By Faith

Popular theology uses carnal stimuli ("bodily effects") to validate the presence of God or their love of God. They walk by their feelings and past experiences (mysticism); that is, they walk by flesh (sight) not by faith: "Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God" (Romans 8:7-8). In the Garden of Eden, we see the transition from walking by faith to walking by sight (2 Corinthians 5:7) occurring after sin entered in:

And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed. (Genesis 2:25)

And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat. And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons. (Genesis 3:6-7)

Walking by sight, or falling for the temptation of a spirit of pornography, is equivalent to walking in the light of darkness: in the darkness we have to rely on our senses to find a path—albeit crooked. "The way of peace they know not; and there is no judgment in their goings: they have made them crooked paths: whosoever goeth therein shall not know peace" (Isaiah 59:8). In the darkness we grope about, feeling about for something familiar: "for he that walketh in darkness knoweth not whither he goeth" (John 12:35). "But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness" (Matthew 6:23)! "Take heed therefore that the light which is in thee be not darkness" (Luke 11:35) for "God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth: But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin" (1 John 1:5-7). In short, are we living to please God or are we still living to please ourselves? The test of faith is simply, do you believe God? Not, do you believe in your belief about God? Faith is a decision to believe God and trust him and his Word no matter what; therefore, "Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths" (Proverbs 3:5-6). Faith stands strong through tribulation, affliction and persecution without offence (Matthew 13:21; Mark 4:17); because, faith believes "that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him" (Hebrews 11:6) and faith "is the victory that overcometh the world" (1 John 5:4). Faith keeps "the care of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches" from becoming an idol (Matthew 13:22; Mark 4:18-19) and thereby suppressing or annihilating righteousness: obedience to the Word of God through faith. Either we believe that God is who he says he is in his Word or we embrace unbelief and doubt. Do we really believe in God to be all powerful (omnipotent), all knowing (omniscient), and everywhere (omnipresent)? If not, "take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God" (Hebrews 3:12).

Faith is the evidence of our hope—our trust—in God: "Blessed is the man that trusteth in the LORD, and whose hope the LORD is" (Jeremiah 17:7). "For we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for" (Romans 8:24)? "When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory" (Colossians 3:4) "if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm unto the end" (Hebrews 3:6). Thus, be like Abraham for "He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God; And being fully persuaded that, what he had promised, he was able also to perform" (Romans 4:20-21). Are you fully persuaded? Yes? Great! Then "be not slothful, but followers of them who through faith and patience inherit the promises" (Hebrews 6:12) and "Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God" (2 Corinthians 7:1).

For when God made promise to Abraham, because he could swear by no greater, he sware by himself, Saying, Surely blessing I will bless thee, and multiplying I will multiply thee. And so, after he had patiently endured, he obtained the promise. For men verily swear by the greater: and an oath for confirmation is to them an end of all strife. Wherein God, willing more abundantly to shew unto the heirs of promise the immutability of his counsel, confirmed it by an oath: That by two immutable things [(Numbers 23:19)], in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us: Which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and stedfast, and which entereth into that within the veil; Whither the forerunner is for us entered, even Jesus, made an high priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec. (Hebrews 6:13-20)

Faith does not come by adding the phrase "by faith" to the end of our wishes. The purpose of faith is to please God and not yourself or others. Faith is actionable belief, without doubt, in God and his Word. So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing comes by daily and diligent study of, belief in, and obedience to the Word of God, by which Jesus (the preacher) speaks to you and of which the Holy Ghost will bring to your remembrance. "This is my beloved Son: hear him" (Mark 9:7). This command, of course, is not referring to physical hearing (see "In the Spirit"). "God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth" (John 4:24); hence, we worship God through his Word which is spirit and is truth (John 6:63; John 17:17), and through his Spirit—the Holy Ghost—which is the Spirit of Truth. The two witnesses of the Word of God written in our hearts along with the indwelling of the Spirit of Truth establish the Word—Jesus Christ—in our hearts (2 Corinthians 13:1) and is the process by which we are "conformed to the image of his Son" (Romans 8:29). Oswald Chambers puts it this way,

