SPELLING EDITED What does the BIBLE mean by We are SAVED BY GRACE THROUGH FAITH? The Bible meaning of FAITH! Faith is the single most important element needed for obtaining victory over the enemy. The word of God tells us in Hebrews 11:6 that without faith you will receive nothing from God. Hebrews 11:6. “But WITHOUT faith it is IMPOSSIBLE to please him: for he that comes to God MUST BELIEVE that he is and that he is the rewarder of them that diligently seek him.” You must believe. You must have faith. You must TRUST in God and in his word. You must be diligent in your faith without wavering. Remember that in the book of James we are told that a double-minded man is unstable in all his ways. Therefore, you must come to God WITHOUT wavering in faith. The Bible tells us in the book of James 1:5-8 that if a man wavers in his faith that the man who wavers is to think NOT that he will receive anything of the Lord. Even those things which the Lord God has already clearly provided for you through the shed blood of his Son Jesus cannot and will not be manifested in your life without faith. Take a look at the verses for yourself. James 1:5-8. “If ANY man lack wisdom, let him ASK of God, that gives to ALL men liberally, and upbraids not; and it SHALL be given him. 6. BUT let him ask in FAITH, nothing WAVERING. For he that wavers are like the wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed. 7. For let NOT that man (Or let NOT the man or woman that wavers in his or her faith when he or she asks God for something to even) THINK that he (Or she) shall RECEIVE anything of the Lord. 8. A double-minded man (Or woman) is UNSTABLE in ALL his ways.” Now, remember my brothers and sisters in Christ that these are not my words but rather this is God himself speaking to you. Everything that Jesus taught his disciples was the Father’s words. So then, God's word here in James is explicit in teaching us to fully understand that if we desire to RECEIVE anything from his hand then we MUST come to him in FAITH WITHOUT WAVERING. Do not be deceived to think otherwise because this is the ONLY way to RECEIVE God's blessings and his promises in his word. The Bible says that the just shall live by FAITH. You may know in your MIND, that is to say, that you may have “head knowledge” that it is God’s will to heal you and agree that it is the truth but simply having a HEAD knowledge of the truth is not enough. You must believe in your HEART and use your faith. One way we use our faith is to ACT as though we already have what we are yet believing God to manifest in our lives. And one way to ACT out our faith is to have a heart of thanksgiving and give God our highest praise with a thankful heart as though we have already received our request of him. James also teaches us to COUNT it as all joy KNOWING that the trying of our faith works in us patience. So the bottom line, so to speak, is that YOU, as an INDIVIDUAL person, must have FAITH in order to receive from God. If you take a closer look at the ministry of Jesus then you will quickly see that he inevitably responded to those who received their healing with their words of FAITH. Jesus said many times things such as, “YOUR FAITH has made you whole”.
You see my dear brothers and sisters in our Lord Jesus Christ, it was the FAITH of EACH individual person that enabled them to RECEIVE from God. In every one of these accounts that we are given in the word of God, we can clearly see that Jesus accredited their receiving from God to THEIR FAITH as being the reason why they received their healing. But some Christians have a misconception that Jesus healed these people. Yet I myself do not find even one reference in the Bible itself where Jesus said to anyone, “My faith has made you whole.” Now, in part, the faith of Jesus was involved in their healing. Much like when we stand in agreement in faith with another person the combining of the faith of two or more believers will make our faith stronger. However, by focusing ONLY on this one part then the view of the whole picture has been distorted. Let me explain what I mean by this. First, I want you to read what Jesus said in the gospel of John 5:30 and then we will continue with John 14:10. John 5:30. “I can of mine own self do nothing: as I hear, I judge: and my judgment is just; because I seek not my own will, but the will of my Father which sent me... John 14:10. …Believe you not that I am in the Father and the Father IN me? The words that I speak unto you I speak NOT of myself: but the Father that DWELLS IN me, HE (The Eternal Holy Spirit, Almighty God the Father who dwelt in Jesus and who now dwells in us) does the works.” It is the Holy Spirit who dwells in us who is the one doing the works of healing and the same Holy Spirit dwelt in Jesus. The Bible says in Acts 10:38 that God was WITH Jesus BY the ANOINTING of the Holy Spirit. Acts 10:38. “How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power: who went about doing good and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was WITH him.” But if you only look at the part that says, “…Jesus went about doing good, and healing…” it appears on the surface that Jesus healed the people that were oppressed of the devil through his faith ALONE. When in reality it was God the Father, who through his own Holy Spirit, that was the one who did the works of healing as Jesus simply OBEYED and followed the leading of the Holy Spirit dwelling in him. However, we must not just look at this ONE part alone by itself either and forget the words of Jesus that we just read. We must ALSO remember that it took the FAITH of the ones who heard God’s word before their healing was manifested in them because WITHOUT FAITH it is impossible to please God. YOU yourself must use YOUR faith to receive from God because the faith of others will only go so far. No matter how much I or others believe, IF your faith is not activated, then my faith or the faith of others will not override what YOU believe. In other words, MY faith cannot save you. It must be YOUR own faith that produces salvation in you. God has dealt the same measure of faith to every person. And that ability to believe is all the faith that any person needs to BELIEVE what they HEAR. What I mean by this is that God has given every person the ABILITY to either believe or not to believe. Even the person who does NOT believe is indeed BELIEVING but they are believing the opposite of what God’s word teaches. The Bible calls their faith as being UNBELIEF. Can you not see that unbelief is simply BELIEVING that the Bible is not the truth? Romans 10:17 says. “So then FAITH COMES BY hearing and hearing (Or more precisely UNDERSTANDING or TRUE understanding comes) BY the word of God.” Well, unbelief also comes