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THE FAITH OF GOD |
Faith- What is it?
To review and to sum things up:
1. Faith is a gift of God: 1 Cor. 12:9;
Rom. 12:3; Eph. 2:8.
It is not our Faith but God's Faith.
The faith of
God
(Mar
11:22) And answering Jesus said to them,
Have the faith of God.
(Act
3:16) And His name, through faith in His
name, has made this man strong, this one whom you see and know, His name made
firm. And the faith which came through Him has given him this perfect
soundness before you.
(Act
6:7) And the Word of God was increasing.
And the number of the disciples in Jerusalem was multiplying exceedingly; even
a great crowd of the priests obeyed the faith.
(Act
13:8) But Elymas the conjurer (for so
his name is, if translated) withstood them, seeking to turn the proconsul away
from the faith.
(Act
14:22) confirming the souls of the
disciples, calling on them to continue in the faith and that through
much tribulation we must enter into the kingdom of God.
(Act
16:5) Then indeed the churches were
established in the faith and increased in number daily.
(Act
24:24) Then after certain days, when
Felix came with his wife Drusilla, who was a Jewess, he sent for Paul and heard
him concerning the faith in Christ.
(Rom
1:5) by whom we have received grace and
apostleship, to obedience to the faith among all nations, for His name;
(Rom
3:3) For what? If some did not believe,
will not their unbelief nullify the faith of God?
(Rom
4:11) And he received a sign of
circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith while still
uncircumcised; so that he might be the father of all those believing
through uncircumcision, for righteousness to be imputed to them also;
(1Co
16:13) Watch! Stand fast in the
faith! Be men! Be strong!
(2Co
13:5) examine yourselves, whether you
are in the faith, prove your own selves. Do you not know your own selves,
that Jesus Christ is in you, unless you are reprobates?
(Gal
1:23) But only they were hearing that he
who then persecuted us, now preaches the faith which he once ravaged.
(Gal
2:16) knowing that a man is not
justified by works of the Law, but through faith in Jesus Christ; even
we believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith in
Christ, and not by works of the Law. For all flesh will not be justified by
works of law.
(Gal
2:20) I have been crucified with Christ,
and I live; yet no longer I, but Christ lives in me. And that
life I now live in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God, who
loved me and gave Himself on my behalf.
(Gal
3:23) But before faith came, we were
kept under Law, having been shut up to the faith about to be revealed.
(Eph 3:12)
in whom we have boldness and access with confidence through His faith.
Again Mark 11: 22-26 So Jesus answered and said to them, “Have faith in God.(Exegesis
Bible literal translation) Have the faith of God. 23“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. 24“Therefore I say to
you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them,
and you will have them.25“And whenever you stand praying, if
you have anything against anyone, forgive him, that your Father in heaven may
also forgive you your trespasses. 26“But if you do not forgive,
neither will your Father in heaven forgive your trespasses.”
Let's break this down:
1.
This is God's kind of faith (when do you receive it?)
(Rom 12:3) For I say,
through the grace given to me, to everyone who is among you, not to think of
himself more highly than he ought to think. But set your mind to be
right-minded, even as God has dealt to every man the measure of faith.
(before you were saved)
2. Faith involves
speaking
3. Faith involves
believing in your heart
4. Faith involves
believing you receive (now)
5. Faith works with
forgiveness, unforgiveness faith doesn't work
6. Faith involves doing, (faith without works is dead), being a
doer of the word. (faith with corresponding action)
(Jas 2:18) But someone will
say, You have faith, and I have works. Show me your faith without your works,
and I will show you my faith from my works.
Can you grow in faith? Yes in your soulish realm/renewing your
mind.
We are moving from FAITH TO FAITH, from
FOUNDATIONAL FAITH to
FINISHING FAITH. Ever Increasing Faith.
FOUNDATIONAL FAITH is found in Hebrews 11.
