But what is faith? Is it positive thinking? A feeling? One’s church
affiliation? The belief that Jesus died for your sins? Confidence? Hope?
Or is it something far more? Why do millions misunderstand this
subject? Here is the Bible answer!
The Bible states that “without faith it is impossible to please [God]” (Heb. 11:6).
This is an incredible statement—yet, it is in the Bible! Take it for
exactly what it says. Just think! Anything a person does, in attempting
to be Christian, means absolutely nothing, if he lacks faith. For without faith, he has no hope—no possibility of pleasing God. Any who are not pleasing God are Christians in vain.
That is serious! Consider yourself. Do you have real faith? Is it
sufficient for salvation? Can you know? You can! This booklet will
explain how.A Lack of Real Faith
Through the years, people have often asked, “I lack faith. I do not feel the presence of God or His power in my life. How can I have more faith?”What about you? Do you lack faith to know that God is with you? To overcome sin and guilt? To be healed of disease? To believe all things in His Word? Do you lack faith that “all things [will] work together for good” if you love God (Rom. 8:28)? To believe God will work out injustices you have received? To believe God will provide for you? To believe that you can endure severe trials and persecution? Or that God will deliver you from them? Do you lack faith to see the soon-coming kingdom of God more clearly and that you can be in it?The Bible says that you need not lack faith in any of these areas! You can develop real faith. However, the Bible says that most people, in the age preceding Christ’s Return, will not have sufficient faith to confidently claim any of these or other promises from God’s Word!Faith Found When Christ Comes?
This world is in trouble. Problems are escalating everywhere on a planet cut off from God. The Return of Christ is imminent. This event will only occur after certain catastrophic events have taken place. Wars, famines, disease epidemics, religious confusion, economic upheaval and catastrophic weather will have first rocked civilization to its foundation.When speaking of our time—the last generation before His Return—Christ asked, “When the Son of Man comes, shall He find faith on the earth?” (Luke 18:8). Think of the incredible implications of this question! Is it possible that true faith could be completely gone from earth at Christ’s Second Coming? Christ was able to look forward, into our time, and know that conditions would exist allowing this to be true—almost!An article titled “A Famine of the Word of God,” by reporter Wendy Griffith, discusses the issue of people’s ignorance of the Bible. Here is what she wrote:“It is clear that many Americans do not know their Bible, and a recent George Barna study backs up that notion.“Barna’s research showed that 60 percent of Americans cannot name half of the Ten Commandments and 63 percent can’t name the four gospels of the New Testament. Eighty-one percent believe that ‘God helps those who help themselves’ is a direct quote from the Bible . . .”What a shame! What a terrible indictment of the most blessed nation on earth. And it is the single greatest reason why so little genuine faith is to be found.
But Christ said that He would build His Church and He promised that it would never be destroyed (Matt. 16:18). His Church—God’s true Church—is where people do have true faith according to the Bible definition. Therefore, the presence of God’s true people on earth will ensure that at least a few people will be found to have faith when Christ returns. (Read our free booklet Where Is God’s Church?)Notice Galatians 5:22-23: “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.” We must establish another important point relating to the life of all true Christians. Real faith comes from the Spirit of God—it is a fruit of the Holy Spirit. No one can have it—or even be a true Christian—without God’s Spirit.But what is faith? Surely God would not state that those lacking faith cannot possibly please Him—and then withhold the real definition of faith from all who seek to know it. Before examining what the Bible says about real faith, one must examine what people think it is.
Various Counterfeits
There are several common ideas about faith. If you doubt this, then merely ask a half-dozen people to explain it—to precisely define it for you. Be prepared for just as many different ideas—probably all of them wrong.I have known many people who believed that faith is an intangible “feeling” that cannot be defined. It is often thought to be personal, mysterious and unique to each person. This feeling usually has no definition, structure, or clear purpose and, inevitably, is whatever people want or need it to be. In other words, for almost every person, there is a different description and definition of faith. It is strange how many people view faith this way, yet the Bible has never said anything of the sort.“Living by Faith”
There is an Old Testament verse that is so important that it is repeated twice in the New Testament. Habakkuk 2:4 says, “the just shall live by his faith.” This is a powerful statement about faith as a way of life! It is the faith of each person (notice the singular word “his”) that guides individuals through life. This verse is cited to show that God has always taught that His true servants must have real faith. Faith has never been merely a New Testament requirement for salvation. Some of the greatest examples of faith are found throughout the Old Testament. Actually, every one of the examples found in the “faith chapter” (Heb. 11) lived in Old Testament times. This did not keep them from being “witnesses” (12:1) to the awesome power of properly understood faith.Hebrews 10:38 (also Rom. 1:17) repeats Habakkuk almost verbatim: “Now the just shall live by faith.” Take note that the definition of faith follows immediately on the heels of this verse, in Hebrews 11:1. Again, God could not require people to live by faith and then not tell them what it is! Then, in the very same verse 38, God continues, “but if any man draw back, My soul shall have no pleasure in him.”Where faith is lacking, God is not pleased!Faith is not merely something you only exercise during life’s moments of crisis. It is not just something to consider when “things aren’t going well.” In other words, faith is not just for the “bad times”—it is full-time! Grasp this vital point. Faith is completely inseparable from the entire spiritual understanding through which you are to confront all the issues you face in the Christian “walk” (II Cor. 5:7).“Where is Your Faith?”
The books of Matthew and Luke record an important parallel account regarding faith. Christ and His disciples were in a boat when a tremendous storm arose. The disciples became terribly frightened, while Christ was “asleep.” This account reflects the dramatic difference between the faith that Christ had and the FEAR that governs the thinking of most human beings. Notice that the accounts records that they “awoke Him, saying, Lord, save us: we perish” (Matt. 8:25). The disciples actually thought they were about to die. They lacked even basic human confidence that, with Christ in the boat, this could not happen.If you've lacked faith and want God to restore the Spirit of Faith in you pray the following prayer points:
PRAYER POINTS
(say each of the following 3 times each, then begin to pray)
1.John 8:32,36
The
truth of God’s Word is the “buckle” my life is fastened with, I shall
walk and live by faith (Hab 2:4) in the name of Jesus Christ.
2Romans 10:9-11 . I confess with my mouth that my faith is growing and grounded and every word of God is true. Every dead situation in my life will live again…In the
3.Ephesians 2:8-9 I am saved and sanctified through the gift of
God’s Word. My life is changing,
by faith I will accomplish/own/possess what God has promised me…In..
4.Rom. 12:21. I am not conformed to this world my mind is transformed,
renewed, I will
experience change, blessing, deliverance, victory, peace and power…In the.
5. Mark 9:23 Today
I activate my faith, all things are possible to me…
6. Say 12 times: The blessings of Abraham embrace my life today
through Jesus Christ.
I receive every promise of God through faith. I am an heir to the promises of
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