BY HEARING that which is false. When the world listens to the LIES of the enemy Satan, the Devil and they BELIEVE those LIES then THEIR FAITH is believing that the word of God is not true. But the Bible calls their faith as being UNBELIEF. They are indeed believing BUT they are NOT believing the TRUTH of the WHOLE word of Almighty God. And that is what Romans 10:17 is teaching us. So if we want to believe GOD then we must read and hear HIS words, as in, his WHOLE word and NOT just verses being taken out of their context. And then those verses are INCORRECTLY interpreted by NOT considering the whole CONTEXT. The Bible tells us in 1 Corinthians 1:21 that it pleased God by the foolishness of PREACHING to save or to “sozo” them that believe. The Greek word in the original text is “SOZO” which means to set free, to deliver, to give safety, to protect, to HEAL, to make whole, and to place back in a right relationship with God. When you see a Scripture reference with a lower case letter such as a, b, or c, then that means that the writer is only quoting a PART of the verse. For example, below I am quoting just the LAST part of verse 21 in I Corinthians chapter 1 which I reference as 1 Corinthians 1:21b. The three dots “...” and the lower case “b” here means that I am quoting only the last part of a verse and thus it is YOUR job to look up the whole verse and read the context to see if you are being taught the truth of the WHOLE word of Almighty God. If the letter was an “a” then only the first part of the verse is being quoted. You will not see the letter “c” too often. The letter “c” is there so that the reader will focus on the THIRD clause in that verse. 1 Corinthians 1:21b. “... It pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that BELIEVE.” So then, if a person does not BELIEVE the true gospel of Jesus Christ then all the preaching and teaching in the world will NOT benefit them UNTIL they BELIEVE. Look at Hebrews chapter 3 beginning with verse 12 and ending in chapter 4, verse 2. Please read the whole context on your own. I will only quote Hebrews 4:2 which says. Hebrews 4:2. “For unto us was the gospel preached, AS WELL AS unto them: BUT the word PREACHED did NOT profit them, (WHY? Why did the word of God NOT profit those who HEARD the word PREACHED to them?) not being mixed with FAITH in them that HEARD it.”
Jesus preached to the people. Jesus talked to the people. Jesus taught the word of God to the people. Then AFTER hearing God’s word being preached to the people only those people who BELIEVED were saved and healed [sozo]. Some made the CHOICE to believe that Jesus is the Christ and they followed him. But others made the choice to BELIEVE that Jesus had a DEVIL so why hear you him and thus THEY did not follow Jesus. Some believed SOME of the words of Jesus and followed him for a while but then later heard some things that they CHOSE to believe as false teachings so they left off following Jesus. The point that I want you to see is that we follow Jesus because we BELIEVE that what Jesus taught us is the TRUTH. In other words, we believe the WORDS that Jesus spoke are true. Therefore we believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God, the one prophesied to come to be the Savior of the world. Jesus said to those who were not believing that if they do not believe the WORDS Jesus was preaching then at least believe the WORKS that they saw him doing. However, if you were to focus only on the part of this verse in Acts 10:38 that says JESUS went about doing good healing ALL who were oppressed of the Devil then you will not see Almighty God the Father as the ONE doing the WORKS through the hands of the Son of MAN, Jesus. Whenever you see the three dots “...” both before and after I a quoted verse of Scripture then this means that the writer quoted only the MIDDLE of that verse. For example, below if I quoted Acts 10:38a then that would be the first part of the verse that I would be quoting. And if I quoted Acts 10:38 c then that would be the last part of the verse. So ALWAYS look up the WHOLE verse and then read the CONTEXT both before and after the verse that is being used to support some particular teaching. For you see, it MAY be FALSE teaching and the writer only wants you to read PART of that verse. Acts 10:38b. “…Jesus went about doing good and healing ALL that were oppressed of the devil…” By someone quoting only a PART of a verse and emphasizing a word or words then the reader might misconceive that Jesus himself had the ability to heal everyone using his faith own alone. This is one of the reasons why some Christians struggle with receiving their healing so much and some often end up blaming God when they do not receive their healing. They have ONLY looked at one part of the WHOLE picture. Some Christians only look at what they want to see or what they have heard from others without ever going to the Bible for themselves to see whether or not what they have been told is the WHOLE truth of God's word. In other words, they hear only what they want to hear or give the energy to hear. They hear what is easy and pleasant to hear. You see, we all can hear words without truly LISTENING to truly UNDERSTAND what is being said. Those who are doing this are being deceived by the enemy and thus they are being destroyed for lack of knowledge. Now, either the word of God has not yet been preached to them in order that they may come to the knowledge of truth or they have indeed heard the word of truth, and have chosen not to believe but rather to BELIEVE the LIES of the enemy. The truth of the whole picture is that Jesus did not heal ALL that were oppressed of the devil. In fact, we are told in Matthew 13:58 that Jesus could NOT do any mighty works, as in, mighty works of healing in Capernaum because of THEIR UNBELIEF. Matthew 13:58. “And he did NOT many mighty works there (WHY? Why did Almighty God not do very many mighty works of healing through the Son of man Jesus in his own hometown? It was) BECAUSE of THEIR UNBELIEF”. But some Christians have wrongly concluded that God did not heal them because it was not God’s WILL to heal them. It always comes down to the truth of the matter that without FAITH it is impossible to please God. And nothing would please God more than for you to be SAVED [sozo] because it is ALWAYS God’s WILL and sincerest desire that ALL men be saved. Remember that “sozo” is the Greek word that is sometimes translated as saved but this word ALSO means to be healed, to be made whole, to be protected, to be rescued, to be delivered, and to be in right relationship with God. So get it fixed in your mind once and for all that the word “saved” also means healed. If you are saved, then you are healed. If you are saved then you