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What Faith in God is Not See
also the reality
of faith “And the
serpent said unto the woman, You shall not surely die. For God does know that
in the day you eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and you shall be
as gods, knowing good and evil. And when the woman saw that the tree was good
for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to
make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto
her husband with her, and he did eat.”
-Genesis 3:4-6 “Jesus
said, ‘Take away the stone.’ Martha, the sister of him that was dead, said
unto Him, ‘Lord, by this time he stinks, for he has been dead four
days.’” -John 11:39 “The other
disciples therefore said unto him [Thomas], ‘We have seen the LORD.’ But he
[Thomas] said unto them, ‘Unless I shall see in his hands the print of the
nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and thrust my hand into
his side, I will not believe.’” -John
20:25 ”And He [Jesus] said unto them, Why are you so fearful? how
is it that you have no faith?” - Mark 4:40 What Faith is Not Faith
is not feeling that prayer is answered. The average person who seeks to
exercise faith depends upon what s/he can see, hear, or feel. Testimonies
concerning faith are usually expressed in connection with feelings and
emotions, or the various senses. Sense-faith is based upon physical evidence
or upon the emotions and feelings of the soul. All who take this road as the
basis of faith will sooner or later be deceived. Faith should be based upon
the Word of God regardless of any sense-knowledge, or feeling-evidences. Many
of us are constantly looking to feelings as to whether prayer has been heard
or not. If we happen to feel good, or if something happens that encourages
us, we think that it is easy to believe, but if reverses come and feelings
take wings, we are in the depths of despair. We are quick to accuse God of
being unfaithful and untrue to His Word. If we do not go this far we are
quick to imagine that it was not God's will to grant the answer. Many of us
become satisfied to go without what God has plainly promised. Faith
has not the slightest relationship with feelings and sense-evidences. At the
times when we think they have all the faith in the world because of feelings,
we have the least in the world, and when we think they have the least, we
have more than at any other time in our lives. Many people are surprised to
get answers to prayer because when they prayed they thought their faith was
nothing. We should not believe we are healed because the pain is gone, or
that we are saved because they feel we are forgiven. We should not think that
our prayers are answered because things are working out that way. Instead, we
should always maintain faith because of what the Word of God says. The Word
of God should have first place in our lives instead of the senses. All basing
of faith upon what we have done, how well we live, or what experiences we
have had will lead to failure in answered prayer. God does not answer upon
these grounds. He answers solely upon the grounds of grace and faith in Him
and in His Word. True
faith is not trusting in the goodness and in the faith of another person. It
must be personal faith in God and His Word. Many of us continually go about
seeking someone who has faith and who can get answers to prayer for us. This
may work temporarily while one is learning about God and His Word, but if we
do not properly learn and develop a personal faith that refuses to be denied,
we shall eventually revert to failure and unbelief, and we shall have to be satisfied
with the modern theory that answered prayer is not for everyone. The
program that will pay is that of having personal faith in God, faith in Jesus
Christ, faith in the Holy Spirit, faith in the Word of God, faith in the
atonement, and total consecration personally to believe God regardless of
anything that might happen to hinder prayer. The right
program is not talking about faith, or the need of it, but the actual
exercise of it. Simple faith in the Word regardless of feelings and
circumstances is never possible to the person who lives only in the realm of
his senses, for he or she believes only what they can see, feel, hear, or
understand to be possible. This was the kind of faith Thomas had when he
declared that he would not believe until he had seen. It was the kind that
Martha had when she could see nothing but the natural fact that Lazarus had
been dead four days and "by this time he stinketh." This is the
Wind of faith taught and encouraged by modern religious leaders, but it is
not the kind required by the New Testament. Neither
mental faith nor mere assent to truth and dependence upon feelings is enough.
