FAITH
TOWARD GOD
Faith and repentance are inseparable in effecting a genuine
conversion, Paul speaks of "Repentance toward God and faith toward our
Lord, Christ Jesus the Messiah" Acts 20:21. Faith is the second aspect of
conversion. To repent of sin and fail to exercise faith in Lord God for
reconciliation, ends in failure and despair.
THE
MEANING OF THE WORD
FAITH -
PISTIS means faith, belief, firm persuasion, assurance, firm conviction,
faithfulness.
BELIEVE -
PISTUEO - to trust in and rely upon, commit to the charge of, confide in, have
a mental persuasion.
Understand! Faith is the act whereby a person lays hold of
God's resources, becomes obedient to what He has prescribed and putting aside
all self interest and self-reliance, trusts Him completely. It is an
unqualified surrender of the whole of one's being in dependence upon Him. It is
wholly trusting and relying upon Him for all things. It is not just mental
assent to the facts and realities of truth, it must come from a deep inner
conviction. "Trust in Lord God with all your heart and lean not to your
own understanding" Proverbs 3:5
"He that trusts in his own heart is a fool"
Proverbs 28:26
SCRIPTURAL
DEFINITION
"Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the
evidence of things not seen" Hebrews 11: 1
Faith is the connecting power into the spiritual realm,
which links us with God and makes Him becomes a tangible reality to the sense
perceptions of a person. Faith is the basic ingredient to begin a relationship
with God.
Faith is the assurance that the things revealed and promised
in the Word are true, even though unseen, and gives the believer a conviction
that what he expects in faith, will come to pass. Faith is the tangible essence
of what is hoped for - so tangible that the faith itself is the
evidence/reality of those things that are not yet visible. In other words, it
becomes so tangible that you now possess it. It becomes a reality in the
spiritual realm. This is really good.
IMPORTANCE
OF FAITH
It is impossible to be saved without faith and "without
faith it is impossible to please God" Hebrews 11: 6
Everything in salvation is based on faith. We have to
believe in that which we cannot see. Faith is a spiritual force that overcomes
great opposition and can carry a person through great trials and triumphs over
circumstances in the natural realm. See Hebrews Chapter 11, the faith chapter.
Abraham is cited as the 'father' of faith and we as
believers come under the Abrahamic covenant, a covenant which Lord God
established with him on the basis of his faith.
Abraham believed Lord God, and it was accounted to him for
righteousness. Romans 4: 3 "to him who ... believes on Him who justifies
the ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness" Romans 4: 9
Abraham heard the Word - Romans 4:13 He turned (repentance)
- 4:18,19 He embraced the hope - 4:18 He did not waver in his commitment - 4:20
He rejoiced in it as an accomplished fact - 4:20
THE
OPERATION OF FAITH
"To those who have obtained like precious faith by the
righteousness of our God and Saviour, Christ Jesus the Messiah." 2 Pet. 1:
1
"Christ Jesus the author and finisher of our
faith" Hebrews 12: 2
Faith is the medium through which we receive from Lord God,
our salvation and all our ongoing needs. Ephesians 2: 8-9 We must believe and
respond to the Word which then will produce in us faith as a 'fruit of the
Spirit' (Galatians 5:22).
Faith as a fruit of the Spirit operating in our lives, draws
us into close relationship and trust in Him. Faith works by love, and our
relationship and spiritual walk, gives us confidence to exercise the
impartation of the faith which we receive. The operation of faith is dependent
upon our relationship with God. Galatians 5: 6; John 15: 4-5
Christ Jesus said, "If you abide in Me, and My words
abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you"
John 15: 7
There
are four foundations for Biblical faith
1. The
Promises of God's Word "All the promises of God in Him are Yes, and in
Him, Amen, " 2 Corinthians 1:20
"(through the knowledge of Him) ... by which have been
given to us exceeding great and precious promises, that through these you may
be partakers of the divine nature, " 2 Peter 1: 4
2. The
Integrity of The Word "Every good and perfect gift, comes down from the
Father of light, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning."
James 1:17
"God is not a man that he should lie, nor a son of man
that He should repent, has He said, and will He not do?" Numbers 23:19
3. The
Ability of God to Endorse the Promise Abraham "did not waver at the promise
of God through unbelief, but was strengthened in faith ... being fully
convinced that what He had promised, He was also able to perform." Romans
4:20-21
4. The
Confidence of the Believer in The Promises This confidence is based on the
conviction that when the promises are laid hold of by faith, then the results
of that faith are guaranteed.
RUDIMENTS
OF FAITH
Knowledge
- the Engagement of the Mind
The mind has to be informed for faith to operate, and that
has to be based upon the Word.
"Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of
God" Romans 10:17 "Many of them which heard the Word, believed"
Acts 4: 4
The 'hearing' here is not just with the natural ear, but the
spirit of man which has to be opened to 'hear'. This is where the Spirit of God
comes into operation to open our spiritual ears to hear, so that faith can
operate, as faith is a faculty of our human spirit. Faith must rest on facts,
realities from the Word of God, otherwise what you believe can be presumption,
if it originates from self. When a 'word' is quickened to one's spirit by the Holy
Spirit, then it will agree with the written Word in principle.