It is vital and without
option. It is man's faith in God. It is
"first principles" faith-"faith
toward (upon) God." It is INDIVIDUAL
faith that meets our needs in
five basic areas:
Again:
- We are justified by the
faith of God (Rom. 5:1; Gal. 2:16)
- I live by the faith
of Jesus Christ ( Gal. 2:20)
- Our hearts are circumcised in water
baptism by faith (Col. 2:11-12).
- We are filled with
the Holy Ghost by faith (Gal. 3:1-5).
- We are healed by
faith (1 Pet. 2:24).
- Our financial needs
are met by faith (Phil. 4:19).
FINISHING FAITH is found in Hebrews 12.
Jesus Christ is the Author
and the Finisher of our faith. Finishing
faith is God's faith in
Himself in and through a Corporate Man.
This is the faith of God (Mk. 11:22)
for these end-times (Lk. 18:1,8). This is
faith for creation and for
the nations. This mature faith is needed
to bring many sons to glory, to make disciples of all men. It is not just faith
for us or for stuff, but faith to do the greater works.
Be encouraged! The One who brought us out
will bring us in (Deut.
6:23 with Psa. 138:8; Jer. 29:11; Phil.
1:6).
"The hands of Zerubbabel (a type of
Jesus the Messiah) have laid the
foundation of this house; his hands shall
also finish it..." (Zech. 4:9).
2. Faith is sent by God's word to those
who hear: Rom. 10:17; Faith comes by
hearing and hearing by the word of God.Prov. 20:12.
You cannot always look to the faith of the
minister or to the one who prays instead of getting and exercising personal
faith. The gospel is personal. Personal faith comes by hearing the Word of God (Romans
10:17) and by the Holy Spirit (I Corinthians 12:4-11).Nothing is impossible for
faith today as in the days of old.(Matthew 17:20;Mark 9:23)
3. Where is faith? Faith is IN Christ and
Christ is IN us (Col. 1:27).
4. Only God's faith will accomplish the
job: Mark 11:22; Rom. 3:22; Rev. 14:12; Gal. 2:20.
5. One needs faith to please and come to
God: Heb. 11:6; Eph. 3:12; Gal. 5:6.
6.
As we said Faith is necessary to be:
a. justified - Rom. 5:1; Gal. 2:16;
3:6-9,24.
b. healed - Matt. 9:22; Mark 5:34; Luke
8:48; 17:19; Acts 14:9.
c. sanctified - Acts 26:18.
d. purified - Acts 15:9
e. saved - Eph. 2:8; 2 Tim. 3:15; John
3:16; Acts 16:31.
f. established - Isaiah 7:9; 2 Chron.
20:20; Col. 2:7; Jude 20.
g. reception of the baptism of the Holy Spirit
h. to operate in the gifts
i. to appropriate all of God's promises
The standard is in Rom. 10: 8-19 (Rom 10:9-10) Because if you confess the Lord Jesus, and
believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you shall
be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and
with the mouth one confesses unto salvation.
6. Faith is reality: Hebrews 11:1.
7. Faith operates by love: Galatians 5:6.
"For whatsoever is born of God
overcomes the world; and this is the victory that overcomes the world, even our
faith” (1 John 5:4).
8. Faith is
not just to get things.
We cannot just look to God for our benefit
and future blessings. That is man-centered. We have already been blessed. We
have already been given all things that pertain to life and godliness. It is not just what God can do for us, but
what he will do by, in, and through us and as us to arrive at His eternal
purposes.
The word “amen” is a most remarkable word.
It was transliterated directly from the Hebrew into the Greek of the New
Testament, then into Latin and into English and many other languages, so that
it is practically a universal word. It has been called the best known word in
human speech. The word is directly related -- in fact, almost identical -- to
the Hebrew word for “believe” (amam), or faithful. Thus, it came to mean “sure”
or “truly”, an expression of absolute trust and confidence.
In other words when we say Amen, we are
saying I have faith in what has been said.
Confidence is simple living in faith:
1 John 5: 14 Now this is the confidence
that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears
us. 15And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have
the petitions that we have asked of Him
CONTINUED IN PART 2