are no longer a sinner. You are a new creature in Christ Jesus. Sin has no more dominion over you. If sin is in your life then it is because YOU have ALLOWED sin into your life. If sin is in your life then it is because you did not RESIST the temptation to sin unto the END of that temptation. The word of God declares that if you resist the devil he will flee from you. If you resist the temptation to sin and don’t give in to that temptation to sin then that temptation will leave your presence. Sin will flee from you as long as you resist and BELIEVE that it has NO RIGHT in your life. Sometimes we must flee from what is tempting us lest our faith grows too weak and we give in to that temptation. The saying, “Out of SIGHT out of MIND” has a lot of truth in it. So if we remove ourselves from the temptation and resist the tempting thoughts in our mind then those thoughts will be easier to resist unto the end until those thoughts are replaced by other thoughts of GOOD. Likewise, or in the same way, we believe that we are saved from sin and all our sin is CLEANSED away then you are no longer the sick. That is to say, sickness and disease no longer have a right or place in you because the stripes Jesus bore paid for your HEALING the same way that his death on the cross paid for all your sins. So I want you to always picture yourself as ALREADY being the healed and you are just merely resisting the symptoms or the temptations of sickness or disease that the enemy is trying to put upon you. The word of God declares that you are ALREADY “the healed” by the stripes of Jesus. in the SAME way that you are ALREADY “the FORGIVEN” of all your sins. When we ask for forgiveness of sin we must BELIEVE the promises in God's word that we are forgiven even when we do not FEEL forgiven. And the SAME is true when it comes to BELIEVING God's word for our physical HEALING. We are healed in God's eyes even though we may not FEEL healed. Sickness has no more dominion over you just as sin has no more dominion over you. And if sickness or disease is in your body then it is because you ALLOWED the enemy to deceive and overcome you. Again, God’s people are being destroyed for LACK of KNOWLEDGE so you may not have known and RECEIVED this truth before that with the stripes of Jesus you ARE healed. Or it may be that you used to believe and even received a healing or even many healings in the past but because you failed to receive your healing this time you no longer believe God’s word of truth. It does not matter because there is no variableness in turning with God. Our not receiving healing is because we grew WEAK in our faith. And thus, we did not RESIST the symptoms of sickness or disease and BELIEVE with all your heart that they no longer have a right or place in our life unto the END of the temptation or the deceiving lies of the enemy. We are NOT denying the existence of the symptoms of sickness and disease. But rather, we are denying the RIGHT of sickness and disease to exist in OUR bodies. We are now children of the Most High Almighty God and healing is the children’s bread. So get back into the word of TRUTH until your faith becomes strong and you overcome the lies of the enemy to receive your healing. There is nothing wrong with going to the doctor but always use what little faith you have to RESIST the lies of the enemy who has oppressed you with sickness and disease. You are the righteousness of God because the word of God declares this about you through the blood of Jesus. Now to remain in this right relationship with God you must obey his word to resist sin, and the temptation to sin then flees from you. In the same way, you are ALREADY “the healed”. Therefore, RESIST the sickness and disease just as you RESIST the temptation to sin and the sickness WILL FLEE from you. Some Christians do not want to accept the reality that it might be THEIR own unbelief that is keeping them from receiving their healing. Notice that I said, “might be”. The reason being is that there are many obstacles that keep us from receiving healing, and unbelief is only ONE hindrance. However, unbelief seems to be the hindrance that Jesus dealt with the most, and is the primary one that I am addressing at the moment. It is not my intention to offend you but merely to help you discern the attitude of God. It is impossible for God to lie and to break his word. Therefore, if wavering faith is present then God cannot go against his word to heal you. For you see, when there is unbelief in your heart then no matter how much God desires to see you receive your healing God cannot go against his own word. God can only be faithful to his word. And when there is DOUBT in a person then that is WAVERING faith. And James teaches us that a person who WAVERS in their faith to NOT think that they will receive anything from God. Please read James 1:6-8. “But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that WAVERS is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed. 7. For let not that man think that he shall receive anything of the Lord. 8. A double-minded man is unstable in all his ways.” And a DOUBLE-MINDED Christian is a Christians who believe that it is SOMETIMES God's WILL to heal but at the same time it is ALSO God's WILL to NOT heal people SOMETIMES. A Christ who believes this way will most likely WAVER when there is a strongman of the house who is oppressing them with sickness. It is unlikely that they will endure unto the END to receive their healing that Jesus has already provided for them. However, many Christians seem to get offended when they THINK that they are being blamed for not having enough faith to be healed, when, in fact, they are not being blamed at all, but rather instructed in the truth. I am sure you have heard the saying, “The truth hurts” at one point in your life. The word of God is sharper than any two-edged sword and cuts deeply sometimes. Facing the truth is not always easy, but it is something that must be done in order to receive from God. You may be saying to yourself “I know I have faith. My faith is not the problem of why I am not healed.” Well, perhaps you are right. Maybe it is not your faith that is hindering you from receiving your healing but neither is it God withholding healing from you in order to teach you something. It might be that there is sin in your life that may be what is keeping you from receiving your healing. I do not know. I will deal with some of these OTHER hindrances that keep us from receiving healing later on in this study but for now, let’s continue with the hindrance of unbelief. When the disciples of Jesus could not cure a man’s son who was a lunatic, and they asked Jesus the reason why they could not cure him, Jesus responded to them by saying.