The individual must come to life and action before s/he will realize the
benefits of active, living faith that refuses to know defeat and failure. A
person must learn to fight the fight of faith and lay hold of God and His
Word. We must learn that we are surrounded by an unbelieving world and an
atmosphere of doubts,
that demons and fallen
angels and people have lived for centuries in unbelief and wickedness
creating currents of doubt and mistrust that are very subtle, and that
effects of the fall have left in the lives of fallen men deep wounds of doubt
and wavering that must be healed. We must learn that we have to wrestle with
powers of darkness and currents of mistrust and unbelief which make it a
struggle to exercise active living faith for things that are not seen. We
must not only learn how to do this, but we must do it in order to get
results. All progress in the Christian life is by trusting
(faith). “This Good News tells us
how God makes us right in his sight. This is accomplished from start to
finish by trusting (faith). As the Scriptures say, The just shall live by
trust (faith).” – Romans 1:17;
Galatians 3:11; Habakkuk 2:4 Distinguished From Hope Outside
the Scriptures the word faith has many different meanings, but in our present
study we do not need to concern ourselves with these. Within the Scriptures
there are two definite, distinguishing features of faith. First, faith always
originates directly in God's Word; second, it is always directly related to
God's Word. Faith
is one of comparatively few words actually defined
in the Bible. This definition is found in Hebrews 11: 1. “Now
faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” This verse
might also be translated: "Now faith is the ground, or confidence, of
things hoped for, a sure persuasion, or conviction, concerning things not
seen." This
important verse brings out various facts about faith. First
of all, it indicates a distinction between faith and hope. There are
two main ways in which faith differs from hope. The first is that hope is
directed toward the future, but faith is established in the present. Hope is
an attitude of expectancy concerning things that are yet to be, but faith is
a substance—a confidence, something real and definite within us—that we
possess here and now. The second
main difference between faith and hope is that hope is anchored in the realm
of the mind; faith is anchored in the realm of the heart. This is very
strikingly brought out in Paul's description of scriptural armor required by
the Christian soldier. “But let
us who are of the day be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love,
and as a helmet the hope of salvation (I Thess. 5:8).” Notice
that faith together with love is found in the region of the breast; that is,
the region of the heart. But hope is pictured as a helmet, in the region of
the bead, or mind. Thus, hope is a mental attitude of expectancy concerning
the future; faith is a condition of the heart, producing within us here and
now something so real that it can be described by the word substance. In Romans
Paul again directly associates the heart with the exercise of faith, or believing. With the
heart one believes unto [literally, into] righteousness (Rom. 10:10). Many
people make a profession of faith in Christ and the Bible, but their faith is
only in the realm of the mind. It is an intellectual acceptance of certain
facts and doctrines. This is not true, scriptural faith, and it does not
produce any vital change in the lives of those who profess it. On
the other hand, heart faith always produces a definite change in those who
profess it. When associated with the heart, the verb "to believe"
becomes a verb of motion. Hence Paul says, "With the heart one believes
[into] righteousness" not merely "unto righteousness," but
"into righteousness." It is one thing to believe with the mind
"unto righteousness," merely as an abstract theory or ideal. It is
quite another thing to believe with the heart "into righteousness";
that is, to believe in a way that produces a transformation
of habits, character and life. In
the words of Christ, the verb phrase "to believe" is regularly followed
by the preposition into, to express change or motion. For instance, He says: “You
believe in [literally, into] God, believe also in [literally, into] Me (John
14: 1).” This
brings out the fact that the verb phrase "to believe" is associated
with a process of change or motion. It is not enough to believe "ire”
Christ with mere mental acceptance of the facts of His life or the truths of
His teaching. We must believe "into" Christ—we must be moved by
heartfelt faith out of ourselves and into Christ, out of our sin and into His
righteousness, out of our weakness and into His power, out of our failure and
into His victory, out of our limitations and into His omnipotence. This
scriptural faith of the heart always produces change. It is always believing
into Christ and into righteousness; and the result is always something
definite, experienced here and now, not something merely hoped for in the
future. For
this reason, in John 6:47 Christ uses the present and not the future tense.
