CHAPTER TWO

Jesus Christ is the author and finisher of our faith, according to the Scripture. He has authored for us a faith against which satan has no recourse! Satan CANNOT keep you from getting your request from God if you hold fast to your confession of faith. Do not doubt in your heart that you get it. Constantly build up your faith. BELIEVE that you receive what you have asked for until it materializes. This DOES NOT suggest, for instance, that a sick person should quit taking prescribed medicine to PROVE to God that he believes. Rather, in every circumstance, he is assured by God's Word that by the stripes of Jesus Christ, he IS healed. A doctor can then affirm the healing. Biblical faith will work for you, if you exercise it according to the Scripture. "But you, beloved,building up yourselves on your most holy faith..." (Jude 20).

God's Word, the Bible, is the WRITTEN FORM of faith, because it is what He has said. It is actually called the word of faith in Romans 10:8. When we take His Word into our heart, it becomes the FIRST evidence and it becomes the FIRST substance of what we hope for. Believing the facts that are revealed in God's promises, causes their unseen substances to become demonstrated to us. They become OURS! Such "faith activity" will work for you. Just remember to ask according to God's Word, the Bible.

Each of us must learn to use our faith for ourself. No one but you can have faith for you. And we CANNOT do the believing that others must do for themselves. The Scripture teaches that every man shall bear his own burden. Yet, often we can HELP others to use their faith by sharing God's Word with them. Jesus taught in Matthew 18:19 that agreement with other believers is also an advantage that brings results.

Romans 12:3 shows that God has given to every believer a measure of faith. Hebrews 4:1-2 shows that we are to mix God's Word with that faith in our heart. Then we shall obtain the results which He has promised. "For with the heart man believes unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation" (Romans 10:10).

At first, for some new believers, Biblical faith seems to be very mysterious. The reason is usually because new believers are unacquainted with God's Word. They understand very little about the Divine scheme of salvation. They are uninformed and/or misinformed.

People can be truly born again without knowing how to obtain other promises from God. I was that way too. But we do not get saved because we know all about the mysteries and details of Biblical faith. It is by God's grace, through faith, that we get saved. Then we must exercise the faith that God has given us, to receive what He has freely promised in the Bible.

Most believers feel a need for more faith. New believers often pray for faith. The Apostles did, and so did I. They said to Jesus on one occasion: "Lord, increase our faith." Asking Jesus or God for faith is not how faith is gotten. That didn't work for the Apostles, and it didn't work for me. Jesus replied to them that if they had faith, they could move a mountain! They had asked Him for it, and He replied: "...if you HAD faith...". That didn't seem to be a very satisfying answer. Why didn't He just give them more faith? The Bible tells us why. Romans 10:17 states that faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God. If we want more faith, we must HEAR what God's Word says about a subject of interest. Then faith concerning it will come to us.

As an example, "For by grace are ye saved through faith and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: not of works, lest any man should boast" (Ephesians 2:8-9). We can now understand how we can get the faith that we need for other provisions from God also. Through hearing His Word, God gives us faith for salvation and for every other promise of God.

We can never deserve for God to save us, and apart from His Word, we know not how to move Him to answer us. But He will save us and He will answer us if we believe His Word when we pray. Thank God, we do not have to earn salvation, it is the gift of God, given to us by His grace.

Faith for obtaining any of God's promises is always given to us through hearing His Word. It comes to us, as I illustrate, "on the wings of God's Word." Faith is the substance, and the grounds of confidence which we gain by hearing God's Word. But it is not merely human, natural confidence. It is SUPERNATURAL confidence.

After receiving such confidence, we must carefully guard it against erosion from any source or condition. We must constantly replenish it by continuing to hear God's Word. We can do that by any method of "hearing". For example, by meditating on what we have previously learned, or by reading it, or by hearing someone else read or quote it. There are also times when the Lord will speak His Word directly to our heart. Such hearing of the Word of God means a concentrated focus of attention upon it. Not a temporary DISTRACTION of our attention from THINGS to the Scripture and then back to THINGS.

If we are overly occupied with things, we may become inadept at "hearing" God's Word. Therefore, we must enforce attention to it, in spite of things. Upon hearing the Divine information, faith comes into our heart. How do we know that it is come? God's Holy Spirit, working with His Word, causes us to know. We KNOW when we have it, praise God. By faith He gives us assurance, helping us to "see" the evidence of things that are not seen by natural senses. Thank the Lord. In that sense, the more that we "stare" at God's Word, the source of faith, the more strongly that source affects us. By using unwavering faith, Jesus said that we can move trees and mountains! More common concerns are easier to move.

It is the "nature" of faith to "move" us to ACT. If we act (i.e., BELIEVE) with our heart, we shall have what God has promised. Praise the Lord. Thus, we can become established in the habit of using our faith.

