FAITH & BELIEF / UNBELIEF
INTENTION:
We have to let go of the religious notion of needing “more faith” or to just “believe more”. These are misnomers.
Our only requirement
is to believe (not have some level of belief). Likewise, our Faith is gifted to
us for use by the Holy Spirit. We don’t need “more faith”, we express faith as
a fruit—that being the Faith of Jesus.
Trying to muster up
more faith or belief is a futile process that leads to disappointment. Let’s
learn to just use the Faith we already have been given. That’s alot easier.
We are required to
Believe (removing unbelief) and then letting the Fruit of Faith flow through
us.
Faith
is simply the manifestation of the Lord through you from your Belief.
Not something you
do for the Lord (for something to happen), but what He does through you.
I.
TOPIC:
We want to look at Faith (and also belief / unbelief). When
we look at Jesus’s ministry, we often see Him criticising people for their
“lack of faith” or “unbelief”; even giving us a maximum standard of faith: a
mustard seed. No person ever had perfect faith, except for Jesus Christ
Himself. And it is this Faith we have access to, having Faith gifted to us, in
us. It no longer becomes a matter of our production of faith (us conjuring up
our own faith), but just to believe in His completion of Faith (completed work
by His Faith). We don’t need a mustard seed of faith (literally an
irrelevant portion of faith) when we, as believers, have each been given
His full measure of Faith (Romans
12:3)! Thus, we need to see that there is a distinction between pre-Cross (people’s
faith) and post-Cross faith (Christ’s Faith)—for all we have to do
is to just believe.
That’s right: to be Born-Again and to perform Signs and
Miracles doesn’t require faith, it only requires believing (Mark
16:16-17). When we do not see these happening in our life, it is not about
then requiring “more faith” or “more belief”, but removing our unbelief.
So, what is unbelief? Unbelief is actually just believing
something opposite to (“un”) in how and who the Lord is.
For those familiar with Hebrews 11, it is a testament to
great people and events of faith—each example opening "by faith...”; an
amazing list of people and events! It really seems to give us hope and a push
for us to have that kind of faith. But are these verses really telling us to be
men and women of that faith too? NO! Because the conclusion to this list is
actually the start of Hebrews 12. All these listed were pre-Cross; but we now
live post-Cross (in/of Christ).
It shows us that even
though there is such a "great cloud of witnesses" of faith, they
compared not to the Faith of Jesus, "the author and finisher of
Faith". Hebrews 11 is a build-up to Christ Jesus who mastered and finished
Faith once-and-for-all (in that He only did what He saw His Father do; a
continual manifestation of God through Him). Being not a requirement that we
have our own faith, but a requirement that we "look unto
Jesus" as our Faith—believing in that Faith. Thus, not being 'our Faith IN
Christ', but 'The Faith OF Christ'! Grace and Faith are Gifts!
It truly is that we are
not told to “have faith in Jesus”, but to “believe in Jesus” as “having His
Faith” (His ability).
Remember, because Faith
is now (post-Cross) a Fruit of the Holy Spirit, as we believe, that Faith (how
the Lord does things with us doing as the Father like Jesus did) manifests in
our lives!
Simply put: Faith is
just doing as God tells us to do with the same ability Jesus had in doing it. You
don’t need “more faith” to produce God, you just need to believe and then do.
And the doing comes from His ability (not our own).
Bible Study Lesson 030 – Humility, Obedience, & Trust
II.
READING:
Hebrews
10:38-39 (RGT) {PoG}
For “The just shall live by faith. But if anyone withdraws
himself, My soul shall have no pleasure in him.” 39 However, we are not those
who withdraw into destruction, but those who follow faith to the preservation
of the soul.
Hebrews
11:1-40 (RGT) {PoG}
Now {Moreover} faith is the confidence of things hoped for,
and the evidence of things not seen.
2 For by it our elders were given a good report.
3 {Through Faith:} we understand that the world was
ordained by the word of God, so that the things which we see are not made of
things which are visible.
4 {By Faith:} Abel offered a greater sacrifice to God
than Cain - by which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying
of his gifts - also by which he, being dead, still speaks.
5 {By Faith:} Enoch was translated, so that he would
not see death. Nor was he found. For God had taken him away. For before he was
transformed, it was reported of him that he had pleased God.
6 But without faith it is impossible to please Him. He who
comes to God must believe that God is and that He is a rewarder of those who
seek Him.
7 {By Faith:} Noah being warned by God of the things
which were as yet not seen, moved with reverence, prepared the Ark to the
saving of his household (through which He condemned the world), and was made
heir of the righteousness which is by faith.
