The dishonest flipper of the coin likes to call it this way: "Heads I win; tails you lose." Of course, such a thing is not fair, because the coin flipper wins either way. Heads is his, and so is tails. But the structure of the passage before us this morning reveals that when it comes to faith, this saying is true: no matter whether the coin lands faceup or facedown, no matter how the cookie crumbles, no matter whether you eat the bear or the bear eats you, faith wins! Faith wins by winning, as we see in vv. 33-34. But the next few verses tell us that because of the resurrection from the dead, faith also wins by losing. Even if you suffer, even if you are cast out from society, even if you are killed, faith lives and it will bring you back to life. Again, this encomium on faith is amazing. The author's point, of course, is not that faith is some free-floating thing, that faith simply works by the power of nature. Rather, he ascribes all of these things to the power of God. Faith joins you to God. Faith unites you to Christ. When you have faith, you can conquer kingdoms, muzzle lions, put foreign armies to flight — if God needs you to have that power. Faith is the human act that receives and channels the power of the Almighty. That's why death and suffering can't beat it. That's why faith conquers by conquering and also conquers by losing. Whether it's heads or tails, you win if you have been joined to Jesus Christ by faith. That's why we are not of those who shrink back to destruction, but of those who believe to the saving of the soul. Faith identifies you with Christ, and that's why you can't be beaten when you have it.
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Caleb Nelson grew up in Ft. Collins, CO. Born into a Christian home, where he eventually became the eldest of 11 children, he has been a lifelong Presbyterian. He professed faith at the age of six, and was homeschooled through high school. He then attended Patrick Henry College...