“BECAUSE OF YOUR UNBELIEF” Unbelief is a serious issue that needs to be dealt with without fail in the body of Jesus Christ. You cannot just ignore it and pretend that there is no way that unbelief could be the reason you have not received your healing. When I was a child playing hide and seek I would hide in a place where I could see the one who was seeking. After observing the places that he or she had already searched I would change my hiding place for another one of those places that had already been eliminated by the seeker. And, therefore, I would never be found. So perhaps the enemy has hidden something from you by blinding your eyes to something that you have never seen in the word of God before. It might be that you need to take another look at unbelief. And by another look, I mean a CLOSER look because you may not have considered every aspect of what it means to have unwavering faith. Jesus rebuked and upbraided his disciples for their unbelief. In Matthew 16:14 Jesus told Thomas to be not faithless but believing. All I am tying to do is to instruct you in God's word to get you to BELIEVE. Then in Revelation 21:8 we read. Revelation 21:8. “But the fearful, and UNBELIEVING, and the abominable, and murderers, and whore mongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.” Believing God for some things will not cause us to FEAR if so be that we do not receive what we are presently believing to receive. BUT when we are believing God for healing then there is that opportunity for FEAR to creep in unaware at first. So when worry or anxiety BEGINS to come then we know that the stronghold of FEAR in not far behind if we do not overcome those worries and cares first by CASTING all our care upon the Lord to REST in his word knowing that God loves and cares for us. Please read 1 Peter 5:6-11. “Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time: (HOW? Wow do we humble ourselves? It is BY) 7. Casting all your care upon him; for he cares for you. 8. Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walks about, seeking whom he may devour: 9. Whom resist STEADFAST in the faith,(WITHOUT WAVERING) KNOWING that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world. 10. BUT (Also KNOW that) the God of all grace, who has called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that you have suffered a while, make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you. (Speaking of the suffering TEMPTATION by RESITING the lies and the oppressing of the Devil and NOT suffering sickness and disease for a while.) 11. To him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.”
And in Romans 14:23 we are told that whatsoever is not of faith is a sin. Now does this mean that if you do not use your faith to receive your healing that you are going to be thrown into the lake of fire? No, not at all. It simply means that you will not receive your healing or whatever God has ALREADY provided for you to enjoy now in this life which God desires greatly for you to receive. I know that I have used this example before from Hebrews chapter 3, verse 12 through verse 2 of the next chapter but it bears repeating more in-depth. We are told in these verses that the children of Israel could not enter into the land that was already PROMISED to them. But WHY could they not enter into the land that God had PROMISED them? It was because of their UNBELIEF. Even though the land was already promised to them, just as healing is promised to you, and all they had to do was believe God and enter into the land, they did not CHOOSE to believe God’s WORD. But rather they chose to focus on the circumstances that they could see which were the GIANTS in the land. They FEARED that they could not overcome the GIANTS and possess the promised land. Therefore they could not enter because of THEIR unbelief. Joshua and Caleb, on the other hand, did believe God, and because of their FAITH in God’s WORD they were able to enter the land that was promised to ALL of God’s people. We are taught to take heed for fear that an EVIL heart of UNBELIEF may creep into our lives in the same way we are warned about in Hebrews 3:1. Hebrews 3:1. “Take heed, brethren, lest (Or for fear that) there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God.” Departing from God does not always mean to leave God completely. We also depart from God when we do not believe the promises in his WORD. You see my dear brothers and sisters in our Lord Jesus Christ, doubt, fear, and unbelief are all tools that Satan uses to steal our faith but the Bible tells us in 2 Corinthians 2:10,11 that we are not ignorant of his devices. And one of Satan's devices that we see him use in these verses is people NOT FORGIVING others who have wronged them in some way. Satan uses the unforgiving attitude in these people to get an advantage over them. Don't be deceived, don't let the bitterness of NOT forgiving those who have wronged or hurt you to remain in your heart. Please read the study entitled “TRUE BIBLICAL FORGIVENESS!” if you even remotely think you may have NOT fully forgiven someone for what they have done to you. But for now, I want you to take time to read the parable of the sower in all three accounts, Matthew 13:3-23, Mark 4:3-20, and in Luke 8:5-15. For you see, there is a lot more to learn from this parable, but for now, I only want to focus on what Jesus said in Mark 4:13. Mark 4:13. “Know you not THIS parable? And how then will you know all parables?”
