Let us take a little time and look at the biblical principle of faith. To begin this section, look at this passage from Hebrews 11:
6 But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.
Without faith it is impossible to please God. We already know from the scripture we looked at earlier that God has declared that ‘whatever is not of faith is sin’[1]. Before we explain why this is true, let us first look at what faith is and where it comes from. This question is answered in Romans 12:
3 For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith.
Take note of the instruction of this passage. We are not to be lifted up with pride and think that we are somehow to take credit for our faith but to think soberly (or have a clear mind that understands). It is God that has dealt every man a measure of faith. Man is not the source of faith, nor the one who merits his own faith. Man is given faith by God and we should not be lifted up with pride thinking that somehow we have created faith or done something to gain faith.
It is assumed that the reader understands that when the word ‘man’ is used in a general sense this is referring to mankind. Just as our modern language refers to ‘man’ in the broader sense and it is assumed that mankind is the subject, the Bible uses the same style of communicating. There are passages that refer to men and women specifically and teach roles and responsibilities, but spiritual principles and doctrine apply to both men and women.
Faith is not of the flesh nor is it the result of any human effort. No man can boast about his own faith – though many do. Any who boast of their faith only show that they do not understand true faith. There is a man-made faith but it has no power beyond human ability. Man-made faith is superstition. I can believe that my lucky rabbits foot will bring me good fortune, but in truth it has no power regardless of the depth of my faith in this object. I can believe in my own imagination and try to speak my world into existence, but it does not change the fact that my world will not change beyond my ability to exert my will over my surroundings. I am limited to how much change I can bring about based on my personal abilities and the resources available. It is not my faith, but my efforts. Believing in myself may motivate me to act, but the human faith does not have any power beyond the motivational factor in my own life and the inspiration I may convey to others.
Mark Twain once stated that faith is believing something you know isn’t true. This may be an accurate definition for the faith created by human effort, but this has nothing to do with biblical faith. You may find superstitious faith in the church, but this still does not reflect upon faith that has been given by the Spirit. Many Christians live under a superstitious faith because they do not understand true faith. Faith is not suppressing your doubts nor is it forcing yourself to believe what you do not think is true. Biblical faith is the faith that is given to us by the Spirit of God so that we have the power to believe the word of God and see the plan of God working in our lives and in the church of Jesus Christ so that we can act in obedience.
There is a great misconception that we must believe by pretending that doubt does not exist and then whatever we believe will come to pass. Many formulate their own plans and then present them to God, muster up faith in their own plans by human effort and then expect God to act. This is no different than wishing upon a star, four leafed clover or lucky charm. When God does not do as we ‘believe’, some get angry at God or feel like they have failed by not believing enough. It will be helpful to take time to look at some of the passages that are often misunderstood. It is important to understand these passages in order to have an accurate understanding of faith. Otherwise we will turn faith into a selfish wishing well and look to God as a resource for our pleasure rather than we being created for His pleasure[2]. Look now at John 14:13-17
13 And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 14 If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it. 15 If ye love me, keep my commandments. 16 And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever; 17 Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.
How many times have you heard someone quote Jesus’ statement, “Whatsoever you ask in My name I will do it”? Now how many times have you heard someone quote the remainder of Jesus’ teaching that if we love Him we will keep His commandments and that the purpose of asking is to glorify the Father? We must look at the principle being taught and not just pick out the phrases that appeal to our human nature. The entire focus of this instruction by Jesus is to reveal to His disciples and to us that we are to put our complete trust in God for it is His desire for us to succeed in our walk of faith. Our true glory comes directly from glorifying God and as we will see in upcoming passages that we must first set our hearts on the things above, and then because our affections and plans are to do His will, He will honor our petitions so that we can fulfill His calling in our lives. Jesus continued this teaching into the next chapter where this principle is reiterated again. Look at John 15:7-8
7 If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you. 8 Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples.
