Understanding Faith

Books have been written about the simple word - "Faith" and yet its full potential cannot be easily measured or expressed. I believe the clearest way to bring faith's potiential into focus is to set side-by-side two statements made by Jesus:


"... with God all things are possible" (matthew 19:26, NKJV, emphasis added).


"... all things are possible to him who believes" (Mark 9:23, emphasis added).


Here are some statements of truth:


1. In each of these statements we find the words "all things are possible." The first statement applied to God; the second statement applied to the one who believes. It is not too difficult, perhaps, to accept that all things are possible with God. Can we equally accept that all things are possible to the one who believes? Yet this is what Jesus tells us.


2. In practical terms it means that, through faith, the things that are possible to God are made equally possible to the one who believes.


3. Faith is the channel that makes God's possibilities available to us. Through faith, all that is possible to God becomes equally possible to us.


Relation between "faith" and "believe"


This message is not a Greek lesson and so we need to be very brief here. Suffice to say that the translation from Greek to English created a lot of misunerstanding and difficulties for those who study the Bible - especially on things pertaining to faith. In Greek, the word for "faith" is "pistis" (a noun) and the word for "believe" is "pisteuo" (a verb). The root of each Greek word is made up of the four letters - "pist." As far as the Bible is concerned, "believing" is exercising faith. Conversely, exercising faith is "believing."


The opposite of "faith" is "unbelief" in English. But in Greek there is no direct connection between faith and its opposite - "Faith" is "pistis" and "unbelief" is "apistia."


Walking by Faith and not by Sight


Paul said, "For we walk by faith, not by sight" (1 Cor. 5:7).


The opposition between faith and sight is brought out by Paul. If we walk by sight, we do not need faith. If we walk by faith, we do not need sight. Each excludes the other.


This is contrary to our natural way of thinking. The world says, "Seeing is believing." But the Bible reverses the order - First we must believe, then we will see!


The following examples illustrate the principle of "walking by faith and not by sight." (or "believe, then you will see.")


David


David, the psalmist said: "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, NKJV).


To David, believing comes before seeing. What was true for David is true for all of us. If we cannot believe that we will see the goodness of the Lord, we will despair. The thing that keeps us from despairing is not what we see but what we believe.


Moses


The same thing experienced by Moses when he brought the children of Israel out of Egypt:


The writer of Hebrews said" "By faith he (Moses) forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king; for he endured as seeing Him who is invisible" (Hebrews 11:27).


Nothing in Moses' visible circumstances could give him any hope or encouragement. But in spite of all that was against him, he "endured" because he was able to "see the unseen," - by faith. Faith enables us to "see the unseen" and thus enables us to endure when the visible world offers us no hop or encouragement.


Jesus


Jesus was raising Lazarus from the dead witnessed by Mary and Martha.


"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).


All who desire to see the glory of God must believe first. We do not see first, and then believe. As a result of believing - we see. Faith comes before sight.


Contrast between the visible and the invisible


Paul said, "For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal." (2 Cor. 4:7, 8, emphasis added).


Paul's language here contains a deliberate paradox. The only way to "look at things which are not seen" is by faith! Notice that "light affliction" serves us only while we keep our eyes on the invisible realm. If we lose sight of this and become preoccupied with the world of time and of the senses, we are no longer able to receive the benefits that affliction is intended to work out for us.


So we are caught between two worlds, the temporal and the eternal. The temporal is that which we can see; we contact it with our senses. But the eternal is the world God wants us at home in. And we can be at home in that world by only one means - faith. Faith is the one thing that relates us to the unseen realities of God and His Word.


Differences between "faith" and "hope"


I believe the difference between faith and hope lies one of the greatest sources of misunderstanding among Christian today. Many Christians are disappointed and frustrated in prayer because they do not receive that they think they should. Often it is because they are praying in hope, but not in faith. The results promised by God to faith are not promised to hope. Here are two differences between faith and hope.


Faith originates in the heart


Paul said, "For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation" (Romans 10:10, NKJV).


True Biblical faith originates in the heart. Expressed by the verb to "believe," it is followed by the preposition "unto," indicating the result which it produces - "unto righteousness." "Unto" implies motion or transition of some kind. Faith is never static. It always expresses itself in motion, change and activity. A person who truly believes will be changed by what he believes.


On the other hand, a person who merely accepts truth with his intellect can remain unchanged by it. Mental acceptance of truth is not faith.


Solomon said, "Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it spring the issues of life" (Proverbs 4:23).


Everything that finally decides the course of our life proceeds out of our heart. True Biblical faith proceeds from the heart and determines the way we live.


However, God does not leave our mind without its proper provision. faith at work in the heart produces hope in the mind.