It is vital that you learn the lessons of this parable in order to be able to understand other teachings in God's word. This parable is one of the keys to understanding why some Christians seem to never have a problem receiving their healing while other Christians seem to continually struggle and almost never receive their healing. Some Christians BLAME God for EVERYTHING because they have failed to understand the parable of the sower sowing seed. They have failed to see that God has an ENEMY. And some Christians have gone to the extreme and they have wrongly concluded that God himself was bored or something so he created himself an enemy to show how Almighty he is. That is called “PREDETERMINISM” also called “Calvinism” and “Reformed Theology” which is just another LIE of Satan. Just briefly I would like to highlight a few things from the parable of the sower.
You will always be faced with circumstances that will require you to act upon what you believe. James 2:17 tells us that faith without works is dead. Suppose that you are sick and the word of God has been sown in your heart concerning healing. James 2:17
“With the stripes of Jesus, you were healed.”
Now then you are faced with a circumstance that you need to hold fast to what you believe. Is God's word the TRUTH or are your circumstance stealing your faith? God's word says we walk by FAITH and NOT by what we see or feel. Either you believe or you don't. Now you may want to believe, but there is that little bit of uncertainty. Just this little bit of wavering is all it takes for the adversary, Satan, the devil, to accuse your words before God and say, “You cannot heal them Oh God, because your word says that a man that wavers shall not receive anything from you Oh God”. Then God has to honor his word because he is always faithful to perform his word. Are you getting all of this yet? God is ALWAYS for us and Satan is ALWAYS against both God and us and uses God's faithfulness and integrity to his word against us and God. For a deeper understanding of why God allows all of these things please read the study entitled "UNDERSTANDING WHY". Getting back on course. First, you hear the word of God and then you reason within your mind. If it is logical to you then you receive God's word into your mind as head knowledge to believe. Sometimes that head knowledge will go down into our heart immediately to become heart faith. But then along comes the ENEMY of God Satan, the Devil, to steal the word that has been sown in us wherein is just head knowledge and NOT true heart faith because he does not want it to mature and bear fruit. So Satan brings a trial in your life to test and see if you truly believe what you heard and what you say that you believe. For you see, if Satan can steal that HEAD knowledge BEFORE it becomes TRUE faith in our heart then he has a better chance of us never believing in divine healing. Here is where the rubber meets the road, so to speak. If you say you believe and do not receive your healing then either one of two things is likely to be what is hindering you from receiving your healing. One is obviously unbelief or misguided belief which I will explain more in-depth later but for now, I will just call it head knowledge faith. The other possibility is that the seed of God’s word has not matured enough. Some seeds take longer than others to sprout. In other words, you have need of patience. God is always faithful to perform his word. He is not a man that he should lie. Hold fast! The manifestation of your healing is on the way. Don’t doubt by saying something like, “God will heal me in his time if it is his will for me to be healed.” That is not faith, but misguided belief. This is only one example of how some Christians have been deceived by misguided belief. In nearly every instance where Jesus ministered healing, the one being ministered to was required to act upon his or her faith. Jesus said things like, “stretch forth your hand, arise, take up your bed and walk, go show yourself to the priest, go your way, go and wash in the pool of Siloam,” for the purpose of getting them to act upon their faith by obeying what he told them to do. This obedience was the point at which they released their faith. Satan will always try to steal the word of God that is sown in your heart, that is to say, your faith, by sowing his own evil seeds of fear, doubt, and unbelief. For example, a thought may come to you like, “You don’t think this is really going to work do you” or “If you do that people will laugh at you and think you are crazy.” These kinds of thoughts are the fiery darts of the wicked one who is only after one thing, and that is your faith, the word of God sown in your heart. Here is one of Satan’s all-time favorites, “Why if you say that you are healed and you don’t get healed, then you will look like a fool and make God out to be a liar”. Don’t be deceived by Satan’s lies. The Bible says that he is a liar from the beginning and that there is no truth in him. Before you can act upon faith you need to know what faith is. Christians who struggle in this area of receiving healing are often set free when they come to understand what faith is, and how to release their faith. Hebrews 11:1 says. “Now FAITH is the substance of things hoped for the EVIDENCE of things not seen.” The word “substance” here means confidence, trust, being sure, being, and essence. The American Heritage Dictionary defines confidence as a certainty or an assurance. It is an INTIMATE and trusting relationship. Now let’s look at the word “confide” which means to tell in confidence, to put in another person's keeping. When I read this I immediately thought of the scripture that instructs us to cast our care upon the Lord, for he cares for us. When you exercise your faith you are trusting in an intimate relationship with the Lord. You are taking the care of that sickness out of your hands and placing it into the care of another who is Almighty God who loves and cares for you more than you do for yourself. One definition of the word “essence” is the most important or effectual ingredient. It is a crucial element. Effectual means producing. It is sufficient to produce the desired effect. It is fully adequate. Faith is what produces the thing you are