Faith – Luke 18:8

What is Faith?

• Hebrews 11:1 gives us a definition. It says: “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” What does this mean to you?
• In easier language, we could say: faith is believing or having confidence, or trusting, that something you hope for will happen, or that something you have not seen exists and you will one day see it. What are some things you hope for?
• Romans 4:17 also gives more insight. It says God is He who “… calleth those things which be not as though they were.” What does this mean to you?
• In easier language, the passage is saying, God relates with things, or people, or situations, that do not exist, or are not yet what He wants them to be, as though they exist, or are what He wants them to be. Can you think of an example of how you can act this way: with people, or in a situation?
• James 1:6 adds another quality to faith. Not wavering. Not doubting. Not being double-minded. Not being unstable.
• Matthew 8:5-13 shows that such belief or confidence or assurance that enables you to hope or act, without doubting, or being double-minded, is born out of spiritual understanding.

How does faith grow?

• Faith grows as we gain more spiritual understanding. What is spiritual understanding?
• The Word of God: We can increase in spiritual understanding by reading, studying, meditating, confessing, or having conversations about the word of God. Romans 10:17. Joshua 1:8. Psalm 119:11. Job 32:8. The word of God explains things about God, Jesus Christ, our salvation, spiritual authority, and many more. It is as the Holy Spirit broods on the word we have taken in that it becomes alive and meaningful and a key to access the power of God.
• Prayer: Colossians 1:9, Ephesians 1:16-18. Prayer connects us with God. Such connection secures open heavens for us to receive the Holy Spirit-inspired truths in His word. It is such truths that increase our spiritual understanding, and thus improve the level of our faith.
• Trials: James 1:2-4. Romans 5:3-6. 1 Peter 1:7. The trials of our faith are experiences that God takes us through to test how much faith we truly have in a situation. The way we conduct ourselves in trials- that is, by living out the understanding we received from the
  word of God as the Holy Spirit inspires it in our hearts during the
  trial – further increases our understanding and solidifies our faith,
  because it would no longer just be mental understanding, but
  experiential/tested understanding, which is a stronger foundation
  for the next situation.

The work of faith and the Law that governs faith – 2 Timothy 2:5

• James 2:20-26 explains that a claim of having faith without works to
  show for it is dead faith.
  However, not just any works can be referred to as faith’s work. It is only such that is born out of obedience. All other works [not born out of obedience to God] are dead works- works that don’t amount to any value in the sight of God. Abraham, mentioned in the passage, is a good example. Do you know any other examples?
• What does it mean that a work of faith must be born out of obedience to God? It means that it must be God that asked you to do it. Then your faith in God is shown by your works of doing what He said.
• We are not to devise our own works and describe it as an act of faith in God.
• This is a law of faith as a whole: You can’t go-ahead to “act in faith” except you have a word from the Lord that you are obeying in that situation. Meaning, if you see a situation that you feel moved to act in faith, first seek the Lord for a word, and when He gives it, you can then act in faith by obeying the word He has given. If the act of faith is not founded on obeying a word from the Lord, it is not valid and will not have divine backing. It is no wonder we sometimes complain that we acted in faith but it did not yield our desired result.
• This principle is shown in different examples: John 11:1-6-41-45. The Lord Jesus moved only when He had a word from His Father, else it would have broken the law of obedience. Matthew 14:25-28-31. Peter did well by seeking the Lord for a word first. And when the Lord said “Come” the works of his faith became obedience. Presumptuously jumping out of the boat without a word from the Lord would be an invalid act of faith and would most likely have been without God’s backing – he might have sunk. Acts 19:13-16. Because these efforts by the seven sons of sceva were not out of obedience to a word from God but was a presumptuous attempt, they had no divine backing. Ezekiel 37:1-10. Ezekiel’s act of faith was by obeying the word he received from the Lord: “And He said unto me, Prophesy upon these bones, and say unto them, O ye dry bones, hear the word of the Lord.”
• Faith, in any situation, must be expressed as an act of obedience to the word of God spoken to us by His Spirit. We must first receive counsel and instruction from Him regarding the situation. And then our faith will be simply obeying what He has said. Anything else would be presumptuous and would not have His backing

Levels of Faith

• 1 Thessalonians 1:3 says: “Remembering without ceasing your work of faith, and labour of love, and patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ, in the sight of God and our Father.”
• Here we see three things: the works of faith, the patience of hope, and the labour of love. We have ordered them this way because 1 Corinthians 13:4-8 tell us that the greatest of the three is love.
• So how are these levels of faith? – Faith in its simplest form is expressed by works. Hope is the second level of faith. It is expressed by patiently continuing in the works. Romans 2:7. And love is the third and greatest level of faith. It is expressed by patiently continuing in the works, while also “labouring”. The word “labouring” means to take a beating or to bear pains. In summary, it involves longsuffering. As such, love is the kind of faith that not only patiently continues in well-doing, but also is longsuffering, taking a beating, while doing so. It is one thing to do a work. It is another thing to patiently continue in doing the work over an extended period of time. And it is yet another thing to endure beating while patiently continuing in doing the work.
• We can ascend through these levels of faith by applying the principles in How does faith grow?

Applications of Faith

• Hebrews 11 examples. What other examples of applications of faith can you think of?
• To receive forgiveness of sins from God through Jesus Christ and become born-again. Romans 3:25. Acts 26:18.
• To obtain salvation from the nature of sin and the lusts in the world. 1 John 5:4. 1 John 2:16.
• To quench the fiery darts of the enemy. Ephesians 6:16. Fiery darts are the bitter words of accusation, condemnation, discouragement, and doubt that the enemy sends as thoughts into our minds. Psalm 64:3. They also include sinful thoughts, depressing thoughts, suicidal thoughts, etc. We can use faith in the word of God [strengthened by a spiritual understanding of who God is, His thoughts towards us, and the provisions of salvation He has made available for us] to dissolve these thoughts from the enemy. Revelation 12:11 says those who would overcome would do so by the blood of Jesus, by the word of their testimony, and by not loving their lives even unto death. These are things that would be done through faith in its different levels.
• To receive blessings and breakthroughs for our physical needs: finance, academic, health, relationships, etc. Matthew 6:25-34.
• To lay hold of eternal life, immortality, and all the great and precious promises. 1 Timothy 6:12. Romans 2:7. 2 Peter 1:4.