by Holbert Marie
Parts 1-4
https://www.surefoundint.org/2021/03/30/the-fundamentals-part-1/
https://www.surefoundint.org/2021/06/17/the-fundamental-foundations-part-2/
https://www.surefoundint.org/2021/10/04/the-fundamental-foundations-part-3/
https://www.surefoundint.org/2021/11/05/the-fundamentals-part-4/
”Let’s talk about Faith“
At the end of the “love chapter”, 1 Cor 13, Paul closes with this statement.
1 Cor 13:13
And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love. – (we covered ‘love’ in part 4)
{All scripture quotes unless otherwise noted is from the New King James Version – NKJV – Thomas Nelson publishers 1981}
Though love is the cornerstone of God, it is who He is – (1 John 4:8, 1 John 4:16). It is not only wise to have a proper grasp of faith and hope, it’s essential.
In this Part 5 (A & B), we will delve exclusively into faith/belief – (faith and ‘belief’ are intrinsically intertwined, kind of like the heart, soul and mind – Part 2) – and all the ‘components’ that go into creating true and real, God based faith – this word Faith is that important!
First let’s start with the simple basics, ‘the fundamental foundations’. Faith, defining it in my own words, at its roots is simply “confidence in God”. Faith is simply believing that God exist, is good and keeps his Word and His promises. God is reliable, faithful, He does not and cannot lie! Heb 11:6 says;
But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God MUST believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently – (ekzeteo- search out, crave, thoroughly investigate or inquire after)– seek Him.
Here is Strong’s definition of faith and the root word that goes with it from Heb 11:6.
[* Strong’s faith – NT 4102: pistis, pis’-tis; from NT 3982 persuasion, i.e. credence; moral conviction (of religious truth, or the truthfulness of God or a religious teacher), especially, reliance upon Christ for salvation; constancy in such profession; the system of religious (Gospel) truth itself:–assurance, belief, believe, faith, fidelity.NT 3982: peitho, pi’-tho; a primary verb; to convince (by argument, true or false); by analogy, to pacify or conciliate (by other fair means); reflex, to assent (to evidence or authority), to rely (by inward certainty): — agree, assure, believe, have confidence, be (wax) content, make friend, obey, persuade, trust, yield.]
(* All Greek or Hebrew definitions come from – Biblesoft’s New Exhaustive Strong’s Numbers and Concordance with Expanded Greek-Hebrew Dictionary. Copyright © 1994, 2003, 2006 Biblesoft, Inc. and International Bible Translators, Inc.)
The Greek word “pistis” (faith) occurs 244 times in the New Testament.
The first mention of the word ‘faith/pistis’ is when Jesus uses it in response to the Roman Centurion who headed up the garrison in Capernaum, which Jesus used as his home base.
Matt 8:5-13
5 Now when Jesus had entered Capernaum, a centurion came to Him, – (actually according to Luke 7, He himself did not come, he sent a messenger, a representative, to the Jewish authorities to go to the Lord to make a request on his behalf to have his servant healed) – pleading with Him, 6 saying, “Lord, my servant is lying at home paralyzed, dreadfully tormented.”
7 And Jesus said to him, “I will come and heal him.”
8 The centurion answered and said, “Lord, I am not worthy that You should come under my roof. But only speak a word, – (logos) – and my servant will be healed. 9 For I also am a man under authority, having soldiers under me. And I say to this one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes; and to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.”
10 When Jesus heard it, He marveled, and said to those who followed, “Assuredly, I say to you, I have not found such great FAITH, not even in Israel! 11 And I say to you that many will come from east and west, and sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. 12 But the sons of the kingdom will be cast out into outer darkness. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” 13 Then Jesus said to the centurion, “Go your way; and as you have BELIEVED, so let it be done for you.” And his servant was healed that same hour.
When Jesus specifically points out a specific person’s faith and calls it the ‘greatest that He has seen’ and ‘marvels’ at – (‘great’ and ‘marvel/amaze’ are not word’s the Lord uses often – in a positive way at least – when specifically commending a person!) – it is probably a good idea to stop and look into it and learn from that. So theses questions should be asked, “Why does Jesus say that?” Why is this centurions faith so great!? The answer can be found in the reality that this centurion understood how authority structures – (chain of command) – worked. He some how knew – (probably because he had heard or seen the Lord’s works) – Jesus was the head of that ‘spiritual authority‘ and had ‘spiritual soldiers’ under His command and that the Lord was far above him in rank and authority. This centurion would not of sought to get a personal audience or favor with/from Caesar or even his Tribune, let alone the King of the Universe!. His faith was indeed great and he was not taught or brought up in the Jewish faith, nor did he have extensive teaching in the Hebrew scriptures. (SELAH – stop and think about that.)
Of the 244 times the word pistis is defined as the English word ‘faith’, 242 times. It is used as ‘fidelity’ once in Titus 2:10 when Paul is giving instructions to those believers who are “bondservants“ or slaves:
Exhort bondservants – to be obedient to their own masters, to be well pleasing in all things, not answering back, 10 not pilfering, but showing all good fidelity, that they may adorn the doctrine of God our Savior in all things. . . .
[Strong’s bondservants NT:1401 doulos (doo’-los); from NT:1210; a slave (literal or figurative, involuntary or voluntary; frequently, therefore in a qualified sense of subjection or subserviency): – bond (-man), servant.]Doulos/bondservant/slave is used 126 times in the New Testament, 58 of those times out of the mouth of the one who is supposed to be our LORD/MASTER. It represents a person who is property or under total authority of a master. It is the same word Paul used as a title in Rom 1:1, Phil 1:1, Titus 1:1 and that Peter used in 2 Pet 1:1 – BEFORE apostle. Jesus said: Mark 9:33-35
“What was it you disputed among yourselves on the road?” 34 But they kept silent, for on the road they had disputed among themselves who would be the greatest. 35 And He sat down, called the twelve, and said to them, “If anyone desires to be first, he shall be last of all and SERVANT (doulos) of all.”
The truth is all of us are bondservants of someone! Either the Lord, satan or sin – (Matt 6:24)! The Roman centurion from above understood this. . . . .}
And Pistis/Faith is used once as ‘believe’ in Heb 10:39
But we are not of those who draw back to perdition, but of those who believe to the saving of the soul. – (The word ‘believe’ and ‘faith’ are inseparable. Also notice here we see ‘the saving of the soul’ is not a one-time thing it is a life long journey. The word ‘saving’ is not used in the past tense ‘saved’.)
The word Pistos/Faith – is used 24 times in the gospels. The Lord Himself spoke this word 20 of those times
Of those 20 times He says something like He said to the Centurion above; – “as you have BELIEVED, so let it be done for you.” or “in accordance with your faith let it be done to you” – 11 times in response to a personal petition for healing or a miracle. 3 more times it is used as referring to the Lord “seeing their faith” before executing a miracle, like the paralytic man let down through the roof – (Mark 2:3-5)
The other 10 times Jesus uses or refers to pistos/faith/belief when teaching or through parables – (Matt 17:20, Luke 17:6) – or challenging His disciples for not having it! (Like in Luke 8:25, Matt 6:30, Matt 8:26, Matt 14:31, Matt 16:8, Luke 12:28)
An interesting note: pistos/faith is not used at all in the gospel of John but we do see him use it once in 1 John 5:4-5
4 For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world — our faith. 5 Who is he who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?
And also we see John use faith 4 times in Revelation, twice quoting the Lord in Rev 2:13, 2:19 in His message to Pergamos and Thyatira.
Hebrews uses faith/pistos 32 times more than any other book in the New Testament – (24 of those times in Heb 11 – the faith chapter) – followed by Galatians with 22 uses, then 1 Tim with 19 uses. James who uses faith/pistos 16 times, when trying to correct some faulty doctrines on faith – are the books where the word pistos/faith is used most frequently.
Faith is broad in its use
If we look at the 244 uses of the word pistos/faith through a holistic lens, we will see that that there is quite a broad use of the word. There are ‘works’ – (ergon) -of faith, it is used as a metaphor and called ‘the breastplate of faith and love’ in 1 Thes 5:8 and Paul again uses it as a ‘shield’ in the armor of God passage in Eph 6:10-17. We see Jesus ask this question in Luke 18:1-8:
Then He spoke a parable to them, that men always ought to pray and not lose heart, 2 saying: “There was in a certain city a judge who did not fear God nor regard man. 3 Now there was a widow in that city; and she came to him, saying, ‘Get justice for me from my adversary.’ 4 And he would not for a while; but afterward he said within himself, ‘Though I do not fear God nor regard man, 5 yet because this widow troubles me I will avenge her, lest by her continual coming she weary me.'”
6 Then the Lord said, “Hear what the unjust judge said. 7 And shall God not avenge His own elect who cry out day and night to Him, though He bears long with them? 8 I tell you that He will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will HE REALLY FIND FAITH ON THE EARTH?“
So in this parable here, Jesus connects faith with perseverance in prayer, and enduring faith in the goodness of the Lord, in asking the Lord for justice or restoration of something stolen or wrong done to one by an adversary! – (Satan is THE thief and THE ‘adversary’) – Notice that there seems to be an oxymoron or a paradox in verses 7 and 8; saying that He (God the Father and Son) will avenge His own children who CRY OUT DAY AND NIGHT over the long haul, though He bears (suffers) long (patiently endures) with – (together – He suffers with us!) – them and then that He will avenge – (vindicate) – them speedily. Though for us this does not seem ‘speedily’ at all. The Lord ends with asking if there will be any ‘enduring and steadfast faith‘ left on the earth when He returns! Other scriptures and references to this time indicates that there will not be many, as many will fall away! Matt 24:9-14
Rom 12:3 tells us that faith/pistis is portioned/given out to each one and that not all are given the same measure:
For I say, through the grace given to me, to everyone who is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, as God has dealt (apportioned) to each one a MEASURE of faith.
