Discipleship

Faith is defined in scripture as the substance of things hoped for. The evidence of things not seen (Hebrews 11:1). Simply, faith is – what God says is, is, and what God says shall be, shall be. It is the confidence we put in what God has said. For instance, If God’s word tells you that you are strong and yet your body is screaming that you are weak, whose word would you put confidence in? If your answer is God’s word you will rise up with that confidence that you are strong. However, if your answer is towards your body, you will remain unmoved. This is faith. It is all about whose word or instruction is informing your confidence and actions day by day.

Many people have chosen to live in their own world even though they are in this world. Thus, they have chosen to evoke their own rules of living and their understanding of things in this life. Similarly, the God-kind of faith is a dimension one can choose to live in.

Faith is the substance of things hoped for (meaning, faith is hope treated as real).

When we hope, we look forward to seeing the thing hoped for 'in tomorrow' or the future. This is why people can say that we hope for a better tomorrow. But faith is a higher dimension. Faith does not wait for tomorrow. It brings tomorrow into today. So, faith does not know “it shall be well”. That is hope. Faith knows “it is well” even though I do not see anything interesting. It is a present-day reality to the man of faith. Faith doesn’t know the future is coming; faith already lives in the future.

Somebody may ask, “Is faith a mental reconditioning then?” No!

Look at this – trust is what breeds confidence. Where there is confidence, the word of a man is as good as done, right? For instance, if you trust a man that much, he telling you that he will do a thing for you is as good as done. It is the same with the God-kind of faith. If I trust God that much, then what He has said is as good as already done in my life. The God-kind of faith, which emanates from the Word of God, considers what God has said He will do for me as good as already done even though my optical eyes are telling me the contrary. Unfortunately, the God-kind of faith does not end at the point you consider the word of God as already done even though there is no physical evidence. There is a second part to make that faith complete – the works of faith because faith without works is dead (James 2:20). We will look into the details of the works of faith, as part of this article.

Life would be difficult without faith. This is why the natural man can put confidence in some things. For instance, the natural man believes that the food he is ordering from the restaurant is safe even though he does not see how it is prepared. He enters a plane and does not verify the qualification of the pilot. He sets out on a journey with the confidence that he will arrive at his destination. This confidence is a type of faith. However, the Christian faith focuses on the God-kind of faith (the faith emanating from what God has said, promised, done or assured). Every believer must appreciate this truth – he/she has a measure of the God-kind of faith (Romans 12:3).

Even though we all have been given a measure of faith by God, as believers, one’s faith can be greater than another (Luke 7:9). Also, one believer’s faith can be stronger than another’s (Romans 4:20). Great faith has to do with the size of one’s faith whiles strong faith looks at the strength of that faith.

The God-kind of faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God (Romans 10:17). The more we subject our spirit to hearing God’s word the more faith is generated in us. This is how little faith (Matthew 8:26) grows to become great. When it comes to strong faith it has to do with one’s ability to sustain confidence in the face of all odds. For instance, Abraham had a strong faith even though his age and his body were telling him it is not possible what God has promised him. Time also became an enemy of his faith. The longer it takes, the possibility faith will wane but strong faith can stand the test of time. Strong faith prevails in the face of all forms of opposition. We can build strong faith if we put our faith into practice. Continuous practice strengthens faith.

When Scripture mentions “the just”, it refers to those who have been justified by God. The justified are those God has declared righteous. A man can only be justified by faith (Romans 3:28). If a man is justified by faith, then such a man can continue in his justification by that same faith (Galatians 3:11). Man, whether a believer of Christ or not, lives in an environment which is volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous. To live in such an environment means change is inevitable. Such a man will not be in control of life. Man seemed to be in control of the affairs of this life until the global financial crunch and the pandemic came. People lost years of investment; they committed suicide. But the just, whose confidence is in God, lived by faith. A man of faith can live above high waters like Noah in the days of the flood. The flood that swept many away, the same flood bore Noah and his ark on high. Glory to God.

Precious One, faith works. If your faith did not work it may probably be it was a dead faith or it was not faith at all in the first place. Sometimes, we interchange hope with faith or assumption with faith. Further, faith is not a condition of the human mind but rather a condition of the human spirit by the word of God. To make faith work, every believer must understand these, to effectively wield faith:

• The Word of Faith
• The Gift of Faith
• The Spirit of Faith
• The Power of Faith
• The Language of Faith
• The Laws of Faith
• The Works of Faith
• The Trials of Faith