Law sought righteousness by observing the works of the Law? Yes, he did. And the Old Testament teaches clearly that God viewed the person who kept the Law as righteous.

However, the behavior that brought righteousness under the Law of Moses was not the actual performance of the statute but the faith that prompted the performance of the statute. The faith of the believer motivated him or her to obey God.

Now God has changed the rules of the game. Instead of performing the rituals of Moses we are to repent of our former way of behavior, receive by faith the forgiveness of our sins, and then follow the Holy Spirit each day by faith as He transforms our personality.

The unique aspect of the new covenant is not that we are justified by faith, for no person ever pleased God apart from faith. The unique aspect of the new covenant is that the Son of God has made an atonement for us by shedding His blood on the cross. The operation of redemption has changed from obeying the Law of Moses by the determination of the natural man, to following the Spirit of God each day as the eternal law of God is written in our mind and heart.

I say all this because today we are perceiving the new covenant as something entirely different from the remainder of the Scriptures, different from all past covenants of God with man. This is a tragic error. We have lost the concept of what it means to be a man or woman of God. We have a light, frothy, Hollywood version of what it means to be born again, what it means to be a saint of God.

We have confused mental assent to the facts of the Gospel with true redeeming faith in Jesus Christ. In fact, when we add the super-grace and "rapture" notions we are not mentally assenting even to the correct facts. It is a deplorable, destructive condition that in some instances is producing people who do not know the Lord.

To be continued.