So here is what we see when we delve into all the uses of faith
Despite the teaching of many, FAITH itself is not ‘simple’ at all, it is quite complex and involves, as we will see, a rather diverse set of inputs to develop. And there are clearly different kinds of faith for differing scenarios and we are going to delve into those thoroughly. We are also going to delve into some questions about faith itself that scripture gives us some answers too: “What is faith?”, “Where does it come from?”, “What did Jesus teach about how one can acquire more faith?”, “What are the different types of faith”?, “How can we really ‘build up’ our faith?” – (the answer to this one we will delve into thoroughly in part 5B)
“Faith” is not just a Bible word
Let’s set the record straight from the beginning; EVERYONE HAS SOME SORT OF FAITH. Faith is used by many, both believers and unbelievers. Unlike grace, which is pretty much a word used exclusively in the Christian community, faith is a generally used word to express belief, trust or confidence in someone or something – (I can have faith that my car will start, or that the person I have agreed to meet for lunch will be there.) – We also need to remember that faith is not just a “Christian or religious” word by any means. We have ‘faith’ in all kinds of things and we ‘exercise’ (use) that faith every day and actually put our lives and bodies at risk based on what we have ‘faith’ – believe and have confidence – in. I have ‘faith’ that the airplane designers have a proper understanding of the laws of physics and gravity and that the pilots and maintenance mechanics are capable and competent every time I fly in a plane, which has been often! I have faith – (whether I want to or not) – in other drivers – (and the car makers) – every time I drive a car or cross a street at a traffic crossing which is almost daily! Yet, on a regular basis that faith can be misplaced because of the failures of men or my own failures, and at some point, in time, this could cost me my life – (Cars do wreck and occasionally planes crash. People die, yes this includes believers, because of the failures and imperfections of men and a failure to listen for and heed the warnings the Lord may give! And it is not God’s fault if or when this happens!)
We must also take into consideration that there are differing types of ‘faith’ within the church – (including false or incorrect faith/beliefs and doctrines, many of these are held passionately with great sincerity – this does not make them true!) – as well and it is good – (actually quite important) – for us to be able to delineate between one type of faith – (like faith leading to salvation) and another faith – (like specific theological or practical faith or belief) – or specific faith – (‘believing’ or hoping for something specifically requested in prayer) – and false and true faith as well. Faith can be naively simple in an individuals life, but the forming of one’s faith/belief system is both complex and multifaceted and it is wise to both understand and delve deeply into the ‘Foundational Fundamentals‘ of scripture to discover what real faith is and what it is not, and what goes into developing it, especially in regards to one’s faith/belief about God!
I am also convinced there is a massive amount of confusion, misunderstanding and much false and dangerously deceptive teaching around this word ‘faith’ and this is why we are going to focus on this topic exclusively in Part 5 and break this up into two parts 5A and 5B – (and maybe even a part 5C) -‘Faith Continued’- because of the length and depth of all the scripture and nuances from it that are attached to this word. – (When I originally wrote the “The Fundamentals”, some 25+ years ago, I did a brief and somewhat abbreviated definition. Not so now, we should not be ignorant of the times we are in and the great lies and deceptions that have been released especially around faith/beliefs.)
So, I will prepare you, I am going to be very thorough here – (and somewhat redundantly so – as usual -, because scripture and Jesus was) – taking a deep dive into a number of the 244 New Testament scriptures around this topic, with some old testament references as well. We really need to get this right, especially considering the times we are living in, as many false ‘faiths’ – (beliefs and teachers/prophets of them) – have already and will continue to arise and as Jesus said directly, “deceive many” – (Matt 24:5. Matt 24:11)
The Bedrock Fundamental Component of Real Faith
The first and most important attribute of real Godly Faith that becomes clear with just the simplest rudimentary digging into scripture is that it is entirely married to the “Word of God”. The truth is all faith is going to be based on what one has heard, or been taught, or observed or experienced and the vast majority of the time, it is going to be what we have been taught, learned or picked up from our ‘fathers’, family or culture or events that have happened in our life. Faith does not exist, and cannot exist, on its own! So appropriately, real, true God based spiritual faith is going to come from what we have heard, been taught or received from our Father, our heavenly Father and what He clearly communicates and teaches us through His Word, the Logos (Scripture and the Lord) and also through His Holy Spirit, (the Rhema) word of God, (we will go into both of these in depth, deep depth.)
Let’s Start with Abraham the “Father of Faith”
I do not think we can talk about real Godly faith in practice – (not just by ‘word’ or ‘confession’) – without talking about Abraham, who is rightfully called the ‘father of faith’ – “father Abraham”. We first see Abram show up in Gen 12 and it opens with God speaking to him – (the Word of God). So, as I said above, faith is totally married to ‘the word of God’ – (God speaking). What we see here, putting it simply:
Abram, ‘believed’ – had faith, confidence that:
1.) – it was truly God ‘speaking’ to him saying, Gen 12:1-3: “Get out of your country, From your family And from your father’s house, To a land that I will show you, I will make you a great nation; will bless you And make your name great; And you shall be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, And I will curse him who curses you; And in you ALL THE FAMILIES of the earth shall be blessed.”
2.) – that God would keep (be faithful) to His word (promises), – in HIS time and way – and DO what God had told Abram what He, God, had promised – and this “ ‘believing God’ was accounted to him as righteousness” – Romans 4:3.
(He also believed God was speaking to him specifically concerning the other instructions and promises that he heard God make to him later on. It was not just a onetime thing! Abraham had a long term, persevering faith, that did not waver over the trials and test that came, even though he made his mistakes here and there along the way.)
3.) Abraham did not merely believe God, he also OBEYED GOD. So, when he believed God was telling (commanding) him to do something – like pack up and take his beautiful wife and move to “a land that I will show you”, which turned out to be wicked and perverted Canaan – Abram did so! So, there is active obedience that normally leads to action that involves some ‘risk’, a cost, or sacrifice or test, that is required before we see a promise fulfilled. We should note the first thing God said in Gen 12 was to tell Abraham to “leave and go” first – and then God said, “I will bless . . .”. So, Abram had to not only believe God was speaking to him, but he also had to begin to obey and do what he believed God was telling him to do. Obedience is the key (‘works’- ergon) that unlocks the door to the promise being fulfilled. Here is a simple analogy of how real faith in action works:
If I tell you I will give you a million dollars if you come to my home, you have to first hear me – (completely, not partially) – secondly, believe – (have Faith) – that I am really telling you that I will give you a million dollars, and thirdly believe, that I have a million dollars to give you, and fourthly, believe that I will give it to you if you take the time and make the effort to come to my home. If you do not hear me or hear but don’t believe that any of these other points is true, then you will not make the effort to come to my house – (especially if it really cost you something like an airline ticket or long travel – action/works) – and you will not get the million dollars! You must first listen and hear, then believe and then come (obey/do) to get it, simple, and this is what Jesus teaches in Luke 6:46-49 – “Come to me, hear my words and do them” and those few who do this can truly call Him Lord/MASTER!
It’s important to note that God did not give Abram many details or specifics. He simply told him to leave His father’s household – which he did not completely do – and go to where I show you – which he did do.
Can you imagine going home to your beautiful wife today and saying, “Hey sweetheart, God visited me today and told me that we need to pack up and move and leave our family and hometown behind and you will most likely never see them again!” How would that go over with the vast majority of today’s modern western women? After the shock wore off, – (that is if she didn’t straight up refuse to go) – wouldn’t she at least ask, “Aaa OK, umm, did He tell you where we are moving to?” To which you would reply, “I don’t know yet, God said He will show me after we begin to go!” How would such a scenario be received in most “Christian” households today!? Then to find out later that he was telling you to take your gorgeous wife to Haiti or Afghanistan or the Congo in Africa or someplace like that!? – Selah
The truth is, far too many ask God for the full plan and the specific details before obeying what they believe the Lord has told them to do and then they want a ‘money back guarantee’ of painless success before they obey. In my life this has never worked, there is no faith or trust in that. God wants me to step out and trust Him when I believe He gives me a simple order. If I am the Lord’s slave/servant/doulos – (a great privilege and Jesus Himself came as, as previously noted, a slave/servant/doulos – (Phil 2:7) – to His Father and washed His disciples feet, the lowest job of a slave – John 13:12-17) – I simply should do what the master tells me to do and not berate the master with an endless barrage of questions delving into the details of the reasons or rational behind His instructions, nor can I make any demands on Him at all. The key here is to make sure I am hearing the master and I know his instructions. – (His sheep hear His voice, It’s best to be a sheep and not a goat! Matt 25:31-46) – The Lord has no problems with us inquiring about those instructions. We see this often in scripture. We see it in Gen 24 when Abraham’s most trusted and oldest servant was given an order to go find a wife for Isaac – (https://www.surefoundint.org/2018/01/21/a-tale-of-two-kings/) – We see it with Gideon – (Judges 6-8) – and with our Lord, when He asked the Father “if this cup could pass“ – (Math 26:39, Mark 14:36, Luke 22:42.) However, at the end of the conversation, once I know or believe it is Him, I must do as Jesus did, “Father not my will but your will be done” and then obey that one step that I believe He gave me to do. He then, and only then, will give me the next ones, WHEN I NEED IT and He will also provide whatever I need (grace/provision) to obey that step as well – IN HIS TIME – and there are other factors involved with that, as Joshua and Caleb found out.
I have learned as I have gotten older, ‘in the faith’. that delayed or partial obedience to the perceived commandment or word of the Lord is akin to disobedience, and more often than not, the ‘timing’ of God ‘delivering on His promises’ has as much or more to do with me – (and sometimes the decisions/choices of others if the ‘promise’ involves another or a group of people) – and my coming into obedience to His instructions then it does His ‘timing’ or willingness to do something. ‘God’s timing’ is often impacted by ‘my timing’ in coming into and wholly obeying – (or coming into humility where I can actually handle or ‘steward’ properly what He wants to bestow upon me) – what I believe He has told me to do, even if I don’t understand it or have all the details!