hoping for. If you are hoping to be healed, then faith is fully adequate and sufficient to produce your desired effect of being healed. Hope alone cannot produce your healing. Hope is very closely related to faith, but having hope is not faith. Hope is an expectant desire, a looking forward to what is good with confidence, but again hope is NOT faith. Let me give you an example to show you what I mean. Let’s say you are sick and your desire is to be healed. Then a friend tells you about some doctors who could help you. This good news now elevates your desire to hope. Then you act upon this hope because you trust and believe your friend and you go to this doctor that you are told about. Now your hope has to turn into faith. You have not received your healing yet, but the process has begun. In the same way, I am telling you about God's word and the healing that is provided for us if we go to his word. Now in the natural, if you go to this doctor and he gives you a prescription to take and assures you that if you are faithful to take this prescription then you will get better. But it is up to YOU to be consistently faithful to take the prescription that he prescribed to you or you won't see any results. Do you agree with this?. So then, in much the same way I am giving you a PRESCRIPTION to follow and if you do not trust that this prescription will work, then you will not be faithful to follow the directions and daily partake of this prescription of God's word which I am giving to you. And if you are not faithful and consistent, then you will not get the results that you desire and say within yourself that it did not work. Of course not, because you failed to follow the prescription. None the less you are again left without hope. Plus you are less likely to trust your friend again, at least in this area. Now with the absence of hope, you are again left only with your desire to be healed. You see a desire only becomes hope when you are given a direction to take in order to produce your desire to be healed. However, the knowledge of this direction or course of action to take, which is your hope is not enough to produce your healing. You must now act upon your hope, which is the knowledge of the direction that you must take. You see it took your trust in your friend that he or she was telling you the truth to give you hope. But now you must act upon this hope. This action is called FAITH. You stepped out in faith in the hope that what your friend told you was going to get you healed. Remember faith without works or action is dead. Hope tends to always put the expectant desire in the future. Whereas faith says, “I have it NOW”. There is no more need to yearn for it. There is no more anxiety or fear. The total care of the situation has been placed in the hands of another. This is one of the ways that you can positively tell that you have moved from hope to FAITH because you will have perfect peace within you that passes all understanding of the human mind. You just know that you know that you know deep within your heart. You are positively and absolutely sure without a doubt. Now if you say, “I will be healed IF IT IS GOD’S WILL”, then you are still in the realm of hope, and NOT faith. There is still doubt in your heart. You are not absolutely certain that God will heal you. You may know positively that God is able, but you have no full assurance that God will without a doubt heal you. There is no absolute confidence. All you have is hope. You do indeed believe that God is able to heal you, but you do not know for sure, without a doubt that he will heal you. Do you see what I am saying? Only the least little bit of wavering will cause you not to receive from God. Sorry, but that is just the way it is. But if you SAY I am healed, not because of what I see, or how I feel, but because I BELIEVE the word of God, which says, “With his stripes, you are healed,” therefore, I have my healing now, then you have moved from hope to FAITH. The process of faith has begun. Faith is working in you to produce what you are yet believing for but has not yet manifested in your life. You then move on to having confidence and the EVIDENCE of FAITH becomes apparent within you regardless of the circumstances. You now have the essence, the most important or effectual ingredient, to produce healing in you. Faith is the EVIDENCE of what you once HOPED for. Faith is that ASSURANCE without seeing any PHYSICAL evidence. Faith has begun its work in you to bring about healing. Faith brings a knowing on the inside of you that gives you peace and rest. You are assured. You become free from all your anxiety and fear in spite of the fact that healing still has not as yet manifested in you. Patience is no longer an issue because you are fully persuaded that God has heard your petition and the answer is on the way. Now here is where some Christians cast away their confidence. The enemy begins getting their focus off of God's word and brings fear and anxiety to their face. Now if fear and worry begin to come back you have a choice to make. You have to choose what you are going to let your thoughts focus upon. Are you going to focus on what man says or what God says? If you make the right choice and choose God's word then fear will begin to fade away. The more that the fear and anxiety fade the higher faith rises within you. Faith comes by hearing. But guess what? Fear and worry also come by hearing. Example: “Well I know someone who said they were trusting and believing God for their healing and they died.” But the truth is you nor anyone else truly knows the heart of this person and whether or not that they were just on the brink of receiving their healing and the enemy whispered in their ear and fear came and stole that seed of faith that was ever so close to bringing forth the fruit of healing in them. Here is where most Christians cast away their faith or confidence as Hebrews 10:35,36 warns us not to cast away our faith. Hebrews 10:35,36. “Cast NOT AWAY, therefore, your confidence (faith), which has a great recompense of reward. For you have need of PATIENCE, that, after you have done the will of God, you might RECEIVE the promise.” Do NOT give up because of your faith. For you see, your faith might be just on the brink of