8 {By Faith:} Abraham obeyed when he was called to go
out into a place which he would receive for inheritance afterward. And he went
out, not knowing where he went.
9 {By Faith:} he dwelt in the Land of Promise - as in
a strange country - living in tents with Isaac and Jacob, heirs with him of the
same promise.
10 For he awaited a city having a foundation whose Builder
and Maker is God.
11 {Through Faith:} Sarah also received strength to
conceive seed and delivered a child when she was past age, because she judged
Him Who had promised faithful.
12 And therefore, even from one who was as good as dead,
there sprang so many; as the stars of the sky in multitude, and as the sand of
the seashore, which is innumerable.
13 All these died in faith and did not receive the promises.
But they saw them at a distance and believed, and received thankfully, and
confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.
14 For those who say such things, plainly declare that they
seek a country.
15 And if they had been mindful of from where they had come,
they had opportunity to return.
16 But now they desire a better (that is, a heavenly).
Therefore, God is not ashamed to be called their God. For He has prepared a
city for them.
17 {By Faith:} Abraham - when he was tried - offered
up Isaac. And he who had received the promises offered his only begotten son
18 (to whom it was said, “In Isaac shall your seed be
called.”)
19 For he considered that God was able to raise him up -
even from the dead - from where He received him also, figuratively.
20 {By Faith:} Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau
concerning things to come.
21 {By Faith:} Jacob, when he was a dying, blessed
both the sons of Joseph worshipping at the end of his staff.
22 {By Faith:} Joseph, when he died, mentioned the
departing of the children of Israel and gave commandment about his bones.
23 {By Faith:} Moses, when he was born, was hidden
for three months by his parents because they saw he was a beautiful child. Nor
did they fear the king’s commandment.
24 {By Faith:} Moses, when he had come to age, refused
to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter
25 and chose to suffer adversity with the people of God
rather than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season.
26 He esteemed the rebuke of Christ to be greater riches
than the treasures of Egypt. For he looked toward the reward.
27 {By Faith:} he left Egypt and did not fear the
fierceness of the king. For he endured, as he who saw Him Who is invisible.
28 {Through Faith:} he ordained the Passover and the
effusion of blood, so that he who destroyed the first born would not touch
them.
29 {By Faith:} they passed through the Red Sea, as by
dry land (in which the Egyptians, when they had tried to do so, were swallowed
up).
30 {By Faith:} the walls of Jericho fell down after
they were surrounded for seven days.
31 {By Faith:} the prostitute Rahab, when she had
received the spies peaceably, did not perish with those who disobeyed.
32 And what more shall I say? For the time would be too
short for me to tell of Gideon, of Barak, and of Samson, and of Jephthah, also
of David, and Samuel, and of the Prophets;
33 who through faith
subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained the promises, stopped the
mouths of lions,
34 quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the
sword, made the weak strong, became valiant in battle, turned the armies of the
aliens to flight.
35 The women received their dead raised to life again. Also,
others were tortured and refused deliverance so that they might receive a
better resurrection.
36 And others have been tried by mockings and scourgings,
and moreover by bonds and imprisonment.
37 They were stoned. They were sawn in two. They were
tempted. They were killed with the sword. They wandered up and down in sheep’s
skins, and in goats’ skins; being destitute, afflicted, tormented.
38 Those of whom the world was not worthy wandered in
wildernesses and mountains, and dens, and caves of the earth.
39 And through faith, these all obtained a good report. And
yet, they did not receive the promise;
40 God providing a better thing for us, so that they would
not be made perfect apart from us.
Hebrews
12:1-2 (RGT) {PoG}
Therefore {for this reason}, seeing that we are surrounded
with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also cast away everything that
presses down and the sin that so easily entangles. Let us run with patience the
race that is set before us;
2 looking to Jesus - the Author and Finisher of our faith -
Who, for the joy that was set before Him, endured the cross and despised the
shame and is set at the right hand of the throne of God.
III.
RELATED VERSES AND QUESTIONS:
A. Matthew
9:27-30a (RGT)
And as Jesus departed from
there, two blind men followed Him, crying, and saying, “O son of David! Have
mercy upon us!”
28 And when He had come
into the house, the blind came to Him. And Jesus said to them, “Do you believe
that I am able to do this?” And they said to Him, “Yes, Lord.”
29 Then, He touched their
eyes, saying, “According to your faith may it be done to you.”
30 And their eyes were
opened.
Question: Do you admit to the Lord what you are
struggling with? Do you feel He will have mercy on you?
B. Having
both belief and unbelief together:
Mark
9:14-29 (RGT) {PoG}
And when He came to His
disciples, He saw a great multitude around them, and the scribes disputing with
them.