It needs to be noted that there was an inherent risk and cost in Abraham’s obedience, to both himself and his wife, Sarah – (Who is, in my opinion, the ‘mother of faith’. Her commitment and faithfulness to follow and obey Abraham – even “calling him lord” – 1 Pet 3:6 – and cover him, even in his weaknesses putting her own life and safety at risk; is the ‘Gold standard’ of a ‘Prov 31 woman.’) – It was only after ‘believing and obeying’ the first word God spoke to him that we see the other promises come, and even though Abraham’s faith was not perfect, nor was his obedience:
He took Lot – God didn’t tell him to take Lot, he told him to leave his family and father’s house, not take part of it with him – that caused problems later. He went into Egypt when confronted with a famine in Canaan! He did not ask the Lord what he should do and God did not tell him to go to Egypt – that caused problems – He actually got his wife taken up by another man – (God intervened) – then he ended up leaving Egypt with Hagar – He did not trust God to protect him or his wife, twice – that caused problems. – He heeded (obeyed) his wife Sarah’s council in her weakness – (someone else did that in the garden in Gen 3:17) – to ‘help God out; to create an heir – had an ‘Ishmael’- that caused problems – (that God redeemed).
– Yet God still kept His promises to Abraham (and Sarah) and covered him – (and her) – every time – (yet not without some difficulties) – Why? because Abram DID OBEY and Sarah SUBMITTED to Abraham, as said before – even calling him “lord” – 1 Pet 3:6, and they did what God told them to do which would surely seem a fool hardy and difficult thing to do. This gives me hope! I too have not been perfect in my faith and obedience, sadly, far from it – (only one, Jesus the Son, has been perfect in His faith – trust and obedience) – So, we do not need to be perfect in faith and obedience – (though we should desire and seek to be so) – to not only gain His promises but more importantly to please Him. But there maybe – (normally is) – consequences and delays in the gaining of them if I waver in faith or delay my obedience to what I know or believe He has told me to do.
‘Unbelief’ is the opposite of faith and many will fall away from ‘faith’ in God in the last day/generation before He returns!
Conversely if I continue to stubbornly turn away, avoid (like Jonah) or am disobedient – (like King Saul, who lost his kingdom, not for his carnal sin, but for not obeying completely, specifically what the Lord had clearly commanded him to do, which was wipe out the Amalekites! – 1 Sam 15 especially verses 22,23) – to what I know (or believe) He has told me to do, then I may see the opposite of God’s promises established (like the children of Israel – who died in the wilderness instead of obtaining the “Promised” land that God WANTED/DESIRED FOR THEM TO HAVE! The communities decision to rebel and disobey God surely had a huge impact on the timing of when Joshua and Caleb obtained their promise, costing them 40 years in the wilderness – Num 14) – and if I then turn my back on Him in bitterness because He didn’t do things according to my plan, way and timing, or blame shift on to Him – (as Adam did when he pointed at first “the woman” – and then to God, – “that you gave me” – Gen 3:12) – for some evil thing that I or someone else did; I could find myself, as Paul warned in 1 Cor 9:27, being ‘disqualified’ or ‘castaway’ –
– and end up in hell! – (Heb 6:4-8, Matt 7:23, Matt 13:20-21, 2 Pet 2 especially 20-22, Matt 24:13, 2 Thess 2:3-4 and many others – The fear of the Lord and enduring till the end was a perpetual, redundant teaching in the New Testament, by Jesus, Peter, Paul, John, the author of Hebrews, Jude and also Ezekiel 18:19-25 and other Old Testament prophets. Salvation was never considered just a onetime event – at least for us* – gained after an initial prayer of confession or belief. That is why Paul said: “work out” –
– your SALVATION with fear and trembling” – Phil 2:12, through humble obedience! It is why the author of Hebrews warned the persecuted and oppressed flock to run with endurance the race and finish, remembering our life on this earth in this ‘body of sin’ is not to be our final home. It’s the main theme of Peter’s and Paul’s (2 Tim) last epistles. Paul wrote many of his epistles to exhort, correct and warn, fearing that he may have ‘labored over them in vain’: 1 Cor 15:2, 2 Cor 6:1, Gal 4:11, 1 Thes 3:5. Phil 2:16.
* (THE POSSIBILITY of our salvation was purchased by the Lord once and for all – by His death on the cross and resurrection. His contribution to our salvation is a ‘onetime event’! – Rom 6:10)
Ultimately, “unbelief” is calling God unfaithful and a liar and God cannot do anything for anyone who stubbornly clings to their unbelief.
Mark 6:5-6, Matt 13:5
Now He could do no mighty work there, except that He laid His hands on a few sick people and healed them. 6 And He MARVELLED – (was amazed – Jesus Himself uses this word twice, once here and the other at the faith of the Centurion as noted above.) – because of their unbelief.
Matt 13:58
Now He did not do many mighty works there because of their unbelief.
The Lord clearly had the power and ability to do mighty works, so this has nothing to do with God being limited in His ability. This has everything to do with God ‘partnering with us’, it is – as redundantly said in Part 1 – a ginosko (to ‘know’) relationship between a Father and His children. This is what James had to say about this: James 1:2-8
My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, 3 knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. 4 But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing. 5 If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him. 6 But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. 7 For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; 8 he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.
So, bottom line, Abraham’s faith was not passive based only on just ‘believing God’ or verbally, with passion, ‘declaring the promises’, it was an active and ‘risky’ faith that was backed up with ‘works’ (ergon) – (deeds of obedience in faith) and over the long haul, he ‘finished well‘, as James goes on to tell us in 2:18-24:
“ . . . But someone will say, “You have faith, and I have works (ergon).” Show me your faith without your works (ergon), and I will show you my faith by my works (ergon). 19 You believe –
[Strong’s Believe NT:4100 pisteuo (pist-yoo’-o); from NT:4102 (pistis/faith) -; to have faith (in, upon, or with respect to, a person or thing), i.e. credit; by implication, to entrust (especially one’s spiritual well-being to Christ): – believe (-r), commit (to trust), put in trust with.)] “Believe/Believed” – pisteuo – is founded on faith.
– that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe –
(also pisteuo NT 4100. Obviously, the demons will not be saved, yet James uses the same word here and makes no delineation between the demons believing in God and someone else ‘declaring’ they believe in God!)
– and tremble! 20 But do you want to know, O foolish man, that faith without works -(ergon) – is dead? 21 Was not Abraham our father justified by works – (ergon) – when he offered Isaac his son on the altar? 22 Do you see that faith was working together with his works, -(active obedience/ergon) – and by works – (obedience/ergon) – faith was made perfect (complete)? 23 And the Scripture was fulfilled which says, “Abraham believed – (pisteuo NT 4100) – God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.” And he was called the friend of God. 24 You see then that a man is justified by works, – (ergon/ acts of obedience to the known or perceived will of God) – and not by faith only.”
James specifically points out the greatest act of obedience (works, action/ergon) “in faith” to a word -commandment given from the Lord – in all of scripture – (Our Lord going to the cross being the one exception). One that made absolutely ‘no sense’ or seemed that it could not be a commandment from God at all! Let’s look at it: Gen 22:1-2
Now it came to pass after these things that God tested Abraham, and said to him, “Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.”
2 Then He said, “Take now your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, – (where the Lord was later crucified) – and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you.”
And just like Gen 12, Abraham fully believed God was telling him to do this and he then completely obeyed what he heard God tell him to do and being seasoned in the faith, He did not hesitate or hedge it, and here is the result:
Gen 22:11-12
But the Angel of the Lord called to him from heaven and said, “Abraham, Abraham!” So, he said, “Here I am.” 12 And He said, “Do not lay your hand on the lad, or do anything to him; for now I know that you FEAR God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from Me.”
And the “Angel of the Lord” went on . . .
Gen 22:15-19
Then the Angel of the Lord called to Abraham a second time out of heaven, 16 and said: “By Myself I have sworn, says the Lord, BECAUSE YOU HAVE DONE THIS THING, and have not withheld your son, your only son — 17 blessing I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply your descendants as the stars of the heaven and as the sand which is on the seashore; and your descendants shall possess the gate of their enemies. 18 In your seed all the nations – (gentiles/families, not just the seed of Jacob/Israel) – of the earth shall be blessed, BECAUSE YOU HAVE OBEYED My voice.”
We see here that there is a blessing/reward that is given to Abraham BECAUSE HE OBEYED, not just ‘believed’. What we see here is simple and it is clear. Abraham’s FAITHFUL obedience blessed all nations, not just the Hebrew nation, and it all goes back to Abraham’s intimate (ginosko) relationship and communication with God from Gen 12 where God gave Him the original instructions to go, and then he will be blessed with ‘sand of the seashore’ descendants. (Please note God’s full promise was not seen in Abraham’s life time!) It will be no different with us, and we have some advantages Abraham did not have the Holy Spirit “the Angel of the Lord” dwelling inside of him, as we can now have. – (by redemption through the Son of God – who WAS sacrificed after Abraham walked the earth – (John 16:7). So, we have no excuse – (John 15:22, Romans 2:1) – for not having an intimate ginosko relationship with the Lord and therefore being a sheep that hears His voice and then obeys – (does His works, not our own ‘dead works/ergon’) – walking in real active obedient faith!
And here is the conclusion of Abraham’s faith from Heb 11:17-19:
By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises offered up his only begotten son, 18 of whom it was said, “In Isaac your seed shall be called,” 19 concluding that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead, from which he also received him in a figurative sense.
So Why Did God Command Abraham to offer up Isaac?
There has been quite a bit of angst and ‘hand wringing’ over this story. Many point to this as an example of God being calloused and cruel. Yet, there is a very powerful lessen interwoven here, besides the obvious foreshadowing symbolism of the coming Christ. The lesson (the final exam, ‘test’, that needed to be passed) is that Abraham had believed and persevered for many years before receiving the promise, Isaac. Then after he received the promise, the Lord then asked Him to ‘sacrifice’, kill or put to death ‘that promise’. It would have been quite easy for Abraham to say, “This is not God” and not do it. However, Abraham knew God’s voice, and knew what He was saying. He surely would of questioned it. – (He had already contended with the Lord for Sodom and Gomorrah) – “Why Lord? Why would you require this?” I am sure God did not answer him at that time. Looking back on it with hindsight, the answer is really a simple one; It would have been quite easy for Abraham, to make ‘the promise obtained, Isaac’ his idol, replacing God. It would not be hard to forget the Lord, after a promise obtained, especially one of that nature, and allow one’s love, attention and DEVOTION to be placed on ‘the promise’. Abraham going all the way through with this to the end proves to God that Abraham does both fear and love God more than anything.
