Heb 11:32-38  "And what more shall I say? For time would fail me to tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets--who through faith conquered kingdoms, enforced justice, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions,  quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, were made strong out of weakness, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight.  Women received back their dead by resurrection. Some were tortured, refusing to accept release, so that they might rise again to a better life.  Others suffered mocking and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. They were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were killed with the sword. They went about in skins of sheep and goats, destitute, afflicted, mistreated--  of whom the world was not worthy--wandering about in deserts and mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth." 

Faith is not simple belief, it is a reaching for a great reward, that is beyond earning, yet has a great cost! It is not easily gained, because it was not cheaply attained on our behalf!


"Cheap grace is that grace which we bestow on ourselves. Cheap grace is preaching forgiveness without repentance; it is baptism without the discipline of community; it is the Lord’s Supper without confession of sin; it is absolution without personal confession. Cheap grace is grace without discipleship, grace without the cross, grace without the living, incarnate Jesus Christ. Costly grace is the hidden treasure in the field, for the sake of which people go and sell with joy everything they have.[5] [31]It is the costly pearl, for whose price the merchant sells all that he has;[6] it is Christ’s sovereignty, for the sake of which you tear out an eye if it causes you to stumble.[7] It is the call of Jesus Christ which causes a disciple to leave his nets and follow him.[8] Costly grace is the gospel which must be sought again and again, the gift which has to be asked for, the door at which one has to knock. 9] It is costly, because it calls todiscipleship; it is grace, because it calls us to follow Jesus Christ. It is costly, because it costs people their lives; it is grace, because it thereby makes them live. It is costly, because it condemns sin; it is grace, because it justifies the sinner. Above all, grace is costly, because it was costly to God, because it costs God the life of God’s Son—“you were bought with a price”[10]—and because nothing can be cheap to us which is costly to God. Above all, it is grace because the life of God’s Son was not too costly for God to give in order to make us live. God did, indeed, give him up for us. Costly grace is the incarnation of God. Costly grace is grace as God’s holy treasure which must be protected from the world and which must not be thrown to the dogs.[11] Thus, it is grace as living word, word of God, which God speaks as God pleases. It comes to us as a gracious call to follow Jesus; it comes as a forgiving word to the fearful spirit and the broken heart.[12] Grace is costly, because it forces people under the yoke of following Jesus Christ; it is grace when Jesus says, “My yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”[13] 

Bonhoeffer, Dietrich (2003-04-15). Discipleship: DBW 4 (pp. 44-46). Augsburg Fortress. Kindle Edition.

Don't spurn the hard road of "the faith that leads to obedience".  Don't mock those who have been so faithful in their suffering. Their faithfulness proves that the promise s definite and awaiting final perfection by grace through faith. He is Absolute Love. 

Heb 11:39  "And all these, though commended through their faith, did not receive what was promised, since God had provided something better for us, that apart from us they should not be made perfect."