15 And immediately all the
people, when they saw Him, were amazed and ran to Him and greeted Him.
16 Then He asked the
scribes, “What are you disputing among yourselves?”
17 And one of the crowd
answered, and said, “Master, I have brought my son to You, who has a mute
spirit!
18 And wherever I have
taken him, the spirit has seized him. And he foams and gnashes his teeth and
pines away. And I asked Your disciples to cast him out and they could not.”
19 Then Jesus answered
him, and said, “O {faithless unbelieving} generation! How long now shall
I be with you? How long now shall I put up with you?! Bring him to Me.”
20 So they brought him to
Jesus. And as soon as the spirit saw Him, he seized the child. And he fell down
on the ground wallowing and foaming.
21 Then He asked his
father, “How long has he been this way?” And he said, “His whole childhood.
22 “And often he casts him
into the fire, or into the water, to destroy him. But if You can do anything,
help us and have compassion upon us.”
23 And Jesus said to him,
“If you can believe it, all things are possible to the one who believes.”
24 And immediately the
father of the child, crying with tears, said, “Lord, I believe! Help my
unbelief!”
25 When Jesus saw that the
people came running together, He rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to him,
“You dumb and deaf spirit, I command you come out of him! And enter into him no
more!”
26 Then the spirit cried,
and seized the child again, and came out. And the child was as one dead; so
much so that many said, “He is dead.”
27 But Jesus took his hand
and lifted him up. And he arose.
28 And when He had come
into the house, His disciples asked Him secretly, “Why couldn’t we cast him
out?”
29 And He said to them,
“This kind {of unbelief} can come forth by no other means but prayer and
fasting.”
Matthew 17:19-21 (RGT) {PoG}
Then the disciples came to
Jesus privately, and said, “Why could not we cast it out?”
20 And Jesus said to them,
“Because of your unbelief. For truly I say to you, if you have faith as much as
is a grain of mustard seed, you shall say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to
there’, and it shall move. And nothing shall be impossible to you.
21 “Nevertheless, this
kind {of unbelief} only goes out by prayer and fasting.”
Question: What did the father admit he needed
help with? Will the Lord accept our need for help with it?
C. Acts
3:1-8; 11-16 (RGT) {PoG}
Now Peter and John went up
together into the Temple, at the ninth hour of prayer.
2 And a certain man, who
was a cripple from his mother’s womb, was carried; whom they laid daily at the
Temple gate called ‘Beautiful’ to ask alms of those who entered into the
Temple.
3 Seeing Peter and John
about to enter into the Temple, he asked to receive alms.
4 And Peter, fixing his
gaze on him with John, said, “Look at us.”
5 And he stared at them,
trusting to receive something from them.
6 Then Peter said, “Silver
and gold I do not have, but what I have, that give I you. In the Name of Jesus
Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk.”
7 And he took him by the
right hand and lifted him up. And immediately his feet and ankle bones received
strength.
8 And he leaped up, stood,
and walked; and entered into the temple with them, walking and leaping and
praising God.
11 And as the cripple who was healed held Peter and
John, all the people ran to them, amazed, in the porch called ‘Solomon’s’.
12 So, when Peter saw it,
he answered the people, “Men of Israel, why do you marvel at this? And why do
you stare at us, as though by our own power or godliness we had made this man
walk?
13 “The God of Abraham,
and Isaac, and Jacob, the God of our fathers has glorified His Son, Jesus; Whom
you betrayed, and denied, in the presence of Pilate when he had judged Him to
be released.
14 “But you denied the
Holy and Righteous One, and desired that a murderer to be given to you;
15 “and killed the Lord of
Life, Whom God has raised from the dead, of which we are witnesses.
16 “And His Name has made
this man whole whom you see and know, through faith {in} His Name. And
his {Christ’s} faith has given to him this perfect health of his whole
body, in the presence of you all!
Question: Did the lame man or the disciples have
faith?
D. Authority
and instruction given:
Mark
16:15-18 (RGT)
And He said to them, “Go
into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature.
16 “The one who shall
believe, and be baptized, shall be saved. But the one who will not believe,
shall be damned.
17 “And these signs shall
follow those who believe: In My Name, they shall cast out demons, and shall
speak with new tongues,
18 “and shall take away
serpents. And if they shall drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them.
They shall lay their hands on the sick, and they shall recover.””
John
14:11-14 (RGT)
“Believe Me, that I am in
the Father, and the Father is in Me. At the least, believe Me for the very
works’ sake.
12 “Truly, truly I say to
you, whoever believes in Me, the works that I do, he shall do also, and greater
than these shall he do. For I go to My Father.