He says, "He who believes...has everlasting life" not shall have, but already has,
everlasting life. Scriptural faith into Christ produces everlasting life here
and now within the believer. It is not something that we hope to have in the
next world after death. It is something that we already possess, something
that we already enjoy, a reality, a substance within us. So
many people have a religion which they hope will somehow do them good when
they reach the threshold of eternity. But true Bible faith gives the believer
a here and now experience and an assurance of everlasting life already within
him. His faith is a real substance within him. Because of this present faith
he also has a serene hope, a sure confidence concerning the future. A hope
that is based on this kind of faith will stand the test of death and
eternity; but a hope that lacks this present substance of faith is mere
wishful thinking, doomed to final, bitter disillusionment. Nothing
happens in the life of a follower of Jesus the Christ without faith; faith in
God’s faithfulness. ·
“This Good News tells us
how God makes us right in His sight. This is accomplished from start to finish by faith
(trusting). As the Scriptures say, ‘The just shall live by faith (trust).’”
– Romans 1:17; see also Ephesians 2:8; Galatians 3:7, 11; 1 Peter
1:5; Habakkuk 2:4 ·
"But without faith (trust)
it is
impossible to please Him [God]: for s/he who comes to God must
believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of them who diligently seek Him" –Heb. 11:6 ·
“Therefore I say unto you, What things soever you desire, when you pray, believe that you
receive them, and you shall have them.”
–Jesus the Christ recorded in
Mark 11:24 ·
“And
Jesus said, ‘…As
you believe, be it done unto you…’” and, “…According to your faith be it unto you” (Matt. 8:13; 9:29).
This is an unfailing spiritual law (see also Matthew 8:10; 21:22; Mark 9:23;
11:22-24). No faith—no hope. Based Solely
on God's Word Let
us turn back now to the definition of faith given in Hebrews 11:1 and note
one other important fact about faith. Faith is "the evidence of things
not seen," or a sure conviction concerning things not seen. This shows
that faith deals with things not seen. Faith
is not based on the evidence of our physical senses but on the eternal,
invisible truths and realities revealed by God's Word. Paul brings out this
contrast between the objects of faith and the objects of sense perception
when he says, "For we walk by faith, not by sight" (2 Cor. 5:7). Faith
is here contrasted with sight. Sight, along with the other physical senses,
is related to the objects of the physical world. Faith is related to the
truths revealed in God's Word. Our senses deal with things that are material,
temporary and changeable. Faith deals with the revealed truths of God which
are invisible, eternal and unchanging. If
we are carnally minded, we can accept only that which our senses reveal to
us. But if we are spiritually minded, our faith makes the truths of God's
Word more real than anything which our senses may reveal to us. We do not
base our faith on that which we see or experience; we base our faith on God's
Word. Thereafter, that which we see or experience is
the outcome of that which we have already believed. In spiritual experience
sight comes after faith, not before it. David
says: “I would have lost heart, unless I had believed that I would see the
goodness of the Lord In the land of the living (Ps. 27:13).” David
did not see first and then believe. He believed first, and then he saw.
