WHAT IS FAITH? (1)

WHAT IS FAITH? (1)

Many people are not experiencing the manifestations of the promises of God in their lives today because they are ignorant of the only way to receive anything from God – FAITH!

So, today, we are going to look at the meaning of FAITH. To experience the manifestation of the promises of God in any area of your life, you MUST have faith in God (Mk. 11:12-14, 19-22). Faith in God is faith in His Word.

To emphasize the importance of faith, the Bible repeatedly said, “…the just shall live by faith…” (Gal. 3:11).

Apostle Paul repeated this in Romans 1:17 saying, “…the just shall live by faith.”

By whose faith should the just live? Habakkuk 2:4 says, “...the just shall live by his faith.”

Why? “…for it is by your own faith that you stand firm” (1 Cor. 1:24b).

When will the just live by faith? Now! Hebrews 10:38 says, “Now the just shall live by faith…”

Why must the righteous live by faith? Because without faith you cannot please God.

In Hebrews 11:6 the Bible says, “Because without faith it is impossible to please Him...” 

Faith is the currency of the Kingdom of God. Faith is the victory that overcomes the world (1 Jn. 5:4).

Faith is the most potent force in the universe. How? because faith confers divinity on humanity. In Mark 9:23 Jesus said, “If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth.”

So, faith empowers you to operate in the very class of God. In other words, “Faith empowers you to handle what only God can handle.”

Here is the point: God has made all spiritual blessings in heavenly places (all things that pertain to life and godliness), available to all His children by grace (Eph. 1:3; 2 Pet. 1:3). 

The question is: How can one access the provisions God has already made available to us by His grace. These provisions can be accessed only by grace. And grace can be accessed only by faith. It takes FAITH to lay hold on what grace has made available to us.

Ephesians 2:8-9 says, “For by grace are ye saved (delivered, promoted, healed, made successful etc.) through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: 9 Not of works, lest any man should boast.”

What then is FAITH? 

1. Faith is simply taking God at His Word. And the promises of God are Yea and Amen. That is to say that the promises of God are “Yes! It is true!” (2 Cor. 1:18-20; Num. 23:19)

2. Faith is not just a mere biblical principle, faith is our only access to the power of God. When faith is at work, power is released direct from Jesus, and this power destroys yokes and brings about positive changes in the life of the recipient. So, faith draws on the power of God to destroy the yokes of bondage in your life.

Example is the case of the woman with the issue of blood. Jesus said to the woman, “Thy faith has drawn power from Me, and that power has made thee whole, that power has destroyed the yoke of bondage in your life” (Mk. 5:25-34).

3. Faith empowers you to command results. Every time your faith comes alive, power flows from Christ to make you whole. For instance, when Paul perceived that the cripple in Lystra had gotten the faith to be healed, he said to him, “Stand upright on thy feet. And he leaped and walked” (Acts 14:7-11).

4. Faith is not a story. Faith is a mystery of the Kingdom (1 Tim. 3:9).

5. Faith is not hope. As long as you are only hoping, you won’t receive anything from God because you receive from Him by faith only, not by hope. For instance: If you say, “I am believing” God for my healing, you will not receive any healing from God because you are still putting it in the future and that is hope. Your statement should be, “I believe” God for my healing, and I receive it right now, IJN.

The only type of faith that receives from God is the Bible-kind of faith. This type of faith believes God and acts on what it believes.

Jesus said, “What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, BELIEVE (not keep believing) that ye receive them, and ye shall have them” (Mk. 11:24).

How do you know whether you really believe God or you are just hoping? Hope is always future tense, because hope always looks to the future, but believing (faith) is ‘now’ (present tense).

Because faith is present tense, you must get your believing in the present tense for things to work for you. The promise of God will not work for you until you get it in the right tense.

As long as you are hoping to receive healing, for example, and you believe you are going to get it sometime in the future, you are not in faith, because this is hope and not faith. 

If you are seeking healing, it is not in the future that you want to be healed. You want to be healed right now – that is the Bible-kind of FAITH.

As long as you put off believing, the blessing will be in the future, and will stay in the future until you believe. But now is when you want whatever God has promised you in His Word.  

6. Faith is believing God for what He has said in His Word. Faith is strictly based on the Word of God and not on philosophies, personal opinions, or whatsoever your five senses are telling you (2 Chron. 20:20; Isa. 7:9). 

7. Faith is cooperating with God. God can’t help you if you won’t cooperate with Him. 

For instance, if you have withered hands and Jesus instructs you to stretch forth your hands, it is your responsibility to cooperate with God by obeying the instruction no matter how impossible your situation looks.

And looking round about upon them all, Jesus said unto the man that had withered hand, “Stretch forth thy hand. And he did so: and his hand was restored whole as the other” (Lk. 6:10).

8. Faith is of the heart (spirit man), not of the head (intellect). Many people mentally agree that the Word of God is true, but they don’t believe it in their heart (spirit-man).

How can you tell whether you are really believing in your heart or just mentally agreeing that the Word of God is so? If you are only mentally agreeing, you will say that you believe that the promise of God is true, but you don’t believe it is true for you. True Bible faith is acting promptly on the Word of God you claim to believe.

9. Faith is acting out the Word of God you believe. If you really have faith, you’ll add action to what you claim to have confidence in. 

Faith is the practical expression of your confidence in God and in His Word. 

For instance, Peter demonstrated his practical and total confidence in Christ by walking on water at Jesus’ command.

In Matthew 14:28-29, Peter answered Him and said, “Lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto thee on the water. 29 And Jesus said, COME. And when Peter came down out of the ship, he walked on the water, to go to Jesus.”

If you really believe God, you will promptly act on whatsoever He instructs you to do.

10. Faith is an action. Faith is acting like God’s Word is true. “For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also” (Jam. 2:26).

11. Faith is active. For instance, if you really need a breakthrough in your finances, and you are just waiting for something to turn up, nothing will show up but more bills to pay! But if you would just act on Luke 6:38, 2 Corinthians 9:6-7, Malachi 3:10, Proverbs 3:9, an encouraging harvest will surely show up in your finances.

12. Faith for anything you desire in life will only begin when you get a Word from the Lord concerning that very need. When you get that promise from the Scriptures, then you can boldly say, “Thus saith the LORD…” For instance, David got a Word from the LORD concerning Ziklag (1 Sam. 30:1-8).

13. Real Bible faith is faith in the love of God. Here is the truth: If you ever doubt God’s love for you, you’ll also doubt God’s Word to you. Realize that God the Father loved you even before you became a Christian (Jn 3:16). Nothing can separate us from the love of God (Rom. 8:37-39).

The Bible tells us how to put our faith into action. You put your faith into action by confessing what you believe. Faith can’t be released out of your heart towards God without your saying what you believe. Faith that is only in your heart will never bring any healing to your body. But faith in your heart released through your lips will give you the miracle you desire. 

“For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation” (Rom. 10:10).

In Mark 11:23 Jesus said, “That whosoever shall SAY (not pray) unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith.”

By faith you can receive right now the breakthrough God has promised you in His Word. I therefore, challenge you to believe and act on God’s Word today and you will be a recipient of your expected breakthrough.

Watch out for the next edition of Good News from the Pulpit!

• Your friend: I. I. MADUBUNYI (Senior Pastor) April 3^rd, 2022!