The Lord has actually given us a similar commandment!
In Luke 14 Jesus gives a commandment, a directive, to the ‘multitudes’ – (that is everybody) – that is somewhat similar to what God gave Abraham concerning Isaac. – Luke 14:25-27
Now great multitudes went with Him. And He turned and said to them, 26 “If anyone comes to Me and does not HATE –
{[Strong’s: hate 3404; misoe from a primary misos (hatred); to detest (especially to persecute); ‘by extension, to love less’:] – Misoe – is used 41 times in the New Testament, and always as ‘hate’ or a derivative of it. It is universally used to describe all hate or hatred, including the hatred that the world has for us or the Lord or that we should have for sin. It means to despise, to detest, it is a strong word and there are no weak or ‘watered down’ uses of this word, therefore Strong’s addition to ‘love less’ does not really work here, as that is never what it means in all the other 40 times it is used!}
– his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple (follower). 27 And whoever does not bear his cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple. . .” (I call this passage ‘the gospel according to Jesus’)
So here again, as with Abraham, it appears the Lord is asking them/us to do something that is contrary to His will and nature and commandments. As the 5th commandment is to “honor your mother and father, so that your days will be long and good.” Also, we are told to “love our wives” (Eph 5:25), even ‘giving ourselves – (laying down our lives) – for them’. – (As a side note; please notice what is missing from the list of those we are to ‘hate’ in Luke 14:25. There is no mention of hating husbands. Why is that? – SELAH) – So what is Jesus saying here, He cannot be serious, yes!?
The truth is He is serious. He knows, like Abraham, that our natural love and affections for others/wives/children over God, – (which is the first and greatest commandment – Part 2) – could cause us to give these other loved ones an improper place and position in our lives, even above God. So, the reality is I have found that until I ‘hate’ everyone else, I will not truly follow Him with all my being, I will be double minded, have ‘two masters’, with a ‘divided heart’. I had to offer up my family, my culture, my friends, my desire to be married (wife) as a ‘burnt offering’, to love Him with all my being and to go do what the Lord wanted me to do. It was not (and still is not) easy on my natural fallen nature, but it was (and is) worth it, and once I did that, God then gave me a wife, and children and I can now love myself, them and friends and others in a Godly and proper way and in proper order. –
(Side note: I took my children on to the mission field, I did not leave the mission field because we had them, nor did I send my children away from us to be ‘educated’ by others. I did not abdicate my position and responsibility of being a father who ‘trains your children in the way they should go’. And God made a promise to me. “You take care of my sheep and I’ll take care of yours!” And HE WAS FAITHFUL TO HIS PROMISE! Not because I was this ‘super dad’, but simply because I sought to obey what I knew He was telling me to do which was to bring them up in the Word and ‘the fear of the Lord’ and the Lord promised me that they would not depart from it – Prov 22:6! We need to remember our kids are not really our kids. THEY ARE HIS, we are just stewards for a season, and He loves them much more than us as parents!)
Let’s go back to our beginning ‘grace’ scripture and talk about “Saving Faith” . . .
Eph 2:8-10
For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, 9 not of works, –
I have been putting up the word ‘works/ergon’ for some time now. And I was doing it to set up this particular use of the word ‘works’ from this particular scripture. In this usage the word ‘works’ represents human effort, deeds, these are NOT ‘works or actions of obedience’ done because one has heard and is responding to the word/commandment/instructions of the Lord. These are attempted ‘good’ deeds/works – (from the tree of knowledge of ‘good’ and evil, they are from the flesh, the natural fallen man) – done to seek to appease or earn God’s favor. The word ‘work/ergon’ is the same word that James 2 uses above, the difference is James’s ‘works’ are as deeds that are done in service and obedience to the Lord’s command or word. Which is exactly what we will see Paul talk about in vs 10 of this Eph 2:8-10, the ‘salvation’ passage!
– lest anyone should boast. 10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works,– (ergon) – that God has prepared before hand that we should walk in them.
(Note that ergon NT 2041, is the same word as ‘works’ in Eph 2:9 above, except these are ‘works, deeds’ of obedience that are ordained by God, for us to do! These are not the human effort ‘dead works’, – that we need to ‘repent of’ and be ‘cleansed from’. – Heb 6:1, Heb 9:14. So the word ‘works/ ergon’ is representative of both human effort – (works of the flesh) – as well as obedient effort – (works of faith/obedience like Abraham) – work(s)/ergon simply means – activity action, effort, deeds. labor.)
We should note here from this passage that there is a clear delineation between Man’s ‘works’ done to try to earn salvation or appease God, and God’s ‘works’ that He has ordained or commanded us to do because we love and desire to please Him first and foremost! And we should also note the difference between ‘saving faith’ and ‘obedient faith’ to the revealed word of God!
‘Saving Faith’
Saving faith comes entirely through the Holy Spirit drawing and convicting one of “righteousness, sin and the judgment to come”! (John 16:7-11). We discussed this in depth in Part 3. God will convict everyone at some point in their life. There is no one who has reached the ‘age of reason’ that does not have a basic understanding of right and wrong! Even a toddler knows in their little heart and mind what is fair and wrong and that it is not fair or right to hit their younger sibling and take a toy from them that they want, or be jealous of them because a parent showed a sibling some affection that wasn’t centered towards them. The code/laws of right and wrong is written in our hearts, it’s in our DNA, even if fallen – (Rom 2:12-16.) There will come a time when the Holy Spirit comes to convict, – (and maybe, like Pharaoh, multiple times) – those who believe unto salvation – (their choice) – when they choose to accept the truth that the Holy Spirit convicts them of their sin and ‘. . . about what is right and the judgement to come’.
Then there is a humble acknowledgement of the truth, that one has rebelled and sinned against God and that we are the guilty party here, not God and that we therefore need a savior, and we cannot save ourselves by any means. This leads us to repentance, and this is the “kindness of God” (Rom 2:4). This leads one to confess their sin and wickedness and there is a contrition, a Godly sorrow -(2 Cor 10:7) that we see in Acts 2:37, that causes one to humble themselves before the Lord and call out for Him to save us from the consequences of our sin that we justly deserve! This is not just a cry to get us out of hell, but a cry to redeem us from our craven selfishness and SELF CENTERDNESS. The Lord then comes and reveals Himself to them in THEIR HEART and they are born again of the Spirit (John 3:3) and there is a revelation and a receiving of God’s love (the gift of grace), forgiveness and acceptance There is a peace and joy that comes with this. And this is ‘saving faith’, and it is grace that comes through believing/faith and this too is a gift. There are no specific ‘works of obedience’ or action involved here except hearing and responding, believing and receiving and this is what Jesus Himself called ‘doing the works of God’!
John 6:28-29:
Then they said to Him, “What shall we do, that we may work the works – (ergon NT2041) – of God?”-
(they were asking the Lord to give them a specific task or ‘good deeds’ to do the ‘works of God’ to earn salvation or “inherit eternal life” as the rich young ruler asked- Mark 10:17-22)
– 29 Jesus answered and said to them, “This is the work – (ergon NT2041, same word as James 2 and Eph 2:8,10) – of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent.”
This is the only time Jesus defines the word ‘work/ergon’, and it has nothing to do with human effort, work or a task done other than BELIEVE AND HAVE FAITH IN HIM, which is ‘work’ indeed. It is a different sort of work then works done when seeking to earn salvation – (dead works) – or ‘work’ done in direct obedience to a commandment or the revealed word of God which is, as James said, an ‘evidence’ of real faith in God as Heb 11:6 says!
However, this, “saving faith” is not the end of the game, but only the beginning!
If there is no noticeable change (fruit of repentance) in humility and thinking, attitude or behavior in a person after ‘receiving and believing in the Lord’; then the depth (roots) and legitimacy of their confession of faith is questionable! We should remember that all faith will be tested – even the Lord’s was – (Matt 4:1-11) – at some point of time in one’s life and, actually as one grows in faith, the test are generally more severe – (as it was with Abraham)! We never ‘arrive’ on this side of life.
Jesus makes this very clear in the ‘parable of the sower’!
Matt 13:1-7
On that day after Jesus went out of the house, he sat by the lake. 2 And such a large crowd gathered around him that he got into a boat to sit while the whole crowd stood on the shore. 3 He told them many things in parables, saying: “Listen! A sower went out to sow. 4 And as he sowed, some seeds fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured them. 5 Other seeds fell on rocky ground where they did not have much soil. They sprang up quickly because the soil was not deep. 6 But when the sun came up, they were scorched, and because they did not have sufficient root, they withered.
And here is his interpretation of this same parable:
Matt 13:18-21
“So listen to the parable of the sower: 19 When anyone hears the word about the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches what was sown in his heart; this is the seed sown along the path. 20 The seed sown on rocky ground is the person who hears the word and immediately RECEIVES it with joy. 21 But he has no root in himself and does not endure; when TROUBLE or PERSECUTION comes because of THE WORD, immediately he FALLS AWAY.
(The NET Bible®, Copyright © 1996-2006 by Biblical Studies Press, L.L.C., Dallas, Texas, www.bible.org. All rights reserved. Used by permission.)
The first thing we should notice here is that faith, and yes that includes saving faith – (faith to believe) – is a GIFT OF GOD and specifically from the Father through the Son! We are saved by grace – through faith and this faith is not acquired through our effort or deeds, nor is it part of our personality, nor does it come from our ‘positive attitude/thinking’, nor is it worked up out of ourselves at all. IT IS A GIFT – (present, offering, sacrifice) – FROM GOD and it comes from – as we have seen in Abraham – by first hearing the ‘word of God’ and then believing it. and is perfected/completed through obedience.
