Whatever is not faith is Sin

Paul said: "Do you have faith? Haveit to yourself before God. Happy is he who does not condemn himself in what he approves. But he who doubts is condemned if he eats, because he does not eat from faith, for whatever is not from faith is sin" (Romans 14:22, 23, NKJV).

The walk of the Spirit is a walk of faith because that is the dimension in which God moves. If we are not walking in faith toward God and His Word, then as far as He is concerned we are walking in unbelief, and that is sin.

The Lord declared: "Behold the proud, his soul is not upright in him, but the just shall live by faith" (Habakkuk 3:4).

The writer of Hebrews said: "But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him" (Heb. 11:6).

Faith is so fundamental to moving on with God that we need to understand it and learn to nurture it to the glory of God, who considers it to be more precious than gold.

Faith is not something you either have or have not based on whether God felt liking giving it to you. This would be both irrational and unfair. For that reason, Paul is careful to state that God has dealt to each person a measure of faith (Romans 12:3). Clearly some people's measure has grown more than others but no-one actually misses out on getting their measure. It is like a seed that is planted at salvation. We all have it but it need to be fed and watered to allow it to grow.

The growth of our measure of faith

The growth of our measure comes from hearing the Word of God (Romans 10:17) and being tested and proved in greater and greater areas. The more you know, understand, believe and apply the Word of God, the more your faith will grow and you will be able to reach out to God for more and more. For example, you start off moving in faith in small matters such as being in faith for our health and then as you faith grows you can pray for those who are not in good health. Even that is by degrees of faith. You start off with the coughs and colds, aches and pains, and as you see these clearing up, you move on to harder cases such as broken bones and any form of "incurable" disease. It is imprtant always to stay within your faith and let God increase it by degrees. Occasionally you may receive the gift of faith referred to earlier (in one of my messages) which enables you to move beyond your measure of faith. But the point is that God gives you extra faith and you should not move into unbelief, because that shuts off the flow and anointing from heaven. When God asked Solomon what he wanted most, he asked for wisdom. If I was asked the same question now the answer would definitely be faith, for it pleases God and allows the full manifestation of the Spirit of God. In my opinion, there is not enough faith in the Body of Christ.

Obstacle to faith

The biggest single obstacle to faith is unbelief about what the Bible says to be true. Whereas the world says - "Seeing is believing," God's way is the opposite - "Believing is seeing." In other words, you do not see because you do not believe.

One of the paradoxes in the Christian life is that even if we have unbelief we still have faith, for the Holy Spirit inside us is always in perfect faith toward God's Word, whereas it is the natural mind that is in unbelief. In other words, you can have both but unbelief blocks off the faith and because it is sin and needs to be confessed and forgiven. Once you dealt with the unbelief, the faith is there according to the measure you have. The opposite of faith is not just unbelief but sight - in other words, using the natural senses.

Living by faith

Paul said: "For we walk by faith, not by sight" (2 Cor. 5:7).

This is a hard concept because most of us like to see where we are heading! If you want to walk purely in the natural realm you will never experience the walk of faith, because it is not visible to the natural eyes. If you are a natural forward planner faith will be very hard for you as you have to unlearn the natural laws and learn the laws of the Spirit. Faith is of supreme value to God, who only moves in the faith area. He is permanantly in faith about all His promises in the Bible, all the future, and everything He has prepared for His children.

The writer of Hebrews said: "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen" (Heb. 11:1).

This verse summarises what faith is. This is God's total faithfulness regarding all that He has promised us. Because He is all-knowing, all powerful, and eternal and cannot lie or changes, we have total security in His Word for our lives, whatever happens on the earth. That does not mean that everything is predestined but that God will make sure that every promise toward us will hold true. We need faith in God and His revealed Word. If you are in unbelief about the Bible being the revealed Word of God you cannot walk in faith. For example, Abraham trusted in God's Word and was commended for his faith.

The writer of Hebrews said about Abraham's faith: "By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to the place which he would receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going. By faith he dwelt in the land of promise as in a foreign country, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise, for he waited for the city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God" (Heb. 11:8 - 10).

Abraham never received the geographical territory promised to him, and he is still in faith in heaven that Jesus will give it to his descendants precisely as promised when He returns to the earth to reign for one thounsand years in the Millennial Kingdom. The promise was given to Abraham (Gen. 15:18) and God is committed to it. This is equally true of all the unfulfilled promises of Jesus. Any prophecy not fulfilled during Jesus' time on the earth will be literally fulfilled when He returns. We need to be in faith about this and believe it even though it may seem impossible. It certainly looks impossible that Israel will own Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and part of Egypt in the foreseeable future, yet God has promised that it shall be so and we need to be in faith that it shall come to pass when Jesus returns. Much of Isaiah contains millennial prophecies based on Israel coming into the territorial promise and the Lord reigning personally in Jerusalem.

"And it shall come to pass in that day that the Lord will thresh, from the channel of the River in the Brook of Egypt and you will be gathered one by one, O you children of Israel. So it shall be in that day; the great trumpet will be blown; they will come, who are about to perish in the land of Assyria. And they who are outcasts in the land of Egypt, and shall worship the Lord in the holy mountain of Jerusalem" (Isaiah 27:12, 13).

We also need to be in faith about the Second Coming of Jesus to establish His Kingdom and of course about the Rapture.