Faith in antagonism to common sense is fanaticism, and common sense in antagonism to faith is rationalism. The life of faith brings the two into a right relation. Common sense is not faith, and faith is not common sense; they stand in the relation of the natural and the spiritual; of impulse and inspiration. Nothing Jesus Christ ever said is common sense, it is revelation sense, and it reaches the shores where common sense fails. Faith must be tried before the reality of faith is actual. "We know that all things work together for good," then no matter what happens, the alchemy of God's providence transfigures the ideal faith into actual reality. Faith always works on the personal line, the whole purpose of God being to see that the ideal faith is made real in His children.¹⁰¹

The Word of God is truth. I learn how to detect (discern) evil by studying, believing and living the truth daily. As I continue daily to replace all the false knowledge and thinking in my mind and heart with the truth, the daily use exercises my spiritual senses and builds up my spiritual muscles. "But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil" (Hebrews 5:14). When we have faith, which is based on the Word of God, we act on that faith—obedience; because, we believe that the Word spoken by Jesus to us when we study "shall prosper in the thing whereto" (Isaiah 55:11) God sent it. Faith without obedience (works) is not faith. "And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say" (Luke 6:46)? "What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works? can faith save him? ... For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also" (James 2:14, 26). The areas of our lives in which we do not act on, that is, obey God's Word, are areas that are not sanctified: not purged through wisdom and righteousness.

It is essential to give people a chance of acting on the truth of God. The responsibility must be left with the individual, you cannot act for him, it must be his own deliberate act, but the evangelical message ought always to lead a man to act. The paralysis of refusing to act leaves a man exactly where he was before; when once he acts, he is never the same. It is the foolishness of it that stands in the way of hundreds who have been convicted by the Spirit of God. Immediately I precipitate myself over into an act, that second I live; all the rest is existence. The moments when I truly live are the moments when I act with my whole will.¹⁰²

Through the power of his faith in Jesus, Peter acted on his faith—he obeyed the voice of the Lord—and did the impossible: "And Peter answered him and said, Lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto thee on the water. And he said, Come. And when Peter was come down out of the ship, he walked on the water, to go to Jesus" (Matthew 14:28-29). The impossible becomes possible when I have faith in God: "The things which are impossible with men are possible with God" (Luke 18:27). When just a little doubt, however, is allowed to creep in, the possible immediately returns to being impossible: "But when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me. And immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand, and caught him" (Matthew 14:30-31). Do you believe in God and have you diligently sought to know him intimately through his Word—do you "hunger and thirst after righteousness" (Matthew 5:6)? For "this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent" (John 17:3). Has the trial of your faith caused you to turn away from the Lord as did so many disciples during Jesus' earthly ministry (John 6:66)? Be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might "though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations: That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ" (1 Peter 1:6-7).

Faith is Now

Popular theology teaches that "now faith" or "faith is" means "faith is now." That is, they define faith as believing you have some temporal thing of the world before you actually have it. This is erroneous. "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen" (Hebrews 11:1). The object of faith, "things hoped for," is God himself, through Jesus and his Spirit—"things not seen," not temporal, worldly things. Therefore in this sense only, faith is now; that is, you either believe God or not. Faith is not based on what God gives or doesn't give us of the world; it is based solely on believing God. Notice the prerequisite stated to have "what things soever ye desire" in the following: "And Jesus answering saith unto them, Have faith in God. For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say 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. Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them" (Mark 11:22-24). The prerequisite is "Have faith in God." An example will further amplify this point. Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, better known as Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, placed their faith in God—in God who is able; not in God's action—"he will deliver us"—or in God's inaction—"if not."