We would also do well to remember that ‘faith/pistis’ is one of the 9 ‘gifts of the Spirit’ listed in 1 Cor 12:4-10 – “. . . to another faith by the same Spirit . . .” This simply means that the ‘gift of faith’ is imparted to a person, – (like the other Spiritual gifts) – BY THE SPIRIT, it is NOT a personal attribute that one possesses through natural means or genetics, faith itself is not an inherited trait through ones natural/fallen DNA. Though there are great advantages of being brought up in the knowledge/faith of God and the teachings of the word, those ‘advantages’ can be turned against one if they rebel as Numbers 14 shows us, and that Hebrews 3 and 4 use as an example, and that Paul also talks about in Romans 9 – 11, all as a warning to us to not take for granted the grace and mercies of God! If one who has been raised ‘in the faith’ and then refuses/denies and walks away from that faith in God, the consequences for them are dire and this is redundantly stated in scripture, in both the Old and New Testament, and we see God use the Jews as an abject lesson and warning concerning this – Matt 23, Romans 9,10. Hebrews 6:1-6, 2 Pet 2:20-22 – Paul and Peter and Jesus as well as the prophets of the old covenant, Ezekiel, Jeremiah, Isaiah and others, say redundantly. So, we should walk in humble Godly fear as Paul tells us to do in 1 Cor 10:1-12 and Romans 11:13-24 and Phil 2:12 remembering Heb 10:31- “it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the Living God and “Now the just shall live by faith; But if anyone draws back, My soul has no pleasure in him.” – Heb 10:38 . And it should be our ever-increasing desire to please Him, not just seek to escape our justly deserved punishment! We need to remember Jesus said this right after He taught on the parable of the King’s wedding feast for His Son: Matt 22:11-13
“But when the king came in to see the guests, he saw a man there who did not have on a wedding garment. 12 So he said to him, ‘Friend, how did you come in here without a wedding garment?’ – (garments of righteousness works/ergon done in faith/obedience) – And he was speechless. 13 Then the king said to the servants, ‘Bind him hand and foot, take him away, and cast him into outer darkness; there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’
The point here is that each one of us must have his/her own belief/faith and encounter with God and hear His word and respond – and through practice and experience (Heb 5:14), we do learn and grow in faith and in relationship with Him as we come to know – (ginosko) – Him – (or, we can also falter and fall back as Solomon and many others did and ‘fall away‘ from faith in God – 2 Tim 2:16-19) – In any case faith, whether ‘saving faith’ or ‘active works obedient faith’, comes from God, it is “not of ourselves, lest anyone boast” and it comes from first hearing and then obeying God’s word.
So, to drive this point home, the ‘gift of God’ in Eph 2:8 is not only ‘grace’ it is also faith to believe. Both faith and grace are ‘not of yourselves’. And we cannot boast – (all boasting, outside of boasting in and giving glory and credit to the Lord, is exalting yourself which is pride) – about having either, for they are both from Him and this is going to be made crystal clear as we go forward through the scripture. Like all gifts from God we do have a say (as Abraham did) in coming to Him or not coming to Him, in seeking or not seeking it, in receiving or not receiving it, believing or not believing it, and then obeying or not obeying it, and this is a daily – (1 Cor 15:31) – or even moment by moment choice and not just a one time thing. – (This is a redundantly confirmed progression though out scripture. As we talked about in depth before, ‘our vote’ or choice does count, we are not programmed computers or robots!) – However, the attribute of Faith itself – (at least when defined in terms of spiritual or ‘religious’ aspects) – is totally a gift/revelation from the Lord.
Here is but one example from scripture of faith being given as a gift (revelation) from God:
When Peter confessed that Jesus was, “the Christ the Son of the living God” – (Matt 16:16). The Lord immediately says to him vs 17: “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not REVEALED – (revelation, to uncover or bring out of hiding, make known, open one’s eyes too) – this to you, but My Father who is in heaven…” (The Father God (God Most High) – communicated this ‘word’ to Peter’s heart and mind in some way and probably like He did Abraham, through ‘the Angel of the Lord’, the Holy Spirit.
The Lord is saying that Peter is greatly favored and blessed for having this revelation (gift) of ‘grace and truth’ (John 1:14) and then . . .we need to take a little time (selah) and let this register and understand . . . the Lord immediately says that Peter** did not get this revelation (thought or word) on his own or through human – (flesh and blood) – wisdom, but it was a REVELATION to Him by His – the Lord’s Father – and he, Peter, should not take credit for it, or get ‘cocky’ or prideful about it, as this ‘declaration of faith’, was a gift, as Ephesians 2:8 says, from God! –
[**Unrelated but important Side Note: And Peter did get ‘cocky’/arrogant about it. We see him immediately try to take a ‘position of authority’ right away, even over the Lord, and we see him end up being rebuked sternly by the Lord shortly after being commended – vs 22,23. A week later he is taken up to the mount of transfiguration – (probably Mt. Hermon which is in Caesarea Philippi) – and is once again put in his place by the Father and the Holy Spirit!I am not ‘busting’ on Peter here! I find I have this very same issue. I do something that pleases Him and He says in my spirit ’well done this pleased me’ and then I immediately turn that into some sort a pride thing, or thinking that I now can have some promotion, treat or reward (like a dog), or thinking I am more favored therefore ‘He loves me specially’ and maybe more than other brothers and sisters and I then start ‘feeling my worth’ and the most insidious pride (spiritual pride and arrogance) – begins to seep in and then I find myself starting to compete with my brothers about “who is the greatest” – Luke 22:24-27. Oh Lord have mercy! This is what Luke 17:5-10 – (when the disciples specifically asked Jesus to “increase their faith“) – is all about and we will delve into this scripture further on, as it too is about ‘faith’.
The Lord goes onto say that because he, Peter, was the first to declare this truth – “you are the Christ, the only begotten Son of God” – ‘by faith’ – that was revealed to him by the Father, through the Holy Spirit – he would be the first to declare this fundamental truth of the gospel, on which the Lord would build His church. And this is exactly what we see the fulfillment of in Acts 2 as Peter is the first to preach (declare) the gospel boldly and publicly – (after denying him three times some 50+ days before – that is what being filled with the Holy Spirit will do to a person!) – post resurrection and it is on this ‘rock’, the confession of Christ as Messiah, ‘the Son of the Living God’ and Savior, – (that Peter preached on Pentecost day in Acts 2) – that the Lord, as noted, built (founded) HIS church on, NOT PETER HIMSELF!]
‘Saving Grace’ Opens the Door for EVERYONE to receive the ‘Gift of the Holy Spirit’
When one receives this grace – ‘saving faith’ – then the door – (Jesus is the door – John 10:7-9) – opens for one to receive the infilling of the Holy Spirit – the Helper, the ‘Angel of the Lord!’
As we will soon prove from scripture, this ‘being filled’ or ‘receiving the Holy Spirit’, is. a critically important component in both having, maintaining, and building real Godly ‘faith’ and we will furthermore discover and prove through the scripture that this ‘infilling’, ‘receiving’ , ‘baptism of the Holy Spirit and fire falling on His people – Matt 3:11 – is a separate event from salvation and does not ‘automatically’ happen at the moment one believes in Christ, like many denominations, unfortunately teach.
Acts 8:14-16, Acts 19:1-2, Peter’s defense for going into the house of Cornelius (Acts 11) is irrefutable proof that ‘falling on, receiving or infilling or being baptized with the Holy Spirit’ is an entirely separate encounter or manifestation of God and does not always simultaneously occur when one believes and confesses Jesus as Lord and savior! However the manifestation of the receiving the Holy Spirit is evidence of one has received and believed in the Lord Jesus Christ unto salvation. The manifested/observable ‘baptism of the Holy Spirit’ was the sign that the gentiles had indeed received ‘saving faith in Christ‘.
We need to remember that the Holy Spirit is NOT the Father, or the Son. The Lord specifically states that ‘all manner of blasphemy spoken’, even against the Father or the Son of God, will be forgiven, but blasphemy against the Holy Spirit will not be – Matt 12:31-32**. This proves two things 1.) the Spirit of God is a person, and 2.) is not the same person as the Father or Jesus the Son! The Father is in heaven and always has been, Jesus became man and came to earth and then died and rose again and is now seated at the right hand of the Father in heaven. The Holy Spirit was sent initially on the day of Pentecost – (Acts 2) -to live in us and again to the gentiles – (Acts 10) with the “speaking in tongues as the Spirit gave utterance” as clear evidence – it is the Holy Spirit who is here with us on the earth, we are to be the temple of God, the dwelling place of the Holy Spirit, God the Spirit – (1 Cor 3:9-16). This is what the apostolic fathers believed and taught, consistently.
[**The very idea that one may fear that they have blasphemed the Holy Spirit and are therefore eternally condemned, is proof that they have not! The Holy Spirit, as stated before, is the one who convicts the world (everyone) of righteousness, sin and the judgement to come! If you have truly blasphemed the Holy Spirit you would have no concern whatsoever about any blasphemy, for you have been turned over to a ‘debased mind’ – (Romans 1:20-28) – and strong delusion – (2 Thes 2:11,12) – and the Father does not even send the Holy Spirit to convict you anymore and your heart has become hardened, like Pharaoh, – (who the Lord convicted seven times with Pharoah choosing to harden his own heart before the Lord “hardened his heart’, by not sending the Spirit to convict him anymore!) – Bottom line, the Lord will send the Holy Spirit to convict all at some point in time in their lives, and often many times. Yet if one stubbornly refuses to receive this ‘Spirit of conviction’, that leads to repentance, which is “the kindness of God” there may come a time where He does not send the Spirit to convict at all and at such time such a one is turned over to satan and to a spirit of delusion and rebellion, and that is their choice. Scripture is redundant in saying this through out the word of God!]In any case let’s look at Acts 8 and Acts 19 for they are clear to show that in at least these two occasions ‘receiving the Holy Spirit’ or being ‘filled with the Holy Spirit” was a totally separate event/revelation and encounter that is different from salvation.
Acts 8:14-16
Now when the apostles who were at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had RECEIVED the word of God, they sent Peter and John to them, 15 who, when they had come down, prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit. 16 For as yet He had fallen upon none of them. They had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.
Acts 19:1-2
And it happened, while Apollos was at Corinth, that Paul, having passed through the upper regions, came to Ephesus. And finding some DISCIPLES 2 he said to them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you BELEIVED?”
So they said to him, “We have not so much as heard whether there is a Holy Spirit.”