The writer of Hebrews said, "Now faith is the substance of things hope for ..." (Hebrews 11:1).


Faith in the heart is the substance - the underlying reality. This provides a valid, scriptural basis for the hope that we entertain in our mind.


Faith is in the present


Faith is in the present and hope is in the future. Faith is something we already have, but hope is directed toward the future, an expectation of things to come.


Jesus said, "Therefore I say to you, all things for which you pray and ask, believe that you have received them, and they shall be granted you" (Mark 11:24, NAS, emphasis added).


Jesus tells us to receive what we pray for at the very moment that we pray. We "ask" and at the same moment we "receive." Thereafter we know that the things we asked for "shall be granted us." Notice that "granting" still remain in the future, but "receiving' - by faith - takes place when we pray. Having received now by faith, we know that, at God's appointed time, the things we received at the moment of praying will actually be granted us. Faith to receive is in the present; the manifestation of that which we receive is in the future. But without present faith there is no assurance of future manifestation.


Hope that is based on true faith in the heart will not be disappointed. But without this basis there is no assurance that our hopes will be fulfilled. Hope is God's appointed protection for our minds, but it will not obtain for us those results which God has promised us only to faith. The key to obtaining our petition from God is to appropriate them, by faith, at the very moment we make them. Doing this sets us free from continuing struggle and anxiety and bring us into an inner rest.


The Nature of faith


Faith, as depicted in the New Testament, has two aspects. its essential nature always agrees with the definition given in Hebrews 11:1 - "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." However, this nature expresses itself in two distinct but related forms:


The nature of faith as a gift


In 1 Corinthians 12:7 - 11 Paul lists nine distinct spiritual gifts. The key word that explains the distinctive nature of these gifts is "manifestation." The Holy Spirit Himself, dwelling in a believer, is invisible. But by these gifts operating through a believer, the presence of the Holy Spirit is made manifest to human senses. In each case the results produce are within the realm of the senses; they can be seen or heard or felt.


It has often been pointed out that these nine gifts fall naturally into three groups of three:


The 3 gifts of utterance - gifts that operate through the believer's vocal organs: prophecy; tongues; and interpretation of tongues.


The 3 gifts of revelation - gifts that impart spiritual illumination: the word of wisdom; the word of knowledge; and distinguishing (discerning) of spirits.


The 3 gifts of power - gifts that demonstrate God's supernatural power in the physical realm: faith; the gifts of healing; and the effecting of miracles.


The gift of faith


The gift of faith (God's faith) distinguished from other forms of faith by the fact that it is a sovereign, supernatural manifestation of the Holy Spirit working through the believer. The two key words are sovereign and supernatural.


An example of manifestation of the gift of faith is when Jesus pronounced a curse upon a fig tree: "Let no one eat fruit from you ever again" (Mark 11:14, NKJV). The next day, as they passed the same tree, the disciples were astonished to see that, within 24 hours, it had withered from the roots up. Peter commented: "The fig tree which You cursed has withered away" (Mark 11:21).


Jesus replied, "Have faith in God" (V. 22). This is the normal English translation. However, what Jesus actually said, in its most literal form, was "Have God's faith." This brings out the special kind of faith we are speaking of here - faith as a supernatural gift. Notice that Jesu speaks not merely to the disciples then present, but extends His promise to other believers when He said: "For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, 'Be removed and be cast into the sea,' and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says" (V. 23, emphasis added). There is no restriction as to the person who speaks or the words that are spoken. All that matters is the nature of the faith - it must be God's own faith.


The nature of faith as a fruit


Paul said, "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law" (Galatians 5:22, 23, KJV, emphasis added).


The seventh form of fruit here listed is "faith." Other Bible versions offer a variety of translations - "faithfulness" (NKJV, NAS, NLT, Amplified Bible and NIV); "fidelity" (Philips) and "good faith" (Weymouth) - as far as I have come across.


Spiritual fruit differs from spiritual gifts in two main ways. First, a spiritual gift can be both imparted and received by a single, brief transaction; fruit must be cultivated by a continuing process, requiring time, skill and labor. Second, gifts are not directly related to the character of those who exercise them; fruit is an expression of character. Ideally, fruit and gifts should balance one another in a combination that glorifies God and serves humanity.


As a form of fruit, faith may be understood in two distinct but related ways - as a trust and as trustworthiness. Trust is manifested in stability, which increases as trust mature. It requires an initial act of commitment. "Entrusting" leads to "trusting."


Our trust is based on God's trustworthiness. God demonstrates His trustworthiness toward us by fulfilling His covenant commitments, which go beyond anything we can deserve or demand. In turn, it makes us the kind of people who are willing and able to enter into and maintain commitments, both with God and with one another.