bearing that fruit of healing in your body. Hold fast to your faith. Keep your eyes on the Lord and he will keep you in peace. You see, you cast away your confidence when you begin to focus on the circumstance or symptoms that are still present. Don’t take your eyes off God’s word. Don't worry about the circumstances. Be patient! Your FAITH is fully adequate to produce your healing. Faith works like a seed! Before I go into explaining how faith works, or more precisely how to work your faith. I would like to address the misconception that we as Christians often have concerning faith, such as, “If only I had faith like that person”, or “If I only had more faith”. Some Christians have even been deceived into believing that they do not possess any faith at all. Let me assure you that every man, woman, and child on the earth possesses faith whether they are Christians or not. You already have all the faith you need to produce your healing. That’s right God has given every man ALL the faith that he or she may need to receive all that God has freely provided for us to have. Romans 12:3 tells us that God has dealt the same measure of faith to every man. The Bible says THE MEASURE of faith. Notice that God’s word says THE measure of faith and not merely A measure of faith. Every human being has the same ABILITY to make their own CHOICE whether to believe God’s word of truth or to believe the lies of God’s ENEMY Satan, the Devil. Faith is simply making your own CHOICE as what YOU choose to believe. Remember also that God is no respecter of persons. God does not give this person more faith than that person. Every man has been given the SAME measure of faith. This includes non-Christians as well because a person cannot be saved without faith. In Ephesians 2:8,9 we read. “For by grace you are saved THROUGH FAITH; and THAT (Speaking of faith is) NOT of yourselves: IT (Speaking of faith) is a gift of God: not of works, lest any man should boast.” Yes, faith is ALSO a gift of God right along with grace and salvation. Without faith, it is impossible to please God and God has given to EVERY human being the same measure of faith which is simply making your own CHOICE to believe God or to believe Satan. Nothing pleases God more than for mankind to come to the knowledge of HIS truth and be saved. Man cannot save himself, and it is impossible for man to be saved without faith. Therefore man cannot produce his own faith lest there be boasting. We don’t “create our own faith” so to speak. Faith does not come of our selves. FAITH is a gift of God, or otherwise there would be boasting. You have the SAME faith I have. We all have the same faith. Let me explain it another way. It is not a matter of how much faith we have but what we DO with our faith that really counts. You simply need only to use what you already have. So how do we use our faith? The disciples asked Jesus one day to increase their faith. In Luke 17:6 Jesus responded by saying. “If you have faith as a grain of mustard seed, you might say unto this sycamore tree. Be you plucked up by the root, and be you planted in the sea; and it should obey you.” Jesus was trying to show us that it is not the size of our faith that matters, but that we just exercise our faith by PLANTING God’s word in our hearts. You see faith works like a seed. In the same manner, as a seed is placed in the ground, kept watered and left alone to grow and increase is exactly how faith works. First, our desire becomes hope. And then our hope, the assured knowledge that we indeed received God's word is TRUTH becomes FAITH is our head. And as we plant that head faith into our heart it begins to grow to become heart faith. This is how the first seed of faith is planted in our hearts which is the soil. Now, the more we believe and trust in God's word the better the soil becomes. Now this word must be watered by staying focused on his word. Then we need to give thanks and praise to God. Next comes patience to give the seed time to grow and mature so it can bear fruit. All the time we are still yet thanking and praising God for the fruit, even though the seed hasn't even spouted as yet and we cannot see any evidence of its growth. But we know that if left alone faith will sprout forth and grow, eventually bringing forth the desired fruit which we hoped for. In Mark 11:22-24 we read. “And Jesus answering said unto them, Have faith in God (Or have the God kind of faith, In other words, we are to have the same kind of faith that God possesses.) 23. For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall SAY unto this mountain, Be you removed, and be you cast into the sea; And shall NOT DOUBT in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he SAYS shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he SAYS. 24. Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.” Now look at Mark 4:26-28,31,32. “And he said, So is the kingdom of God as if a man should cast seed into the Ground. 27. And should sleep, and rise night and day, and the seed should spring forth and grow up, he knows NOT how. 28. For the earth brings forth the fruit of herself; (Because it is a law ordained by God) first the blade, then the ear, after that the full corn in the ear…. (And the Kingdom of God is ALSO like faith being the smallest seed) ...31. It is like a grain of mustard seed, which, when it is sown in the earth, is less than all the seeds that be in the earth: 32. But when it is sown, it grows up, and becometh greater than all herbs, and shoots out great branches; so that the fowls of the air may lodge under the shadow of it.”
But God’s word is not actually sown in the heart until a person RECEIVES the word of truth. So then, the words we sow do indeed fall upon the ground, as in, people HEAR the truth of God’s word, but some make their own choice to reject the truth. This is Satan coming immediately to speak his lies into their ears so that he can steal the seed of God’s word before it can begin to grow. You may not understand HOW faith works, but just be confident and know that faith always works. Almighty God is ALWAYS FAITHFUL to perform his WORD. For a deeper understanding and CONFIDENCE in this Biblical FACT please read the study called “PRAYER LESSON #1 The FAITHFULNESS of Almighty God”.