Some important questions must be asked here. If one is always filled with the Holy Spirit at the moment of salvation, then why did the apostles feel the need to send Peter and John to Samaria for the expressed, specific purpose: that they might receive the Holy Spirit? It is clear that Philip had already “preached the Kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ” and that they had “believed and been baptized.” – Acts 8:12. This is ‘salvation’ by any legitimate Christian church/denomination’s theology!
Also, why did Paul ask some “DISCIPLES” if they received the Holy Spirit when they BELIEVED – past tense? Paul calls them followers of Jesus – disciples – and acknowledges they already ‘believed!’ — had faith in Christ – past tense. So, if everyone is automatically ‘filled’ with or ‘receives’ the Holy Spirit simultaneously at the time of salvation, then why would have word been sent to the apostles in Jerusalem that the Samaritans had not yet received the Holy Spirit!?!? That would be foolish. The end result was that they sent Peter and John, to Samaria specifically for this purpose, “That they might receive the Holy Spirit!” Also, in Acts 19, Paul would not of asked the questions he asked these disciples who already ‘believed’. If one was always filled with the Holy Spirit at the point of salvation, then Paul’s question is like asking someone if they breathed when they were born! It is a foolish question. We will delve deeper into this topic and deal with the question of “How does one know if they have been filled with the Holy Spirit?”, in part 5B.]
Hebrews 11 the “Faith chapter”
Just like 1 Corinthians 13 is rightfully called the ‘Love chapter’, Hebrews 11 – (which we have already quoted concerning Abraham) – is rightfully called the ‘faith chapter’ or the “the Hall of fame of Faith”. As noted early the word ‘faith/pistis’ is used 24 times in this one chapter. Hebrews 11 was written to encourage and exhort Hebrew believers who were undergoing great tribulation to endure and persevere in faith and not grow weary of doing good, for in due time there will be a reward – Gal 6:9, 2 Thes 3:13 – but it may not be here on this side of eternity. The opening verse of the ‘faith chapter’ is the only verse in the Bible that tells us exactly what faith itself is:
Heb 11:1
Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, – (we will delve into hope later, Part 6, however it is important to know that this ‘hope’ is based on faith, which is based on God speaking, any hope that is not based on this is a false hope!) – the evidence of things not seen.
So what we see here is faith has some ‘substance‘ it is not based on a whim or a passing ‘positive thought’ that comes from the fallen self, the flesh:
[Strong’s ‘substance’: hupostasis (hoop-os’-tas-is); from a compound of NT:5259 and NT:2476; a setting under (support), i.e. (figuratively) concretely, essence, or abstractly, assurance (objectively or subjectively): – confidence, confident, person, substance.]
Substance is something tangible, solid, and that substance, as we have already noted is the “word or revelation of God!”
And there is ‘evidence’:
[Strong’s ‘evidence’: elegchos (el’-eng-khos); from NT:1651; proof, conviction: – evidence, reproof.]
Evidence is something that confirms that God has really spoken to you about something. I call it the ‘fingerprints of God’. I don’t directly see or hear the Lord, but I see signs, evidence, that He indeed did speak or tell me to do something. It lines up with scripture (taken in proper context) and there is peace in my heart, clarity of thought, Godly hope, and normally a desire to do whatever it is that I believe the Lord is telling me to do, even if it is hard, difficult or risky and it doesn’t just change with the mood of the moment, though it may be challenged. There is confidence, that leads to a ‘just knowing’ – ginosko/epiginosko – that the Lord has spoken and this confidence is the ‘substance’ and ‘evidence’ that equals faith. And as we have mentioned twice before, it will be tested, “storms” will come – (Luke 6:48) – as Abraham’s was, but if this faith is real and is from a real ‘word’ from the Lord and if one perseveres through the test and delays, they will ‘reap a reward’, the obtaining of the promise, whether here or in the Kingdom to come.
(This ‘substance and evidence’ is not a whimsical feeling, emotion or ‘positive vibes’ that comes from one’s own soul or selfish desires. It is good to remember, as we have mentioned before, many people have faith, strong, sincere faith and hold strong beliefs. That does not mean it is Godly faith, people can be deceived by satan and their own lustful desires as James 1:13-15 tell us – and Jesus Himself emphatically states that many WILL be deceived by ‘false teachers’ and ‘false prophets’ and led away in error, especially in the last days before the end of age and when He returns! – Matt 24:5 and 24:11 – and this includes, ‘if possible, the elect’. The straightforward reality is that truth is not impacted at all by one’s sincerity of faith, there are false faiths and wrong beliefs, sincerely and stubbornly held misinterpretation of scripture, that will, as we have redundantly touched on – (as the early fathers did as well) – lead one to hell or to the destruction of ‘his house’– (Luke 6:49) and to suffering loss in the Kingdom to come – (1 Cor 3:11-15).
Bottom line truth; Matt 7:23 tells us the key to entering the Kingdom and not having the Lord say “Depart from me you workers of iniquity”, is ‘knowing’ Him – ginosko – (covered extensively in Part 1 and throughout this ‘book’) and to endure and continue in faith – (Matt 24:13). Yet, when it comes to God, He is always FAITHFUL, He has already proven Himself, He never fails, never lies, and knows all things, past, present and future and we can have total confidence – faith, in Him trusting Him with all our life and the most substantial evidence that I have for this ‘faith’ is this ‘knowing’ ginosko relationship with Christ that comes from having met Him – (and having received the ‘gift’ which is the primary ‘substance’ that He ‘promised’ me/us – which is being filled with the Holy Spirit!) – and that continues as I seek Him and learn to hear His voice like a sheep knows his shepherd – John 10. (I go into depths discussing the foundations of ‘faith’ for the unbeliever in this article: http://www.surefoundint.org/2021/10/05/genesis-1-3/.
(Yet, you will not be able to have faith/believe that this is true just because I or anyone else says so. You will have to have your own ‘evidence and substance’ – revelation. You will have to meet God for yourself and get your own ‘word’ and also be filled with the Holy Spirit, AND IT IS FOR THIS PURPOSE JESUS CAME INTO THE WORLD IN THE FIRST PLACE! So that you and I and any that would receive and believe in Him might be able to ‘know’ – ginosko – Him and have their own ‘word/revelation’ and relationship with the one and only living GOD; Father, Son Jesus Christ, and Holy Spirit!)
“The Word” – Logos and Rhema the foundations of Godly Faith
In Scripture there are two Greek definitions for the English word ‘word/sayings/teachings’. One is Logos, – (used 326 times in the New Testament primarily as ‘word(s)’, ‘saying(s), account’) – this one is fairly well known by most believers who have had some rudimentary Bible training. Jesus is the Logos ‘word’ of God – John 1:1-3. He is also “The Truth” (John 14:6) embodied. Every word He spoke is truth, every single one! Also, the whole of scripture, the bible is often called simply, “The Logos”. The logos ‘word of God’ is heavily slanted toward teaching to the whole, or to ‘the multitudes’, the ‘Great Commandment’, the ‘Gospel of the Kingdom’, the “Great commission”, it is general and encompasses everyone.
Then there are the 72 times that the Greek definition for ‘word’, ‘sayings’, ‘utterance’ is Rhema. – (We will delve into rhema deeply here in just a bit.) – They are connected and intertwined but they are NOT THE SAME. Just like the Father, Son and Holy Spirit are not the same, even though they are ONE and entirely intertwined. We are going to see, from a simple point of view, that the logos word is Truth and the rhema word is Spirit and this will be substantiated beyond any reasonable doubt.
As we further unwrap this, we will find there are two types of faith that are built on these two words. There is what I call Logos faith – (this is general faith in the written scripture that it is the ‘word of God’ and that it is true.) – and then there is Rhema faith – (specific faith for something said, ‘a word’ specifically to a person or group of people from God to them directly.)
The original word God spoke to Abram in Gen 12 about leaving his father’s house, was a Rhema word, to Abram telling him to do something specific, as was the word to go sacrifice Isaac. Those are not general teachings or commandments to everyone at all! We cannot take someone else’s specific word and apply it to ourselves and ‘claim it’. – (Just because I tell one child that they can take the car some where does not give permission to any of my children to take the car somewhere! Nor does it mean I love the child who I gave permission to use the car more than the one’s I didn’t.) – Those specific words were given to those specific people for a specific reason. They do show us that God speaks in the ‘here and now’ and proves Himself faithful to those who truly love, believe and OBEY Him.
Logos and Rhema Faith
What is the difference between Rhema faith and Logos Faith? Here are a couple of simple and easy examples to understand:
We can easily see the scripture – Logos word – has instructed (commanded) us to do some things; all of us, like love one another, like go and make disciples of the nations, like give to the poor and to forgive those who have harmed or wronged us. Yet though I really do believe that the Lord has told us to do these things – (So I don’t need a specific (rhema) personal word to share the gospel or share my testimony with others, or forgive someone who has harmed me; these ‘words’ have already been given to me in the Logos word, scripture. I just need to be aware and then obey them when the opportunity comes along.) – However, I do need some ‘wisdom’, revelation or instruction to know specifically where and when to go if I am going to take the gospel to the nations, or how to specifically implement (do, works, obey) loving someone, or who to specifically give to, and how much and in what manner – (I cannot give to all the poor and neither did Jesus, and there were still the sick and the infirm in Israel after Jesus came through. He did not heal the man at the temple that Peter, shortly after the resurrection – a man who Jesus passed by at least several times – healed in Acts 3) – These general commandments (teachings) are there and they are clear in the Logos word. However, the specifics of ‘when, where, what and how’ of the doing of them is not. That needs the rhema word, the specific revelation that, like Peter’s revelation that Jesus was the Christ, that comes from God speaking to us in some way that we ‘hear His voice’.
A second more specific example of the difference between the logos word and the rhema word.
I can have faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and in the word of God (scripture – logos) and truly believe that God did, can, and does miraculously heal people and yes even raise people from the dead –
(This is ‘logos faith’ because I believe the testimonies in scripture about these miracles is true and it not only shows us times where God did great miracles of healing and raising people from the dead. He tells us that we – (at the very least elders and the disciples- James 5:14) – should also lay hands on and pray for the sick as well. This is the logos word. It speaks of the times God did heal and – (yes, raise people from the dead – as happened to the boy who fell from the window Acts 20:9-12) – So I have an unwavering faith in the principle and have knowledge (gnosis) that God does heal – (and still can, I have seen Him do so personally more than a few times.)