Initial saving faith, as well as the exercise of ongoing
faith, is an impartation of the Spirit, a 'gift' of the Holy Spirit. Reading
the written Word and keeping filled with the Spirit will facilitate our faith
to be activated and enable us to move and live in the faith realm. 1
Corinthians 12: 9 with salvation particularly, an informed mind does not
guarantee saving faith, "For unto us was the gospel preached as well as
unto them: but the word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with
faith in them that heard it." Hebrews 4: 2
Response
- the Stirring of the Emotions
Faith lifts one's spirit into the expectation of hope and
joy ("joy of faith" Philippians 1:25).
With salvation there is joy, gratitude for deliverance and
sins forgiven. Acts 8: 8 & 1 Thessalonians 1: 6
With all impartation of faith, the spirit soars to new
heights, there is exhilaration, new expectations, joy and gladness "Whom
having not seen, you love: in whom though now you see Him not, yet believing,
you rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory." 1 Peter 1: 8
Even though a response may be evoked to the message/word, if
the will is not activated, then it will be a word fallen in a stony place where
there was no depth of commitment, and though they received the word with joy,
have no root in themselves to follow it through. Matthew 13: 5 - 20-21
Commitment
of the Will
The will of a person needs to be engaged to follow through
and implement their belief into action. Belief needs to go from the mind
through the heart and activate the will to take hold of what has been
understood and responded to, and make it part of one's life. This then in its
outworking, becomes obedience to the 'Word'. The scriptures speak of
"obedience to the faith" (Romans 1: 5), this is where faith has had
its complete outworking.
"The revelation of the mystery...is made known to all
nations for the obedience of faith" Romans 16:25,26
HINDRANCES
TO FAITH
Absence
of the Word
In the parable of the Sower (Matt.13:19-), Christ Jesus
spoke of the seed as the Word of God which goes into various types of soil,
i.e. human hearts, where it is either nurtured unto full growth, or it is
destroyed. The difference depends on the soil, the heart into which it falls.
Notice the things which hinder the growth of the Word - a) stony ground i.e. no
depth of spiritual life b) thorns cares of this life c) birds of the air
demonic influence, causing doubt, unbelief
Wrong
Motivation
Christ Jesus said, "Seek first the kingdom of God and
His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you." Matthew
6:33 It is when our desires are centred on spiritual things - things to advance
the kingdom, that the promise of John 14:13 and 15:16 apply. "Do not lay
up for yourself treasures upon earth. but lay up for yourselves treasures in
heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break
through and steal. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be
also." Matthew 6:19-21
"You ask and you do not receive because you ask amiss,
that you may spend it on your pleasures. Adulterers and adulteresses! Do you
not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore
wants to be a friend of the world makes himself the enemy of God" James 4:
3-4
Wrong
Source of Knowledge
All knowledge that comes to the natural man is through the
five senses -- seeing, hearing, tasting, smelling and touching. All of these
senses connect us to the natural realm of this world. Accepting the conditions
which we see as fact, instead of what the Word says will hinder faith.
1. Our physical body interprets things according to it's
senses; hunger, pain, fatigue cold, sight and hearing etc.
2. Our soul, that is, our mind, will and emotions react to
our environment and circumstances conditioned by our physical senses in the
world around us. The perceptions of our mind take in knowledge of the Word but
it can be just intellectual knowledge and not revelation knowledge which
activates faith.
3. Our spirit functions in the spiritual realm. The
faculties of our spirit are intuition (i.e. insight), imagination (i.e. vision)
and will (i.e. motivation). Faith operates through our spirit's visionary
capacity to enable revelation knowledge which unveils the mind of purposes of Lord
God to us. The faculties of our spirit give us perception of spiritual
realities!
4. Failure to Confess the Word Faith not verbalized, is
faith not activated. When we receive the spirit of faith, we must also speak
out the "word of faith", for it to have the creative power of God.
"And since we have received the same spirit of faith, according to what is
written, 'I believed and therefore I spoke'. we also believe and therefore speak,"
2 Corinthians 4:13 from Psalm 116:10. We will have whatever we confess before
men. Mark 11:23; Romans 10: 8-10
THE
RESULTS OF SPIRITUAL FAITH
1.
Salvation from sin and its results in spirit, soul and body. Romans 3:21-26; 5:
1-2, 9-10
2.
Assurance which rests on the facts of the Word of God and is a work of the
Spirit. Galatians 3:26; 4: 6
3.
Obedience which will result in good works James 2:18-20; Matthew 5:16
4.
Confession of our faith "with the heart one believes, with the mouth
confession is made unto salvation" Romans 10:10 Confession puts a seal
upon what we have believed. "I know whom I have believed and am persuaded
that He is able to keep that which I have committed unto Him against that
day" 2 Timothy 1:12