Notice also that the experience which faith produced for him was not merely
something after death, in the next world, but here and now, in the land of
the living. This
same lesson is brought out in the conversation between Jesus and Martha
outside the tomb of Lazarus. Jesus
said, "Take away the stone." Martha, the sister of him who was
dead, said to Him, "Lord, by this time there is a stench, for he has
been dead four days." Jesus said to her, "Did I not say to you that
if you would believe you would see the glory of God?" (John 11:39 40). Here
Jesus makes it plain that faith consists in believing first, then seeing not the other way around. Most carnally
minded people reverse this order. They say, "I only believe in what I
can see." But this is incorrect. When we actually see
a thing, we do not need to exercise faith for it. It is when we cannot see
that we need to exercise faith. As Paul says, faith and sight are opposite in
their nature. Quite
often in our experience we find an apparent conflict between the evidence of
our senses and the revelation of God's Word. For instance, we may see and
feel within our bodies all the evidence of physical sickness. Yet the Bible
reveals that Jesus "Himself took our infirmities and bore our
sicknesses" (Matt. 8:17) and "by whose stripes [wounds] you were
healed" (I Pet. 2:24). Here
is an apparent conflict. Our senses tell us we are sick. The Bible tells us
we are healed. This conflict between the testimony of our senses and the
testimony of God's Word confronts us, as believers, with the possibility of
two alternative reactions. On
the one hand, we may accept the testimony of our senses and thus accept our
physical sickness. In this way we become the slaves of the carnal mind. On
the other hand, we may hold firmly to the testimony of God's Word that we are
healed. If
we do this with genuine, active faith, the testimony of our senses will in
due course be brought into line with the testimony of God's Word, and we
shall then be able to say we are healed, not merely on the
basis of faith in God's Word, but also on the basis of actual physical
experience and the testimony of our senses. At
this point, however, it is necessary to re-emphasize that the kind of faith
that produces these results is faith in the heart, not in the mind. We must
recognize that mere mental acceptance of the Bible's statements concerning
healing and health lacks the power to make them real in our physical
experience. The words of Paul in Ephesians 2:8 concerning faith for salvation
apply equally to faith for healing. Thus we may say: “For
by grace you have been saved [healed] through faith, and that [faith] not of
yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.” The
faith that brings healing is a gift of God's sovereign grace. It cannot be
produced by any kind of mental gymnastics or psychological techniques. This
kind of faith can be apprehended only by the spiritual mind. To the carnal
mind it appears foolish. The carnal mind accepts the testimony of the senses
in all circumstances and is thus ruled by the senses. The spiritual mind
accepts the testimony of God's Word as invariably and unchangeably true and
then accepts the testimony of the senses only insofar as it agrees with the
testimony of God's Word. Thus, the attitude of the spiritual mind toward the
testimony of God's Word is summed up by David. “I
cling to Your testimonies; 0 Lord, do not put me to shame! (Ps. 119:31).” “Concerning
Your testimonies, I have known of old that You have founded them forever (Ps.
119:152).” The
scriptural pattern of this kind of faith is found in the experience of
Abraham (see Rom. 4:17-21). Paul tells us that Abraham's faith was directed
toward God...who gives life to the dead and calls those things which do not
exist as though they did (Rom. 4:17). This
statement that God "calls those things which do not exist as though they
did" means that as soon as God has declared a thing to be true, faith immediately
considers that thing to be true, even though no evidence of its truth may be
manifested to the senses. Thus,
God called Abraham "a father of many nations," and from that moment
forward Abraham reckoned himself as being what God had called him, "a father
of many nations," even though at that time he had not even one son born
to Sarah and himself Abraham did not wait until he saw evidence being worked
out in his physical experience before he would accept God's statement as
true. On the contrary, he accepted God's statement as true first, and later
his physical experience was brought into line with what God had declared. In
the next verse Paul tells us that Abraham, "contrary to hope, in hope
believed" (Rom. 4:18). This
phrase "in hope believed" tells us that at this time Abraham had
both faith and hope—hope concerning the future and faith in the present—and
that his hope concerning the future was the outcome of his faith in the
present. [Abraham]
did not consider his own body, already dead (since he was about a hundred
years old), and the deadness of Sarah's womb (Rom. 4:19). Abraham
refused to accept the testimony of his senses. The testimony of his senses
undoubtedly told him that it was no longer possible for him and Sarah to have
a child. But Abraham did not accept this testimony because it did not agree
with what God had said. Abraham turned a deaf ear to the testimony of his
senses; he refused to consider it. He
[Abraham] did not waver at the promise of God through unbelief ... being
fully convinced that what He [God] had promised He was also able to perform
(Rom 4:20 21). This
shows clearly the object upon which Abraham's faith was focused: God's
promise. Thus, faith is based on the promises and statements of God's Word
and accepts the testimony of the senses only insofar as they agree with the
statements of God's Word. A
little earlier in Romans 4 Paul calls Abraham "the father of all those
who believe" (v. 11), and in the next verse he speaks of those "who
also walk in the steps of the faith which our father Abraham had" (v.