– and yet actually having real faith to lay hands on and pray for and truly believe that God will heal a specific person with an obvious disease or physical problem or raise them from the dead, and then stepping out and actively praying over a dead body (especially with witnesses) is an entirely different type of faith altogether this is what I call rhema faith, it is specific direct, no ambiguity! Yet, the truth is, faith for either, Logos or Rhema, is a gift, a revelation, the ‘faith to believe’ – (Matt 9:22, Matt 9:29, Mark 2:5, Mark 9:23-24, Acts 14:9 and many more.) – both for salvation (logos) or for something specific (rhema), come from God’s speaking or imparting a revelation or gift! There is absolutely no way I can believe on my own faith, that a specific dead person can be raised or any other supernatural event that falls outside of my natural experiences can occur without some outside influence – (God speaking to me in a way that I can understand and know that it is Him speaking) – or experiencing it personally.
Let’s now look at the Logos ‘word’ from Strong’s
[Strong’s ‘word’: NT:3056 logos (log’-os); from NT:3004; SOMETHING SAID (including the thought); by implication a topic (subject of discourse), also reasoning (the mental faculty) or motive; by extension, a computation; specifically (with the article in John) the Divine Expression (i.e. Christ): – account, cause, communication, concerning, doctrine, fame, have to do, intent, matter, mouth, preaching, question, reason, reckon, remove, say (-ing), shew, speaker, speech, talk, thing, none of these things move me, tidings, treatise, utterance, word, work.
NT:3004
lego (leg’-o); a primary verb; properly, to “lay” forth, i.e. (figuratively) relate (in words [usually of systematic or set discourse; whereas NT:2036 and NT:5346 generally refer to an individual expression or speech respectively; while NT:4483 – rhema – is properly, to break silence merely, and NT:2980 means an extended or random harangue]); by implication, to mean:]
You can really see the Strong’s team struggle defining this word! That is because it is broad, more general in nature and application. Yet, we can see something more specific and important concerning this word Logos; Jesus Himself is the Logos (John 1:1-3) and Logos faith is confidence in Jesus Christ that He is truly the Logos who became God in the flesh (John 1:14) who rose from the dead, taking our rightful punishment upon Himself. I think it is important, as Eph 2:8,9 says that we acknowledge that no one will have this ‘saving faith’ grace, gift from God – to believe unto salvation – based on their own volition or abilities (lest anyone boast). The Lord told us in John 6:44, when talking to the Jews about Him being ‘the bread that came down from heaven’:
No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up at the last day.
The Lord stated this again shortly after telling them they must ‘eat His flesh and drink His blood’ – (The Lord could of said nothing more offensive to a Jew than this – just saying!! – The Lord didn’t say things to make us feel better about ourselves, He spoke what is true – ALWAYS – and sometimes to offend or jolt us, if necessary, to lead us to His (and our) Father through Himself): John 6:61-65
When Jesus knew in Himself that His disciples complained about this, He said to them, “Does this offend you? 62 What then if you should see the Son of Man ascend where He was before? 63 It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words (rhema) that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life. 64 But there are some of you who do not believe.” For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were who did not believe, and who would betray Him. 65 And He said, “Therefore I have said to you that no one can come to Me unless it has been granted to him by My Father.”
We can see, in these words of the Lord, that one believes, has faith, because the Father – through the Spirit convicting them (John 16:5-11) – has drawn them and given them the gift of faith and that our role in this is to receive it! Jesus said that when He is “lifted up – put on the cross – then He will draw ALL people unto myself” – John 12:32. So no one can say that God is discriminatory, God will, as we have touched on before, through the Holy Spirit, convict all the world of sin, righteousness and the judgement to come – John 16:8. Jesus will draw ALL to Himself. But few will choose to follow Him – (It does not matter whether or not I like or believe this or not! I cannot change the logos word of God, especially the word’s of the Lord, by my bold ‘prayer of faith’ unless He adds an ‘IF’ to the equation. There is no IF here, it’s a straight statement and will be exactly as He said it will be!)). He states this clearly in both Luke 13:23-25
Then one said to Him, “Lord, are there few who are saved?”
And He said to them, 24 “Strive to enter through the narrow gate, for many, I say to you, will seek to enter and will not be able. . .”
And also Matt 7:13-14
“Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. 14 Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it. “
(It is important to understand that God uses His ‘foreknowledge’ – (proginosko) – Romans 8:29 – here as thoroughly discussed in Part 3 – and does not ‘pre-determine’ to send people to hell or heaven! As John 6:64 says, ‘HE KNEW FROM THE BEGINNING’ who would believe Him and who would not and who would betray Him as well. Nowhere does Jesus or the scripture say that it was the Lord’s will or desire that anyone reject Him and go to perdition in fact the contrary is true – (2 Pet 3:9)! He came to save ALL, but not all will choose to believe, and the logos truth is – no matter how much one prays, believes that the whole world will be saved or ‘declares salvation over every one’ to the contrary – most, in fact, as seen from above, will not choose Him and it will not be God’s fault if one doesn’t! Each person must be free to make their own choice at the end of the day, for without true choice there can be no real love and as the word clearly states. GOD IS LOVE!
Yet, that does not excuse us from prayer and interceding for others – (as Abraham did for Sodom and Gomorrah (Gen 18) or Moses did the children of Israel after their refusal to go and take the promise that God had for them (Num 14.) – we are still called and even commanded, to pray, intercede and ask the Lord to show mercy and draw and grant salvation to those He brings along our path in one way or another.
James 5:16-18
Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much. 17 Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly that it would not rain; and it did not rain on the land for three years and six months. 18 And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth produced its fruit. NKJV
We do not know what the effect of our intercession will be, but I do know that the Lord clearly tells us to pray for our enemies and those who persecute us. And no one was a bigger enemy to the church in the early days than Saul of Tarsus. So if they obeyed the commandment of the Lord to pray for him, though we do not know for sure if the encounter that the Lord had with him on the road to Damascus was brought about by the prayers of the church, but it is surely not unreasonable to think that the prayers of the saints did have a significant impact on the Lord and stirred Him to action and opened the door for that sort of encounter. Even then Saul – (who became Paul the most important theologian and the greatest witness of Christ in the early church) – just like Pharaoh, had a choice to repent and turn to Lord or continue in stubborn rebellion leading to a hardened heart. The Lord could not force Paul to be saved, He could make it very difficult and nearly impossible to deny Christ, but as said before even the demons know that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and so do many “Antichrist.”
We are also commanded to be His witnesses and testify of Him. Yet, ultimately we cannot demand it or force it, AND NEITHER CAN GOD.
We have the Lord’s example, seeing Him praying to His Father and interceding specifically for those who were crucifying him. The Lord said this while on the cross: Luke 23:33-35
And when they had come to the place called Calvary, there THEY crucified Him, and the criminals, one on the right hand and the other on the left. 34 Then Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for THEY do not know what THEY do.” And THEY divided His garments and cast lots. So, we should ask who is it that Jesus is asking the Father to specifically forgive?
We should note that the “they” – ‘who did not know what THEY were doing’ and the “they” who ‘divided his garments among themselves’ – the Lord asked the Father to forgive” were clearly the Roman soldiers crucifying Him who truly did not know what they were doing!
Isn’t it interesting to note it was a centurion and those other Roman soldiers with him, when at the crucifixion who declared. “Surely this was the Son of God” (Matt 27:54) and also a centurion who glorified God saying – “this was a righteous man” (Luke 23:47)? It was the Roman soldiers who were guarding the tomb that “shook for fear of him, and became like dead men.” – Matt 28:4 – when Jesus rose from the dead! – (and this was not a small contingency of soldiers either). You think that might have had some impact on some of them when they came to their senses? Even before this when Jesus was arrested in the garden, we see a large contingency of Roman soldiers knocked down in John 18:6. – (The “detachment/band – (speira) of troops” – (John 18:3) – that came with the Priest and the Jewish elders and temple guards, was a Roman cohort (speira) – (Mark 15:16, Acts 10:1, Acts 21:31, Acts 27:1) -and the “captain” of John 18:12 is the Greek word ‘chiliarchos‘ which is ‘the commander of a thousand’ i.e a colonel. The arrest of Jesus was not a small contingency and a cohort (speira) of Roman soldiers, commanded by a ‘colonel’ were definitely involved and all of them where knocked on their back (sides) as Jesus declared “I AM HE”!) – Isn’t it interesting to see that the ‘father of the gentile believers’ – (the first non Jew, Gentile believer) – is Cornelius a Roman soldier, a centurion from the ‘Italian Cohort’? – Acts 10:1). Isn’t it also interesting that Jesus specifically said the man with the ‘greatest faith’ – (as noted before) – of any one He met was also a Roman soldier, the centurion in Capernaum – (Luke 7) – [which was the Lord’s home base of operations, a place where He did many miracles, and one on which he pronounced a heavy judgement – (Luke 10:15) – for not believing Him after witnessing those numerous miracles and signs – that judgement was thorough, as today we do not know exactly where Capernaum was.] – The gospel was preserved during the hard tribulations of this period because it was seeded in the Roman army, and was a primary reason for Constantine’s ‘revelation’ and renouncing of all persecution of Christians in the 4th century. Yet, obviously, not every Roman soldier was saved/forgiven and in fact the majority of them were not.
The summary point to be made here is that we are to ‘love our enemies and bless and pray for those who use and persecute us that we maybe sons of your Father in heaven” (Matt 5:44,45) – and ask the Lord to forgive and save the lost and we are to forgive others who have harmed us. – (Something that cannot be done with out the help – (grace) – of the Holy Spirit, through our own strength or abilities!) – And in so doing the Lord will not only forgive us but He will surely send His Spirit to convict and to woo those we intercede for to Himself; and more than likely, the end result of such prayer may not be known until the judgement day, but it will surely not be in vain! For the effective fervent prayer of righteous man accomplishes much – James 5:16. And as we know that it is the Lord’s will to pray such prayer’s we can have confidence that they will be heard and responded too! Yet at the end of it all, each person will make and be responsible for their own choices, God cannot force salvation upon them. He did not ‘pre-select‘ His ‘favorites’ before hand, He did, however know who would receive His mercy and would therefore have faith to believe and therefore they were predestined by the foreknowledge of God – (Rom 8:28) – to be ‘sons‘ – (and daughters, but there is no male or female in heaven for we will be like the angels – Matt 22:30) – of God!
