For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith.” Rom 1:16-17
The question posed in the previous post was;
What exactly is faith? And how do we live by it?
Perhaps the most common scriptural response is, Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. Heb 11:1 The rest of the chapter known as “The Hall of Faith”, describes major Old Testament players some of whom fell pretty hard along the way and were still able to please God through faith.
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. Heb 11:6
There is a fair amount of division in the body of Christ that is rooted in the subject of faith. For example, those familiar with Catholic doctrine know that faith and works in James 2:14-26 are a salvation issue. Hence penance always follows the confession of sin to and through God’s intermediary, the Priest. Protestant Christianity which encompasses all other mainstream church denominations, tries to agree with what the Bible explicitly states.
For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. Eph 2:8-9
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 1 John 1:9
Seeing then that we have a great High Priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. Heb 4:14-16
Whatever faith is, it is a gift from God, without which, we have no hope. Eph 2:8-10 It seems that our having it is in no way dependent on anything we do. Jesus clearly stated.
No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day. John 6:44
The question does God draw us before we believe, or must we believe for God to draw us has been debated for centuries. At the end of the day, the mere fact that anyone believes Jesus and has faith may be the ultimate demonstration of God’s power.
As for works, Jesus answered them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent. John 6:29
Still, the fracturing of our collective Protestant theology continues across ever growing denominations. Divisions in Protestant churches are mostly along the lines of Reformed Theology versus the younger Charismatic Movement.
The root of controversy is the existence of spiritual gifts as well the nature and role of faith in exercising them. Reformed believers tend to deny the gifts based on thier interpretation of scripture. This baffels Charasmatics who point out the plainly stated gifts in 1 Cor 12:4-11. What many charismatics misunderstand is that reformed believers regard the full canon of scripture from Genesis to Revelation as the fulfillment of but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away. 1 Cor 13:10. Charasmatics see the fullment of the perfect in the future second coming of Jesus when we see him face to face and know Him as He knows us. 1 Cor 13:12 In the meantime these three remain,
faith, hope, and love.
I say this because while they might deny it, all denominations ultimately equate thier perception with the fulfillment of walking by faith, not sight. 2 Cor 5:7 No one takes to heart what scripture says about our perception,
While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal. 2 Cor 4:18
In the end, we argue and divide over what we think God does or does not do. Charismatics may dismiss Reformed believers as “spiritually dead”, “Pharisaical “Legalistic”, or “religious spirited”. Reformed believers, view charismatics as heretics preaching doctrines of demons. 1 Tim 4:1-3 Everyone ignores that unity of the faith in the body of Christ is a vital benchmark that Satan has thus far successfully opposed.
And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love. Eph 4:11-16
The devil is riddled with joy because he knows that if a house be divided against itself, that house cannot stand. Mark 3:25
But it’s not just reformed believers and Charismatics who are divided. There are myriad divisions over the nature and role of faith among Charismatics. For example, streams like the Word of Faith Movement, the and The Seven Mountains Mandate regard faith as a tool to recreate earth as it is in heaven. The overarching theme in this is that Jesus’ declaration “it is finished!” John 19:30 was not only the fulfillment of the gospel of salvation but also the gospel of the kingdom. They believe God wants everyone happy, healed, and prosperous NOW. Jesus is on the thrown and we are seated with Him in heavenly places. Eph 2:6 It is the responsibility of the church to transform the earth one institution at a time. Hence, believers have the power to speak things into existence and transform society according to their faith. Mat 9:29 More faith, means more power. After all, Jesus did say, according to their faith. The question is;
according to their faith in what?
The answer is found in the previous verse. Do you believe that I can do this? Once again the work of the believer is to believe God for whom nothing is impossible. Luke 1:37
Then we have the words of Jesus.
Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the Father. Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do…John 4
The implication seems to be that if I am not getting what I ask from Jesus then I must not believe…enough. Yet we must not ignore an important qualifying part of the verse. that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it. John 4:12-14
Jesus is not a proverbial genie in a bottle who does what I want provided I believe He will. Jesus came, died and was resurrected to accomplish His Father’s will not mine. How prideful are we to assume that any desire of mine is synonymous with the Father’s?