12). This
shows that scriptural faith consists in acting like Abraham and in following
the steps of his faith. In analyzing the nature of Abraham's faith, we have
seen that there were three successive steps or stages. 1. Abraham
accepted God's promise as being true from the moment it was uttered. 2. Abraham
refused to accept the testimony of his senses as long as
it did not agree with the statement of God. 3. Because
Abraham held fast to what God had promised, his physical experience and the
testimony of his senses were brought into line with the statement of God. Thus,
the thing which he had first accepted in naked faith, contrary to the
testimony of his senses, became reality in his own physical experience,
confirmed by the testimony of his senses. By
many, this attitude of accepting God's Word as true in defiance of the
testimony of our senses would be dismissed as mere foolishness or fanaticism.
Yet the remarkable thing is that philosophers and psychologists of many
different ages and backgrounds have agreed in declaring that the testimony of
our physical senses is variable, subjective and unreliable. If,
then, the testimony of our senses cannot be accepted by itself as true and
reliable, where can we find the correct standard of truth and reality by
which the testimony of the senses must be judged? To this question neither
philosophy nor psychology has ever been able to offer any satisfactory
answer. Indeed,
all through the centuries, philosophers and psychologists have echoed the
question asked by Pilate as he sat in his judgment hall: "What is
truth?" (John 18:38). For the Christian believer, however, the answer is
found in the words of Christ to His Father: "Your Word is truth"
(John 17:17). The
ultimate, unchanging standard of all truth and reality is found in God's
Word. Faith consists in hearing, believing and acting upon this truth. In
considering the relationship between faith and our physical senses, it is
necessary to make a clear distinction between true, scriptural faith on the
one hand and such teachings as mind over matter or Christian Science (falsely
so called) on the other hand. The
two main points of difference are as follows: First, teachings such as mind
over matter or Christian Science tend to magnify and exalt the purely human
element—such things as man's mind, or reason, or willpower. Thus, these
teachings are essentially man centered. On the other hand, true, scriptural
faith is essentially God centered. It abases all that is human and magnifies
only God and God's truth and power. Second,
teachings such as mind over matter or Christian Science are not based
directly, or even mainly, upon the Word of God. Many of the things they
assert and seek to make real by the exercise of the human will are not in
accordance with the teaching of God's Word. In fact, in certain respects,
they are contrary to God's Word. On the other hand, scriptural faith, by its
very nature and definition, is confined within the limits of God's Word. We
need also to distinguish between faith and presumption. The line that divides
these two is very fine, but it marks the boundary between success and
disaster. Presumption
contains an element of human arrogance and self-glorification. It is the
assertion of man's will, even if it is cloaked in spiritual language. Faith,
on the other hand, is totally dependent on God, and its outworking will
always glorify God. It never takes the initiative away from God. We come back
to the words of Paul: Such faith is "not of yourselves; it is the gift
of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast" (Eph. 2:8 9). Its
attitude is summed up by John the Baptist. “A
man can receive nothing unless it has been given to him from heaven (John
3:27).” Very
simply stated, faith receives, and presumption grabs. Back to Faith Download
passages of the Word of God regarding faith. (This link requires Adobe Acrobat Reader) See
more about the kinds of
faith Link
to the “short list” of 99
benefits of the 750 New Testament promises The Key That Unlocks All Promises Link
to the list of 250
separate benefits of the 750 New Testament promises “Beloved,
I wish above all things that you
may prosper and be in health, even as your soul
prospers.” – 3 John 1:2 See
the reality of evil, Satan, or
the devil See
the bondage of
unrighteousness (sin) and corruption See
The Source of Sin,
Sicknesses, and Diseases See
How to Get Health and
Healing From God Link to God's
Plan for Mankind Thank
you Finis
Jennings Dake and Dake
Publishing Thank
you Derek Prince Ministries
and his book Faith to Live By
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