John said: "Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure" (1 John 3:2, 3).

This hope inside us is supposed to affect us. These are not just dry doctrines but part of the eternal purposes of God for us and we need to allow them to stir up our faith and encourage us to keep going.

Bible characters who lived by faith

Hebrews 11 is the key passage outlining those who lived by faith and it is too extensive to quote here. When you read it note the kinds of things they did by faith.

"And what more shall I say? For the time would fail me to tell of Gideon and Barak and Samson and Jephthah, also of David and samuel and the prophets: who through faith subdued kingdoms, worked righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, became valiant in battle, turned to fight the armies of the aliens. Women received their dead raised to life again. Others were tortured, not accepting deliverance, that they might obtain a better resurrection. Still others had trial of mockings and scourgings, yes, and of chains and imprisonment. They were stoned, they were sawn in two, were tempted, were slain with the sword. They wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, tormented - of whom the world were not worthy. They wandered in deserts and mountain, in dens and caves of the earth. and all these, having obtained a good testimony through faith, did not receive the promise" (Heb. 11:32 - 39).

They were commended because they were in faith toward God despite all the circumstances and believed that God was still able to keep His Word.


The testing of faith


Faith will definitely be tested to the limit and proved to see how real it is. Peter said: "In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials, that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ" (1 Peter 1:6, 7).


In my opinion, testing is similar to attaching a rope to a branch to climb a tree. you test it by giving a really strong tug with all your weight and then know it will support you while you climb. You are testing both the rope and the branch. The branch is like the Word of God and will support any weight. The rope is like faith and you need to be sure that you have a strong enough piece to be in faith for it to support you. It is the proving of your faith rather than a test you pass or fail, and once you have given the rope a good pull and proved it strong enough you then move out in faith and start to climb. Your faith is then proved genuine. Doubts, fears and unbelief will neutralize the faith we have, bringing us into the realm of natural sight, and even if we are in faith there can be so much unbelief in others that God is unable to act, as He will not move out of the dimension of faith. Jesus who was full of faith was hampered in Nazareth where He could do nothing because of their unbelief. That is why a prophet is not without honor except at home where he is known. If you are too well-knownpeople see you in the natural, faith is suppressed and no-one believes you can do anything. Nothing therefore happens and that just confirms their suspicions! If it was true of Jesus it will be true of us. As a result the Holy Spirit is quenched and grieved.


Paradox of unbelief


It can be even be the case that there is more unbelief in Christians than those who do not know the Lord, however strange that might seem. I observed that, in a healing rally it can be easier for non-Christians to receive healing from God as a sign that He loves them and desires them to be saved, whereas believers can cut off the flow from God by being in unbelief and therefore miss the healing to which they Biblically entitled.


Unbelief comes from two main sources which we need to examine:


1. The natural senses - the natural mind


Paul said: "But the natural man does ot receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. But he who is spiritual judges all things, yet he himself is rightly judged by no one" (1 Cor. 2:14, 15).


The natural mind rejects faith as foolishness or presumption. It is illogical, unintellectual, irrational and dangerous. Now if we were dealing with 'faith healing' that would be true, since it is faith in faith, but we are dealing with faith in God who has made His will known and actually given us faith to use. We therefore trust in His eternal promises and His Word, which has substance and purpose. God has chosen the foolish things of the world, including the poor and unintelligent, to baffle the wise because He does not want natural wisdom to be involved in the faith at all. We need to beware of the natural senses blocking faith.


2. The Devil


The Devil, who is the father of lies and the accuser of the brethren, knows how powerful faith is as he is the victim of faith in the areas of healing and deliverance and will therefore do his utmost to discredit Jesus, the Bible and Christians walking in faith. Our faith will be attacked and tested with one of the main targets being the whole question of healing. The Bible declares that Jesus died for sickness as well as sin, as sickness was part of the curse on Adam from which we have been redeemed.


Peter said: "... who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sin, might live for righteousness - by whose stripes you were healed" (1 Peter 2:24).


Isaiah said: "Surely He has borne out griefs and carried our sorrows, yet we esteemed Him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But He was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed" (Isaiah 53:4, 5).


If Jesus bore our sicknesses and pains and by His stripes we are healed, then this is a clear statement that Jesus died for sickness as well as sin, and healing is included in the Atonement - if only we woul believe it. There is still much unbelife in this are which quenches faith. Jesus spent much of His time healing the sick, told the disciples to do the same, and said that if would be part of the signs following believers that they too would heal the sick to illustrate tha the Gospel is true. The Holy Spirit gave the gifts of healings to the Church to use actively and positively, and we should do so. There are Biblical conditions for healing, and we need to fulfill these and be aware of them, but always be aware that healing is available form God as part of the New Covenant. May it never be true of us that Jesus can do nothing because of our unbelief.


In concluding on faith we need to have a positve confession that everything the Bible says about us is true whether we see the evidence or not. Faith does not need to see the visible evidence because God says it. In Revelation the victory of the believers is described: "And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death" (Rev. 12:11).


What we confess out of our mouths is important and forms our testimony. It must be the word of faith that is able to overcome all satanic opposition. We can have faith to move mountains and need to speak it out of our mouths in every situation.


Paul said: "I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me" (Gal 2:20).


Our high calling is the daily walk of faith!