The book of James further addresses the motivation that drives our asking.
...You do not have, because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions.You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. Or do you suppose it is to no purpose that the Scripture says, “He yearns jealously over the spirit that he has made to dwell in us”? James 4:2-5
How do we ask rightly? By abiding in Jesus. Apart from Him we can do nothing. John 15:5 That includes the ability to ask rightly.
Apart from Jesus I can’t even ask the right questions!
The only condition I see Jesus setting on His doing whatever we ask in His name is that it glorifies the Father. Glorifying the Father begins with desiring His will, not ours. Even if it means we must suffer. 1 Pet 1:6-7 Our purpose and goal on earth is to align with the Father until we only say and do what He is doing. John 5:19-20 Let’s be honest. How many of our prayers are prayed with a sincere and single-minded desire that the Father be glorified? Aren’t most of our prayers really self centered petitions that “my will be done in Jesus’ name?” I don’t know about you but I can rationalize and justify anything with a scripture taken out of context. The fact remains that God has always used hard situations 1 Peter 1:6-7 to purify His people and glorify Himself. We’ve covered this topic at length in previous posts. Suffice it to say that we can not be disciples of Jesus apart from a willingness and even an expectation of suffering. Mat 16:24, Rom 5:3-5, 2 Tim 3:12, James 1:2-4, 1 Pet 1:6-7 Confusion is gauranteed if we miss the first prerequisite for faith that allows discipleship to take place.
Deny self!
Mat 16:24-28
Let’s not forget that.
So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ. Rom 10:17
The implication here is that faith can grow. Still, it does not say that we do anything beyond hearing and believing God which we have already established as the work of God.
Habakkuk
In the previous post, we mentioned the book of Habakkuk in the context of it’s being quoted in Romans 1:16-17, The Righteous Shall Live by Faith! Habakkuk’s frustration mirrors the frustration of so many believers today.
It is within the context of such overwhelming hopelessness that the true meaning and manifestation of faith may be found.
Habakkuk concludes with the following.
I hear, and my body trembles; my lips quiver at the sound; rottenness enters into my bones; my legs tremble beneath me.Yet I will quietly wait for the day of trouble to come upon people who invade us. Though the fig tree should not blossom, nor fruit be on the vines, the produce of the olive fail
and the fields yield no food, the flock be cut off from the fold and there be no herd in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the LORD;
I will take joy in the God of my salvation. God, the Lord, is my strength;
he makes my feet like the deer’s;
he makes me tread on my high places. Hab 3:16-19
The overarching message regarding the nature of faith and its application seems to be rooted in believing God in accordance with His word such that we seek Him for Himself not for what we think He does or does not want to do for us or through us. It seems to me that genuine faith pursues holiness. Faith is not the pursuit of power and prosperity to alter circumstances for the sake of our comfort and pleasure. Rather faith believes God is in control of all outcomes despite circumstances. Faith produces peace that passes understanding in the midst of circumstances regardless of how they appear to our minuscule earth-bound minds. Faith always prays like Jesus prayed at Gethsemane.
nevertheless, not as I will, but as YOU will. Mat 26:39
It seems to me that what so many call faith today is nothing more than spiritual pride in disguise. That we know in part 1Cor 13 is for everyone but us. We are right. They are wrong! If the body of Christ could agree to abandon the pride and hubris that assumes the individual right and authority contradict God’s written word. If we would accept that we all see as in a glass darkly 1 Cor 13:12 and we see better when we see together, we’d be on our way to attaining to the unity of the faith and the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes.
Perhaps that’s why James further qualifies his declaration that we have not because we ask not with,
But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” James 4:6
So what is faith and how do we walk in it? I think it is absolute trust in God in and through His living word, Holy Spirit who never contradicts His written word. Trust is produced by utter dependence. Dependence is produced when we run out of options. Options run out in the proverbial wilderness. It is in the wilderness that we learn to trust as Abraham trusted.
By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place that he was to receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going. Heb 11:8