Faithful Characters according to Paul

In Hebrews, Paul specifically mentions some people as being exceptionally faithful. They are mentioned in chapter 11. The following chart outlines some of their attributes:

Name	Verse	How they demonstrated faith	Blessings they received
Abel	4	Offered an acceptable sacrifice	Obtained a witness that he was righteous
Enoch	5	Testimony, believed in God	Translated, knew that he pleased God
Noah	7	Prepared and ark, moved with fear,	Became heir of the righteousness which is by faith
Abraham	8	When called out he went, sojourned in a  strange country, offered up Isaac in faith	Had a child in his old age, posterity was numberless, Isaac was saved
Sara	11	Believed she would conceive a child, believed in God’s promise of a promised land	Received strength to conceive, Died in faith not having received the promises, but posterity received the reward
Isaac	20	Willingly submitted to Abraham , believed that Rachel would conceive despite infertility, blessed Jacob and Esau concerning things to come,	Was spared, his wife conceived, Abrahamic covenant was continued through his posterity
Jacob	21	Blessed both the sons of Joseph in his old age, followed the counsel of his father to take a believer to wife and worked for her	Saw Joseph again, had a large posterity despite beginning infertility problems, received Rachel to wife
Joseph	22	Foresaw the exodus, commanded his bones to taken, interpreted dreams, turned all hardships to good through his patience and charity and intellect	Was delivered of slavery, saw his family again, had a wonderful wife and kids, fulfilled the Abrahamic covenant, through his loins carried on the inheritance
Moses	23	Refused to be called Pharaoh’s daughter, followed the call of God, worked miracles, led the Hebrews to a promised land, received the ten commandments of God, etc.	Was uninjured by the Pharaoh, was able to deliver the Hebrews against terrible odds, was allowed to see the promised land, spoke with God face to face, was translated

If Paul had been familiar with the Book of Mormon peoples, he might have included some of its notables such as Nephi, Alma the Priest or Moroni.

I know of no better example than Nephi. Nephi showed wondrous faith, seemingly never doubting the Lord. He was able to obtain the golden plates, a sacred and important record of scripture, because he believed the Lord would show him the way to do so. He was only able to accomplish this by listening intently to the promptings of the Spirit and by following through with what he was commanded to do. He also was humble enough to work hard to hunt when there was no food to be found. He didn’t despair but went about trying to find a solution instead. He made a new bow, had his father pray to know where to go to find food to feed his family and then did just that. Everyone else complained and gave up hope. When he was tied up by his wicked brothers, he submitted patiently, prayed to have his bonds break, broke his bonds and then lovingly forgave his brothers when they regretted their actions. 

Alma the priest was faithful in believing the words of the prophet Abinadi, and then in going against the wishes of King Noah even to the point of defending Abinadi, a man who had been sentenced to death for his beliefs and teachings. Once Alma did so he himself became a target. He had to hide out in the outskirts of the city, but he didn’t sit idly. He took risks and chose to teach any people who were interested in hearing the gospel. This eventually got out, and he and his people had to flee in the middle of the night, leaving behind everything and everyone they knew, and run from the king’s soldiers who were intent on killing them. All this was done just to defend the faith. 

Moroni was a faithful man even from his youth. He was unfortunately the witness of the complete destruction of his entire Nephite nation, including his father, at the hand of the Lamanites, an opposing nation. This came about because the Nephite people hardened their hearts against God and wouldn’t seek strength in the Lord, nor would they repent. Moroni lived out his days in sadness, and his final days in solitude. As he did so he recorded his thoughts in the final pages of the Book of Mormon. Though he had a difficult life, Moroni was blessed with the privilege of calling in the final dispensation and of personally delivering the records which he had buried into the hand of Joseph Smith. His reward came after he was proven faithful. 

Likewise in our lives, terrible things may happen which require monumental faith on our part and a complete surrender to the Lord, but in so doing we will refine our characters and prove ourselves worthy of the blessings he has in store for us.  In Hebrews 12: 1-2, Paul encourages us to patiently run the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus for strength. Jesus did so for us, though the cross was a difficult burden to bear, because he loved us and the reward for us was greater than the pain for Him. 

Faith and belief are not the same though they are similar. According to the LDS Institute manual, The Life and Teachings of Jesus and his Apostles, “Belief, in one of its accepted senses, may consist in a merely intellectual assent, while faith implies such confidence and conviction as will impel to action.” And again, “Do you see how one grows in faith? At the beginning, faith may be no more than belief, but as an individual acts on that belief it is transformed into a positive reliance and confidence in Jesus Christ.” Thus we see that mere belief doesn’t produce the change within us that happens when we put that belief to the test. When we try our beliefs and get positive results from doing so, our belief turns into faith, a belief so string that it compels us to action. Maybe that is what is meant when Paul cautions us that “faith without works is dead” (James 2:17).

We can’t really come to God nor have the miracles in our life that attend the faithful if we don’t act on our beliefs. What better motivation to put the gospel to the test and turn our desire to believe into true, strong faith?