Read Mark 4:28 again.
“For the earth brings forth the fruit of herself: first the blade then the ear, after that the full corn in the ear.”
The literal soil of the earth brings forth fruit because God ordained it to bring forth fruit and God is faithful to always perform his word. And Jesus is teaching us here that when we RECEIVE God’s word down into our HEART that the seed of God’s word WILL grow and it WILL produce the fruit of that particular word of God that is BELIEVED. Remember one of the definitions of faith was effectual, which means fully adequate or sufficient to produce the desired effect. God WILL always perform his word, and that is all we need to know. We do not need to be concerned with how he will do it but be assured that the “God kind of faith” is fully adequate to accomplish the word of God. The “God kind of faith” is calling things that are not yet come to pass just as if they have already come to pass. And no matter how small our faith may seem to us it will grow if we do not dig it up by our unbelief.
Here is Mark 4:31,32 again.
“It is like a grain of mustard seed, which, when it is sown in the earth, is less than all the seeds that be in the earth. 32. But when it is sown, it grows up and becomes greater than all herbs. And shoots out great branches so that the fowls of the air may lodge under the shadow of it,”
Faith is like a grain of mustard seed. Again, faith is not about size or how much. Faith always starts out the same, each and every time you set out to believe to receive from God. Faith always begins as a seed and the seed is never the problem if it does not grow. The soil is where the problem resides. We all have the same faith which is the same ability to make our own CHOICE to either believe God’s word of TRUTH or to believe Satan LIES. If you receive the WRONG seed by your OWN choice it will still grow to produce the desire that you do NOT want. So then, we must be SURE that what we receive is indeed the word of TRUTH based upon the WHOLE word of Almighty God and NOT upon a few verses taken out of context. Once we receive God’s truth then leave it alone and REST in the TRUTH so that God’s SEED will grow. You cannot make it grow just as you cannot make a tomato seed grow. However, you are responsible for watering and fertilizing the seed of your faith. You are to till the soil of your heart to make it GOOD soil. And you are to keep the weeds away but it is God alone who always gives the increase. If you haven't read the parable of the sower as yet, then you won't understand all that I am telling you. Get into God's word for yourself and STUDY to show yourself approved of God. Faith that comes by the word of God, speaking of the WHOLE word of God must be sown or planted before it will be activated and grow to produce fruit. So how do we plant the seed of faith? You plant your faith by SPEAKING words. Remember that from the abundance of your heart the mouth speaks. What you have planted in your heart will eventually come out of your mouth as words. Not just any words, but the words which you believe in your heart that are true. So if you want to heal, then you need to plant the seeds of God's word that will produce the fruit of healing. Now, after you plant your faith you have the need to water and feed your faith. To do this you must continually feed upon the word of God. And you till the soil of your heart by continual and consistent meditation upon God's word. It is only then that speaking faith-filled positive words that are in agreement with your seed of faith will come forth from your mouth. Every time you speak something that is contrary to your faith seed this is wavering. So when you feel like saying something negative or in opposition to your faith confession then get the word of God back into your heart which is like fertilizer or food for the young growing plant.
The Bible says in Romans 10:17.
“So then FAITH comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.”
Notice that it doesn’t say having heard one time. Oh, don’t misunderstand. The faith that is already in you (the faith that everyone already possesses) can rise up inside and spring forth having heard God’s word preached to you only one time. However to keep that faith alive and growing you need to feed upon the word of God over and over again and again. Faith comes by hearing and hearing, and hearing again and again. The basic A-B-C formula, if you will, or process to being saved which I have already given you in the first two studies is found in Romans 10:8-10.
Romans 10:8-10.
“But what say it? The word is nigh you, even in your mouth and in your heart: that is the WORD of faith, which we preach; 9. That if you shalt confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and shall believe in your heart that God has raised him from the dead, you shalt be saved (Or you shall be SOZO> Always remember that the original text means more than being forgiven of our sins. Being Sozo or being saved also means being HEALED, being made whole, being set free from the bondage of sin, being protected and being placed back into a right relationship with God). 10. For with the HEART man believes UNTO righteousness; and with the mouth CONFESSION is made UNTO salvation.”
Hebrews 10:23 says.
“Let us hold fast the profession (Or the confession) of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised).”
Not wavering from our CONFESSION of faith is the principle key to the successful victorious operation of our faith. However, due to the length of this topic of confession, which is so vital to faith, I have devoted an entire study on this subject entitled “THE POWER OF OUR WORDS!”.
Thanks for reading and may God bless you richly as you continue reading and studying the word of God. Thanks for continuing to read the studies that I have written. And always be sure to TEST what you read by reading the context of the verses that Christians writers quote to support what they teach. Compare Scripture with Scripture. If you do not know how to STUDY the Bible then I encourage you to read the studies under the heading >>> HOW TO PRAY AND STUDY THE BIBLE<<< Your brother in our Lord Jesus Christ, Brother Mark. RETURN TO HOMEPAGE AT
|
|
|