13 “And whatever you ask
in My Name, that will I do; so that the Father may be glorified in the Son.
14 “If you shall ask
anything in My Name, I will do it.”
Question: Do you need faith for these signs and
wonders to transpire in your life?
E. Romans
1:16-17 (RGT)
For I am not ashamed of
the Gospel of Christ. For it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone who
believes; to the Jew first and also to the Greek.
17 For by it the
righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith. As it is written, “The
just shall live by faith.”
Question: Whose faith?
F. Focusing
on the unseen with Christ’s Faith:
2
Corinthians 4:13-18 (RGT)
And because we have the
same spirit of faith, as it is written, “I believed, and therefore I have
spoken”, we also believe, and therefore speak,
14 knowing that He Who has
raised up the Lord Jesus, shall also raise us up by Jesus, and shall set us
with you.
15 For all things are for
your sakes, so that that superabundant grace by the thanksgiving of many, may
increase to the praise of God.
16 Therefore, we do not
faint. But though our outward man perishes, yet the inward man is renewed
daily.
17 For our light
affliction, which is only for a moment, works for us a far more exceeding and
eternal weight of glory.
18 While we look, not on
the things which are seen, but on the things which are not seen. For the things
which are seen are temporary. But the things which are not seen are eternal.
Psalms 116:7-10a (RGT)
Return to your rest, O my
soul, For the Lord has dealt bountifully with you.
8 For You have delivered
my soul from death, My eyes from tears, And my feet from falling.
9 I will walk before the
Lord In the land of the living.
10 I believed, therefore I
spoke.
Question: We all have the same spirit of
faith! What can we believe for in these verses?
G. Galatians
5:22-23 (RGT) {PoG}
But the fruit of the
Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, {faith},
23 gentleness,
self-control. Against such things there is no law.
Question: The Lord cares so much for our
wellbeing that He takes on the responsibility to produce all this fruit
(including faith) for us. Do you believe this for yourself?
H. Ephesians
4:4-6 (RGT)
There is one body and one
Spirit, just as you were called into one hope of your vocation;
5 one Lord, one Faith, one
Baptism,
6 one God and Father of
all, Who is above all, and through all, and in all.
Question: There are not multiple types of faith,
just one. How can you accept this one faith in your life?
I.
Colossians
2:6-15 (RGT) {PoG}
Therefore, as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord {by believing (John 3:16)}, so walk in Him;
7 being rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith as you
have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving.
8 Beware, lest anyone spoil you through philosophy and empty deceit
according to the traditions of man, according to the principles of the world
and not according to Christ.
9 For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead, bodily.
10 And you are complete in Him Who is the Head of all principality and
power.
11 In Him also are you circumcised, with circumcision made without
hands, by putting off the sinful body of the flesh through the circumcision of
Christ,
12 buried with Him in baptism (in which you are also risen with Him
through the faith of the working of God, Who raised Him from the dead).
13 And you, who were dead in sins and in the uncircumcision of your
flesh, He has made alive together with Him, forgiving all trespasses
14 and blotting out the handwriting of the ordinances against us which
opposed us. He has taken it out of the way and fastened it upon the cross.
15 And having disarmed the rulers and authorities, and having made a
show of them openly, He has triumphed over them in it.
Question: We can recognise again that it is a
matter of the Lord’s Faith: “through the
faith worked by God”, not our own. Do you believe this revelation that
you have been brought to fullness in Christ and God lives in you?
IV.
FURTHER THOUGHT:
A.
Romans
3:21-22 (RGT)
But now, the righteousness
of God has been made manifest without the Law, having been witnessed by the Law
and the Prophets;
22 that is, the
righteousness of God by the faith of Jesus Christ, unto all and upon all who
believe. For there is no difference.
Thoughts: The RGT and KJV (as well as other translations) write this passage and other related passages as being the “Faith OF Christ”, not “faith IN Christ”. This makes a big difference. We know that all a person is required to do for salvation is believe (Mark 16:16 and Romans 1:16)—that’s it, just to believe, not to instead (or in addition to) have “faith in Christ”. Christ took care of Faith for us making it complete and gifting it to us. This is hence why we can read these passages as being the “Faith of Christ”.
Here is an article that delves into this in the original language:
https://www.scholarscorner.com/justified-by-the-faith-of-jesus-christ-not-by-ours/
V. ACKNOWLEDGEMENT & SUPPORT:
A thank you to Kelly and Joshua who are inspirational in this life-journey. And to all the family, friends, sponsors, and donors who have fed into this ministry and outreach.
If you would like to support this ministry and outreach, you may do so via our website or at:
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Comments
Post a Comment