Now if ye be ready that at what time ye hear the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery, and dulcimer, and all kinds of musick, ye fall down and worship the image which I have made; well: but if ye worship not, ye shall be cast the same hour into the midst of a burning fiery furnace; and who is that God that shall deliver you out of my hands? Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, answered and said to the king, O Nebuchadnezzar, we are not careful to answer thee in this matter. If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of thine hand, O king. But if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up. (Daniel 3:15-18)

We have to focus on God himself not his promises. His promises often do not specify when they will occur; therefore, we may make ourselves sick hoping for something that is not destined to happen until another time. "To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven" (Ecclesiastes 3:1); thus, "a wise man's heart discerneth both time and judgment" (Ecclesiastes 8:5). "Belief must be the will to believe" states Oswald Chambers; and he adds, "There must be a surrender of the will, not a surrender to persuasive power, a deliberate launching forth on God and on what He says until I am no longer confident in what I have done, I am confident only in God. The hindrance is that I will not trust God, but only my mental understanding. As far as feelings go, I must stake all blindly. I must will to believe, and this can never be done without a violent effort on my part to disassociate myself from my old ways of looking at things, and by putting myself right over on to Him."¹⁰³ The oft-touted phrase, "Believe and Receive" works only when the "IFs" are satisfied. All promises of God come with one or more "IFs"; for example:

Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people: for all the earth is mine: And ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation. These are the words which thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel. (Exodus 19:5-6)

If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you. (John 15:7)

God sets a condition that has to be met in order to receive whatsoever we desire: whatsoever we desire must align with his will. His will is defined in his Word and orchestrated by the Holy Ghost: his will is that we choose life—him—and do those things—seek and obey him—to retain life. "I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live: That thou mayest love the LORD thy God, and that thou mayest obey his voice, and that thou mayest cleave unto him: for he is thy life, and the length of thy days: that thou mayest dwell in the land which the LORD sware unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them" (Deuteronomy 30:19-20). We must know his will and do—obey—his will. Those that both know and do his will are those that are led by the Spirit of God (see "In the Spirit"). For "Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven" (Matthew 7:21). Therefore, we seek God for himself and trust in his promises: "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ" (Ephesians 1:3). In addition, "seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these [temporal] things shall be added unto you. Take therefore no thought" (Matthew 6:33-34) of these temporal things.

Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money; come ye, buy, and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. Wherefore do ye spend money for that which is not bread? and your labour for that which satisfieth not? hearken diligently unto me, and eat ye that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness. Incline your ear, and come unto me: hear, and your soul shall live; and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure mercies of David. (Isaiah 55:1-3)

Moreover, it is misleading to teach that the Lord is subject to time; after all, by the word of his power the Lord "calleth those things which be not as though they were" (Romans 4:17). In addition, he is God, and there is none like him, "Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure" (Isaiah 46:10). The Word of God is spirit, and as such, it is not subject to the physical restraints of space and time. "It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life" (John 6:63). The "now" in Hebrews 11:1 is simply a transition from Hebrews 10:39 that defines faith as unwavering belief in God's Word. The same transition is used in Hebrews 10:38 from Hebrews 10:35-37 that defines "the just."

Cast not away therefore your confidence, which hath great recompense of reward. For ye have need of patience, that, after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise. For yet a little while, and he that shall come will come, and will not tarry. Now the just shall live by faith: but if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him. But we are not of them who draw back unto perdition; but of them that believe to the saving of the soul. (Hebrews 10:35-39)

Again, faith is actionable belief in God and his Word. The minimal action we should all take to express our belief (faith) is obedience to the Word of God. "And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say" (Luke 6:46)? This is further expressed in Proverbs Chapter 3: "Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths" (Proverbs 3:5-6). Thus, "To turn head faith into a personal possession is a fight always, not sometimes. God brings us into circumstances in order to educate our faith, because the nature of faith is to make its object real. Until we know Jesus, God is a mere abstraction, we cannot have faith in Him; but immediately we hear Jesus say—'He that hath seen Me hath seen the Father,' we have something that is real, and faith is boundless. Faith is the whole man rightly related to God by the power of the Spirit of Jesus Christ."¹⁰¹

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