We can increase our faith by getting more information from God. Occasional Bible reading is not enough to gain the irresistable faith that we are considering. No, as Proverbs 4:20 states: "...let not them (God's Words) depart from thine eyes...". Learn to "look" at things the way that God says they are. ALWAYS!

This author is well aware of emphatic repetition in what I am writing. The reason is because in the "heat" of trials, we are prone to forget these vital facts. But they are necessary in order to get the results that we desire. Therefore, we need to have them firmly fixed in our heart and mind. Sometimes people stumble in the exercise of their faith. Then they wonder why God did not seem to answer them. The next step is to assume that it wasn't His will to grant the request.

Note again the supreme fact of Hebrews 11:6: "But without faith it is impossible to please Him (God), for he that comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him."

The Holy Spirit, using God's Word, makes us aware of the eternal redemptive facts that are in Christ. Mercifully, those facts ARE NOT SUBJECT to any alteration by God or man or devil. Though people and demons may attempt to distort or discredit them, they CANNOT BE CHANGED! Jesus Christ said that the Word of God CANNOT BE BROKEN and that His Words shall not pass away. Praise the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God. NO ONE but God CAN change the facts of God's Word, and He WILL NOT!

"Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by His Own blood He entered in once into the holy place, having obtained ETERNAL REDEMPTION for us" (Hebrews 9:12). Also: "In hope of eternal life which God, that CANNOT LIE, promised before the world began" (Titus 1:2).

The New Testament is based upon the ETERNAL redemption which is in Christ Jesus. That redemption CANNOT be changed. Even so, if we do not believe and receive God's provisions in it by faith, we cannot obtain them.

For instance, when a sinner receives Jesus Christ in salvation, he does it strictly by God's grace, through faith. This comes about by the sinner hearing the Gospel of Jesus Christ and responding to it. But if he does not respond to it with the needed action, (i.e.,believing it) faith is not mixed with the Word and the provided gift of God cannot be obtained. If satan has his way, he will steal the Word from the sinner's heart so that he won't later think about it and respond to it. Mark 4:4,15.

Note: some things can cause us to fail when we approach God to obtain His promises. "For unto us was the gospel preached, as well as unto them: but the Word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it" (Hebrews 4:2). So we see that we must RESPOND to what we hear of God's Word. Mixing is done by LETTING His Word PERSUADE us, and then by DOING what it requires. Such mixing, or doing, is easier understood when we use Biblical terminology and call it "BELIEVING".

In order for us to get the benefits that faith in God offers, we MUST believe His Word. We should treasure it. And we must reverence it and have a willing attitude to DO it. That is what is referred to in this book as being "disposed to faith and believing". Such a disposition is pleasing to God, and will bring His blessings in this world, and in the world to come.

One blessing of such a disposition is that it helps us to determine to be DOERS of the Word. For that purpose, it is worthwhile to frequently repeat in our thought life that: "I delight to do thy will, O God" (Psalms 40:8). In the face of personal failure, we need to boldly make that statement often. The reason is that hearing that word in our mind, tends to build it into us. It helps us to overcome our tendencies to fail.

Often, people who hear the gospel need to be told what to do in response to it. They need to be given the opportunity to do it, thus permitting the faith that has come to them to complete its results in them. This is the reason for giving invitations for people to receive the promises of God, when they hear them. Hearts that are humbled by the grace of God in the Gospel, will not resent urging by ministers to respond to the claims of the Gospel. If the heart is hardened by unbelief, resentment may arise when it is urged to respond. Acts 14:10 tells of a man who heard the Apostle Paul preach. The Bible says that he had faith to be healed (as a result of hearing the Gospel of Jesus Christ). Yet NOTHING happened until he was told to do something. I.e., to act on his faith. Then a MIRACLE happened!

According to Romans 12:3, EVERY believer has at least a measure of faith. A believer is one who has heard the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and has consequently been born again. But not every believer acts on his faith in all things as he should. Often believers do not understand what to do or how to act on their faith. The reason for writing this book is to help relieve that problem. Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God. So the more of God's Word that we hear, the more faith we can have. And with more faith, we can come to believe God for more of what He has promised.

Jesus said that if we can believe, all things are possible to him that believes. Mark 9:23. Many people read the Bible, sincerely, yet little seems to happen in critical areas of their lives. They have faith, and they know that they have it. But many take the attitude that if it's God's will to give them what they ask, that He will just "sovereignly" do so. When He doesn't seem to, they assume that it isn't God's will for them to have their request. Unwittingly, they try to place the responsibility for DECIDING to answer prayer on God. This is a mistaken effort to "BELIEVE". Believing is for RECEIVING from God, not for PERSUADING Him.

Note: Jesus said that "Whatsoever things you desire, when you pray, BELIEVE that you receive them, and you shall have them" (Mark 11:24). Just possessing faith without BELIEVING, will not produce results! We MUST have faith, but as a RESULT of that faith, we must also believe. As we have noted, believing is the action part of faith. Note again Acts 14:10.