The word 'faith' is a word that encompasses a lot of different meanings among believers. It stems from various reasons, namely the NT uses the word extensively and in many different ways. What I would like to do, is nail down some fundamental definitions of the word, so that we may better understand it, and how it can enhance our relationship with God and our brothers and sisters. First lets deal with what faith is not.
Faith is not our denomination. Baptist is not faith, Assembly of God is not faith, Presbyterian is not faith, Methodist is not faith. Faith cannot be lowered to this definition.
Faith is not belief. Belief is necessary for faith to be active and living, but it is not faith by itself.
Okay let's get into what faith is.
I think in light of the question that Jesus asked in LK 18:8 (....However, when the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on the earth?") I think that it would be a good idea to find out just what it was that He meant. He obviously knew the answer to His own question therefore the question is for our benefit not His.
I will attempt to show you that living faith can be broken down into 3 parts, and if any of these parts are absent then that faith is dead. The first part is the revelation of truth. This is the part that is up to God. We do not posses the ability to reveal truth to our selves, it must be done by God.
STEP ONE
Revelation knowledge is the first element that is needed. Without it there is nothing to believe. Revelation knowledge is a truth revealed to you by the Holy Spirit. You received revelation knowledge when you first believed. When you first believed, God revealed Himself to you and in light of who He is you seen how inadequate you were. As a result you believed in the sacrifice that was offered to cleanse you of all your sin.
How can we believe lest we have something to believe in? How can we posses knowledge that is spiritual in nature with out the Spirit of God giving us this knowledge? It is fundamentally necessary to have revelation knowledge before faith can be faith.
1 Corinthians 2:3-5 So when I came to you, I was weak and fearful and trembling. My teaching and preaching were not with words of human wisdom that persuade people but with proof of the power that the Spirit gives. This was so that your faith would be in God's power and not in human wisdom.
We can see by the above verses that Paul relied upon the Holy Spirit to reveal the truth. He just spoke the words, with out the life giving work of the Spirit those words mean nothing. So whether the Holy Spirit speaks revelation knowledge to you directly, or you hear it through someone speaking the words, it is the Spirit that is communicating the truth to your spirit.
1 Corinthians 3:5 Is Apollos important? No! Is Paul important? No! We are only servants of God who helped you believe. Each one of us did the work God gave us to do. 6 I planted the seed, and Apollos watered it. But God is the One who made it grow. 7 So the one who plants is not important, and the one who waters is not important. Only God, who makes things grow, is important. 8 The one who plants and the one who waters have the same purpose, and each will be rewarded for his own work.
You see that it is not the minister that is anything, all he does is speak the words that he feels God is telling him to speak. It is God that causes the growth, it is God that reveals those words as truth to your spirit!
Let's look at some examples of faith.
Hebrews 11:7 It was by faith that NOAH HEARD GOD'S warnings about things he could not yet see. He obeyed God and built a large boat to save his family. By his faith, Noah showed that the world was wrong, and he became one of those who are made right with God through faith.
From this we can see that Noah heard God. That is revelation knowledge.
Hebrews 11:8 It was by faith Abraham obeyed God's call to go to another place GOD PROMISED to give him. He left his own country, not knowing where he was to go.
Again Abraham heard God, another example of revelation knowledge. We could go on but I think you can see that the first step in faith is revelation knowledge. Since faith starts by God revealing something to you, then the initiation of faith is not something that you can control, in fact you are at the complete submission of the Holy Spirit.
Hebrews 12:2 Let us look only to Jesus, the One who began our faith and who makes it perfect. He suffered death on the cross. But he accepted the shame as if it were nothing because of the joy that God put before him. And now he is sitting at the right side of God's throne.
Faith is not initiated of yourselves. You can not work it up like an emotion. It has to be given by God. Jesus is it's author and perfecter in our lives. Therefore it is out of your hands as far as the initiation of faith. The thing in which you are to believe must be given by God. So we can determine from this that without God giving revelation knowledge, faith cannot exist in us at all.
STEP TWO
The second part of faith is our part, that is belief, or acceptance. Let's go through this again. First God reveals truth to you (part 1), you believe or accept this truth (part 2). Faith is something to be obeyed, therefore it must be something revealed to us (truth, knowledge, information) that requires obedience.
Abraham believed God, that was something that Abraham did. He accepted the revealed truth that was given to him by God. Belief IS NOT A WORK on mans' part as we can see from the following verses.
Romans 4:1-5 So what can we say that Abraham, the father of our people, learned about faith? If Abraham was made right by the things he did, he had a reason to brag. But this is not God's view, because the Scripture says, "ABRAHAM BELIEVED GOD, AND GOD ACCEPTED ABRAHAM'S FAITH, and that faith made him right with God." When people work, their pay is not given as a gift, but as something earned. BUT PEOPLE CANNOT DO ANY WORK THAT WILL MAKE THEM RIGHT WITH GOD. So they must trust in him, who makes even evil people right in his sight. Then God accepts their faith, and that makes them right with him.
