The Basis For God's Commendation

Hebrews chapter 11 gives examples from God's people in ancient times, and how God placed His stamp of commendation upon them for their faith. God's commendation of their faith during their lives was a preview of God's coming approval of them at the final judgment. There are three reasons why faith is necessary: 1) Faith is necessary to be commended by God; 2) Our understanding of the origin of all things (the universe, or in the Greek, the ages) is based on faith--if we don't have a proper understanding of origins, we don't understand why we're here now; 3) Our personal relationship with God, in the context of saving faith, depends on the instrumentality of faith, since it is impossible to please God without faith.