Notice the prerequisite given to the promise of receiving what we ask – we must abide in Christ and His word must abide in us. To abide in Christ means to walk in continuous fellowship with Him as we seek Him through His word. If we do not know the word, we cannot conform to His character and cannot abide in Him. Knowing the word doesn’t mean that we read books about the word or do daily devotionals, but to study the whole word of God. Devotionals can have their place but there is no way to gain the whole counsel of God without studying the word in quantity. This is explained well in this passage from Isaiah 28:9-10
9 Whom shall he teach knowledge? and whom shall he make to understand doctrine? them that are weaned from the milk, and drawn from the breasts. 10 For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little:
The scripture teaches that a new babe in Christ will grow from the milk of the word[3] but we are also told that in order to gain spiritual maturity, we must be weaned from the milk and grow into the meat of the word[4]. It is then that God teaches us knowledge and builds our understanding with precept upon precept and little by little. It is not man, but God who teaches us the deeper things of the Spirit and this will never occur unless we are weaned from being an immature Christian to growing into the word. Those who rely on a teacher, pastor or book to grow will never be weaned from the milk. God has ordained teachers and preachers for the purpose of continuously putting the church in remembrance of the word so it doesn’t slip from our focus[5] and to nurture those young in the faith into maturity for the purpose of doing ministry in the work of God and to learn how to be joined to Christ in that abiding relationship[6]. It is the Lord that gives knowledge, wisdom and understanding[7]. A teacher can stir up your mind and hopefully point you in the right direction, but only God can teach you the things of the Spirit and give understanding.
Our command to ask in faith is founded upon our understanding of God’s word. Once we understand the word and see God’s work revealed to us through the word, we can ask with understanding instead of asking for the worldly desires our flesh craves. The Bible speaks to this but let’s first look at Jesus’ teaching again. In the Gospel of John, Jesus speaks again on the principle of asking in the same chapter we looked at earlier. Look at John 15:
16 Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you.
Once again the focus of asking in faith is directed at bearing fruit. The Bible explains to us that bearing fruit is reproducing God’s work in our lives through teaching others how to become disciples of Christ[8] and experiencing the fruit of the Spirit in our own lives[9]. Many things are falsely called fruit. When the Bible speaks of bearing fruit, it is always the Spirit’s work in our lives to conform us to God’s image and character or the fruit of our labor to make disciples who will obey all that has been commanded. Nothing else has eternal significance and therefore is not fruit born through the Spirit. In the passage above, the focus of our asking is to go and bring forth fruit that will remain – or have eternal significance. Whatever we ask is based on our ordination by God to accomplish His work and bear fruit. This is reiterated in these two passages from 1 John:
1 John 3:22 And whatsoever we ask, we receive of him, because we keep his commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in his sight.
1 John 5:14 And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us: 15 And if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him.
We ask and believe because we are founded upon His word and are doing the things that are pleasing in His sight. From the sure foundation of His word we can have the confidence that we are asking according to His will, He hears our prayers, and He gives us what we are requesting. These promises do not mean that we can claim in prayer a big house, fat wallets, or nice cars. In fact, if we are asking for worldly pleasures this only proves that our focus is on the world rather than on His eternal will. Look at James 4:3-4
3 Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts. 4 Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.
Does God want man to enjoy life? Clearly He does. In fact we are promised that those who trust under His wings will enjoy many pleasures. There is a profound difference between satisfaction and gratification. The world seeks satisfaction through gratification and this is not possible. Pleasure was never intended to be the focus of our lives or the meaning behind our existence. The Bible says that where there is no vision (or revelation from God), man casts off restraint. People then begin to depart from values and godliness because the only focus of their lives is fulfilling their emptiness with anything that gratifies. Gratification is the quenching of our desires.
When man’s focus is on finding ways to quench desires or to fill one’s life with pleasure, pleasure becomes the focus and meaning of life. When pleasure is your focus, emptiness is always the end result. When you pursue a pleasure and then gratify that pleasure, your focus is suddenly gone and life has no meaning unless you have another source of gratification to focus on. This is why so many people have testified that once they fulfill a big goal their life feels so empty. Even King Solomon testified to this fact after he departed from the Lord. Solomon stated that he pursued every pleasure that his heart wanted and denied himself nothing, but in the end he declared that this was vanity – empty and meaningless.
Pleasure cannot satisfy for we were not created for pleasure. We were created to know God and walk in fellowship with Him. By faith we trust under the shadow of His wings and He abundantly satisfies us and gives us from His pleasures[10]. When our focus is on God and we are walking in our trust of Him, He is our satisfaction and our exceedingly great reward[11]. When God gives us good things in this life, we enjoy what God provides and remain satisfied in Him. Pleasure and things are never the focus or the meaning of life for those who walk in the Spirit; therefore, when the pleasure has passed, our focus remains. God gives us many things to enjoy but denies what He knows will draw our focus away from Him. So when we ask for things of the world so that we can fulfill our lusts, He does not give us our petitions. There are times when we may have the ability to go after what He has not given, but the result is always the same – vanity. Pleasure will be unsatisfying, empty and meaningless unless it is within God’s design. If our focus is on the world we are already off course and therefore have no faith to stand upon when we ask of God.