"Abraham believed God", That was a mental action by Abraham. It was not a work. We know that we are saved by grace through faith, and that it is the gift of God, not by works. As we seen in the previous verse, belief is not a work,... yet it is a mental action on our part. How can we reconcile this?
This is how we can say that belief is not a work here. WITHOUT THE REVEALED KNOWLEDGE, (GOD'S PART) WE COULD NOT BELIEVE. We would have nothing to believe in, therefore it is not considered a work on our part for with out God initiating faith there would be nothing to believe.
Now let's look at those same examples again.
Hebrews 11:7 It was by faith that Noah heard God's warnings about things he could not yet see. HE OBEYED GOD and built a large boat to save his family. By his faith, Noah showed that the world was wrong, and he became one of those who are made right with God through faith.
Now let's shift the emphasis from hearing God to obeying God. What must happen before you obey God? Isn't it necessary that you believe first? If we believe in God... then we must trust God or else we would not believe.
So because we trust God, we believe.
Hebrews 11:8 It was by faith ABRAHAM OBEYED GOD'S call to go to another place God promised to give him. He left his own country, not knowing where he was to go. Again Abraham believed what God told him to do.
Romans 4:11 Abraham was circumcised to show that he was right with God through faith before he was circumcised. So Abraham is the father of all those who believe but are not circumcised; he is the father of all believers who are accepted as being right with God.
Paul was trying to convey to the Romans that circumcision was meaningless to them. For we are not heirs of circumcision, but we are heirs of faith. This was so because God declared Abraham righteous before he was circumcised. Why? Because he believed God. FAITH COMES ALIVE WHEN WE BELIEVE IT.
Romans 4:19 And Abraham's faith did not weaken, even though he knew that he was too old to be a father at the age of one hundred and that Sarah, his wife, had never been able to have children. 20 Abraham never wavered in believing God's promise. In fact, his faith grew stronger, and in this he brought glory to God. 21 He was absolutely convinced that God was able to do anything he promised. 22 And because of Abraham's faith, God declared him to be righteous.
Wow! This is exactly what faith is. We are so convinced that God will do what He says that we waver not in believing. Belief being the second part of faith IS our part, we know this because we see instances of unbelief at the words of God.
1 Timothy 4:1 Now the Holy Spirit clearly says that in the later times some people will stop believing the faith. They will follow spirits that lie and teachings of demons. 2 Such teachings come from the false words of liars whose consciences are destroyed as if by a hot iron.
Some will stop believing the faith.
Some will stop believing the revealed truth given by God.
Some will stop believing revelation knowledge. By doing so they make living faith dead. They destroy the work of the Holy Spirit in their life.
1 Timothy 5:8 Whoever does not care for his own relatives, especially his own family members, has turned against the faith and is worse than someone who does not believe in God.
Again we see that some can turn from faith. So we know by this that it is our part in faith to believe the Holy Spirit as He reveals truth to us.
I want to encourage you to look deep inside of your self. What is it that you believe? Do you really believe in God? If you do, then do you know who God is? If you do then you know that God in absolutely, infinitely trustworthy! There is not a SINGLE FLAW in His character. HE IS PERFECT! HE IS ALL KNOWING! HE IS LOVE! Since we know that this is who God is, then we should have no trouble believing and trusting Him.
STEP THREE
The last part is a natural result of the first two -- (Gods' part) revealed truth -- (mans' part) believe that truth -- (natural result) act upon that belief.
James 2:17 In the same way, faith that is alone—that does nothing—is dead.
I might also add that works without faith is also dead. That is why it is important to have a working relationship with your Father so that you know what His will is for your life. When you think of God's plan, keep in the back of your mind that it is for a single purpose, that is to put you in a right relationship with the Creator.
The works (step 3) portion of faith is necessary to qualify your belief (step 2) in the truth revealed to you. (step 1)
James 2:21 Abraham, our ancestor, was made right with God by what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar. 22 So you see that Abraham's faith and the things he did worked together. His faith was made perfect by what he did. 23 This shows the full meaning of the Scripture that says: "Abraham believed God, and God accepted Abraham's faith, and that faith made him right with God." And Abraham was called God's friend.
You see how James says that faith and what was done worked together? The works are a natural result of the belief. If the deeds were not there, then the faith is dead because it is alone, it was not accompanied by belief, if it were then the deeds would have proven it.
So we have the three steps that are necessary for living faith, they are:
1. REVELATION KNOWLEDGE
2. BELIEF
3. DEEDS
Revelation knowledge, God's part, is necessary to initiate faith. Belief, man's part, is necessary to activate faith. Deeds, natural result, is necessary to qualify faith.
Mark Shaw © 1999