God is the Rewarder of those who diligently seek Him – not those who diligently seek pleasures. The great irony is that those who seek satisfaction through pleasure will never find it, but those who deny themselves and seek the Lord will be abundantly satisfied. This is by faith. Temptation promises instant gratification and only delivers vanity. All temptation mimics joy in the short term but in the end it deprives us of what we truly desire. Faith lays aside our selfish life and trusts God because we believe His word and promises. We have faith in God and lay down our lives knowing that what God desires for us is far better than what we desire from this world. God’s promises satisfy us now and reward us in eternity, but temptation and selfish desires can only grasp what is quickly passing away.
Another verse that has created some confusion to some is this passage from Hebrews 11:1
Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.
This little passage has spawned many doctrines by people who take it out of context and distort the intended meaning. The most common source of false doctrine comes from those who have preconceived ideas and look for passages to support their beliefs. It has been said that you can prove anything with the Bible. This is only true if you ignore the intended context and turn away from the scriptures as a whole. Anyone can be misquoted by taking something that was communicated out of the context of the thought being expressed. All one needs to do is watch any political campaign to see this in action. An example I like to use to illustrate how out of context scriptures can be misused is found in Acts 27:
Acts 27:15 we let her drive.
Acts 27:17 and so were driven.
Acts 27:20 all hope that we should be saved was then taken away.
According to my personal interpretation, this proves that women are dangerous drivers, but then again the Bible warns against personal interpretation[12]. If you take these passages in context, her is referring to the ship Paul and Luke were on. They were caught in a tempest at see, gave up on controlling the ship and let the wind drive them and hope of the ship making it safely through the storm was lost. Just so that the women don’t feel too slighted, here is a little bit of ammunition against men from 2 Kings 21:13
I will wipe Jerusalem as a man wipeth a dish, wiping it, and turning it upside down.
Does this mean the Bible teaches that men should wash and dry dishes? Its food for thought.
The same principle applies to Hebrews 11 above. Some teach that faith is a tangible substance that we must obtain and then use for our advantage to get what we want. This belief attempts to transform faith into a New Age belief system where the force is available to those who learn to master it. We must look at the context of the passage and the context of the Bible as a whole in order to understand faith or any other doctrine. Even if the word ‘substance’ was a clear interpretation, the ‘faith is a force / substance’ doctrine does not hold up to the rest of scripture. However, the English translation into the word ‘substance’ can be confusing. The original Greek word is the word hupostasis (pronounced hoop-os'-tas-is) which means: assurance, firm foundation, or something considered real or substance. Knowing the meaning of the Greek word makes the meaning of the verse clear. The scripture is not saying that faith is a substance but rather that it is a sure foundation or assurance that something is real. In fact, this same word is translated as confidence each other time it is used in the New Testament[13]. So then faith is our assurance that God’s word is a firm foundation and will surely come to pass. This is why we seek Him; we know that He is the Rewarder of those who seek Him and abide in the word.
This is also why the scripture states that whatever is not of faith is sin. When we disbelieve God’s word, we are declaring by our actions and words that we do not believe He has the power or the faithfulness to do what He has promised. When we do trust Him we will live our lives within His will knowing that He has already prepared the way and that all things work together for our good. We can step out in faith knowing that nothing can hinder His hand even when it seems impossible. There is no such thing as a ‘faith formula’ for faith is not a manipulation of God or of the world around us but is our trust in the Lord so that we allow Him to lead us down the path He has already created for us to walk in[14].
Eddie Snipes
Exchanged Life Outreach
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[1] Romans 14:23
[2] Revelation 4:11
[3] 1 Peter 2:2
[4] Hebrews 5:12-14
[5] 1 Timothy 4:6, 2 Peter 1:12-15, 2 Peter 3:1, Jude 1:5
[6] Ephesians 4:11-16
[7] Proverbs 2:1-9
[8] Matthew 28:19-20
[9] Galatians 5:22-23
[10] Psalm 36:7-8
[11] Genesis 15:1
[12] 2 Peter 1:20
[13] 2 Corinthians 9:4, 2 Corinthians 11:17, Hebrews 3:14
[14] Ephesians 2:10, Psalm 139:16