The Summary of Logos Faith
So Faith, in the basic fundamental Logos sense, is summed up extremely well in; (as we go back to the ‘faith chapter’): Heb 11:6
But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who COMES to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. –
[Strong’s diligently NT:1567 ekzeteo (ek-zay-teh’-o); from NT:1537 and NT:2212; to search out, i.e. (figuratively) investigate, crave, demand, (by Hebraism) worship: – enre-) quire, seek after (carefully, diligently).](What is important to note that one must COME – pursue, seek go after – God and believe – have confidence in Him that HE IS REAL, EXIST, and that He will reward those who diligently – persistently desire and ‘crave’ for Him – (Prov 3:5,6, Luke 18:1-8).
If you do not come to God you will not ‘hear His sayings’ – (logos or rhema) and you will not have real faith. The Lord in Luke 6:46-49 makes this clear, if you have ears to hear and do some ‘diligent seeking‘:
“But why do you call Me ‘Lord, Lord,’ – (master, owner, sovereign authority, this is what a slave/ ‘doulos’ would call his/her owner) – and not do the things which I say? – The word ‘say’ here is logos God’s written and communicated word/commandments/teachings to ALL.) – 47 Whoever 1.) COMES to Me, and 2.) HEARS My sayings – (logos/teachings/commandments) – and 3.) DOES – (believes and obeys/does, works/ergon) – them, I will show you whom he is like: 48 He is like a man building a house, – (Please notice this ‘man’ never builds anything he only digs and he digs deep, through the ‘clay’ which is hard work) – who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock. – (Jesus is the rock, the cornerstone, the living word/logos) – And when – (not if) – the flood arose, the stream beat vehemently against that house and could not shake it, for it was founded on the rock. 49 But he who heard – (Notice, that with this ‘man’ there is no ‘comes to me’, he only hears, and what is it that this one hears? It is not the Lord’s word logos or rhema) – and did nothing – (apart from the Lord you can do nothing – John 15:5 – what ever this man does is ‘dead/worthless’ works/ergon) – is like a man who built a house on the earth – (this is the ground, and the ground was cursed in Gen 3:17 – Our physical bodies are made from the cursed dirt/clay.) – without a foundation, – (the rock – logos – the Lord Jesus) – against which the stream beat vehemently; and immediately it fell. And the ruin of that house was great.”
The key word, the one that opens the door, is comes. I will surely not seek to come to some God or approach ‘authority’ I do not believe exist or who I think is evil, unjust, indifferent, or uncaring about me or anything I might ask of them. And if I do not come to Him, how can I hear Him?! And I must ask this question: How can a man who the Lord says “did nothing” – build a house?!? The answer is simply, Psalm 127, which says “Unless the Lord builds the house the builder labors in vain!” Basically, all of this man’s labor, life work is as nothing to the Lord, it is in vain, “vanity of vanities!” For this man never came, heard or obeyed what the Lord told Him to do because the Lord was never His MASTER!)
Where does faith come from?
So, we now should have a firm foundation of what the basic fundamentals of faith is, we can now ask this question, “WHERE DOES IT COME FROM? Of course, the simple and easy answer that has been repeated here redundantly, is that it comes as we have seen, from God speaking and us hearing and believing, but scripture actually goes further than that. There is only one scripture that specifically tells us where real and unfailing faith comes from and here it is:
Rom 10:17
17 So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word (Rhema) of God.
So, again, it goes back to the marriage between faith and the ‘word of God’ (God speaking) and seeking Him and ‘hearing’ (understanding and comprehending) it and in this scripture it is the specific type of word that we mentioned just above, the Rhema ‘word’, and this is Rhema faith. So, let’s dig deeper into what this ‘rhema word’ is, for that is where ‘rhema faith’ – (faith to believe the scripture or faith for something not said specifically in scripture) – comes from! It is very important to know – (have knowledge) – on this.
First let’s talk about what it is not! Notice that faith ‘comes’ to one by hearing. It is not created by or in a person, it comes from outside, it is a revelation that comes from discerning and hearing the Lord’s voice! You cannot create or fabricate this ‘Rhema faith’ nor can you create the ‘substance’ or ‘evidence’ (the logos or rhema word of the Lord) that lays the foundation or support for it.- (Though satan can surely try to fool you through counterfeit or partial truths, even using scripture. Satan knows the bible, the logos, and quoted it at Jesus when he was being tested, even quoting two independent scriptures at Him! – Matt 4:5-7.) – You cannot ‘declare it’ or grab a bible verse (logos) that you like and seek to apply your own spin to it and call it a ‘word from the Lord’. This is not Godly humble faith that is based on ‘diligently seeking’ and coming to Him and listening and hearing HIS word that is to you. – (All scripture is Logos word, not all scripture is ‘Rhema word’ (personally, for you). In fact you can search the scripture diligently and you will find no scripture that will tell you to marry this specific person – (though it will tell you the type of person you should marry) – or take this job or go to India or the timing of going, etc.) – Remember, again, faith is a gift “it is not of yourself lest anyone boast” and it comes specifically for specific and personal things, from Hearing God’s Rhema word!
Rhema Faith
The word “word, saying, utterance“ as Rhema is used, as stated above, 72 times in the New Testament and every time it is used as a ‘saying’ or a relates to a specific word or thing. Both of Abraham’s commandments ‘to go’ and ‘to sacrifice Isaac’ was a ‘rhema’ word that God spoke directly and specifically in a personal communication with instructions to Abraham – (it is now part of the logos but it did not start that way). Rhema has to do with actually speaking and hearing specific spoken words to a specific individual or specific group of people (like his disciples) concerning specific things. The rhema word (like the logos) involves breath (the Holy Spirit) and speaking out and listening or receiving. It has to do with carrying on a conversation with an individual or a group over a specific topic and it is narrow, personal and involves the Spirit of God opening one’s heart, spiritual eyes and ears to something specific. – (Again, I will not apologize for being redundant, we are seeking to correct some faulty theology on faith that have caused some bad unhealthy habits in many flocks – that I have been part of – causing much harm and confusion!) – As seen above, this word Rhema is used in Romans 10:17 and it tells us that THIS IS WHERE FAITH COMES FROM, Hearing – (understanding, comprehending receiving revelation) – the Rhema word of God! This is NOT the logos word of God and it is quite important, I believe, to know – (have knowledge/wisdom) – when Rhema is being used for ‘word/saying/utterance’ and when Logos is being used for ‘word/saying/utterance’ in scripture. As said before, they are similar and connected but they are not the same, at ALL! Here is Strong’s definition of ‘word’ – rhema – and it’s root from the above quoted Rom 10:17
[Strong’s ‘Word’ NT 4487 – rhema (hray’-mah); from NT:4483; an utterance (individually, collectively or specifically); by implication, a matter or topic (especially of narration, command or dispute); with a negative naught whatever:
NT:4483
rheo (hreh’-o); for certain tenses of which a prolonged form ereo (er-eh’-o); is used; and both as alternate for NT:2036; perhaps akin (or ident.) with NT:4482 (through the idea of pouring forth); to utter, i.e. speak or say: – command, make, say, speak]
(One can look up the other Greek words mentioned here NT 2036 or 4482, the general context is to speak out or write, communicate in a specific way.)
When one speaks under the unction or anointing of the Holy Spirit, they are speaking rhema words (though it must be founded on ‘the rock’ the logos, the truth of scripture). All real and correct prophecy spoken out is a rhema word. It comes from the Holy Spirit.
Here are just a few of the scriptures where the word, “word” is actually rhema:
When Jesus is being tempted to turn stones in to bread:
Matt 4:4
But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word (rhema) that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. – King James Version KJV
Matt 12:36 – But I say unto you, That every idle word – (rhema) – that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment. – KJV
When Mary and Joseph found Jesus speaking in the temple when he was a young man. Luke 2:49-50 – And he said unto them, How is it that ye sought me? wist ye not that I must be about my Father’s business? 50 And they understood not the saying – (rhema) – which he spake unto them. – KJV
Luke 3:2 – . . . Annas and Caiaphas being the high priests, the word – (rhema) – of God came unto John the son of Zacharias in the wilderness. – KJV
John 15:7 – If ye abide in me, and my words – (rhema) – abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you. KJV (This one is very important! We can only expect our petition to be granted us when it is based on God’s rhema word and not our own personal desires or a false interpretation or usage of the Logos, scripture to claim a ‘promise’ God never gave us!)
Rom 10:8-10 – But what does it say? “The word – (rhema) – is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” – (spirit/inner man) – (that is, the word – (rhema) – of faith which we preach): 9 that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. – (Again, please notice that faith is related to the ‘rhema’ word.)
Gal 6:6 Let him that is taught in the word – (rhema) – communicate unto him that teacheth in all good things. KJV
And finally one more that is quite important – (foundational) – that has both Rhema and Logos:
Eph 6:17-20– And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word – (rhema) – of God; 18 praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints — 19 and for me, that utterance – (logos) – may be given to me, that I may open my mouth boldly to make known the mystery of the gospel, 20 for which I am an ambassador in chains; that in it I may speak – (preach and teaching of the gospel, the logos, which is for everyone) boldly, as I ought to speak.
The Rhema Word of God IS the “Sword of the Spirit”
It is important to note that the ‘sword of the Spirit‘ is called the ‘rhema’ – word – of God and it is attached to “praying always with all prayer and supplication, IN THE SPIRIT!” (vs 18).
Here Paul is saying that we should be praying always, in all manner of prayer, continually through out time (kairos), ‘In the Spirit“. In 1 Thess 5:16-18, Paul again tells us to: Rejoice always, 17 pray without ceasing, 18 in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. Once again, this word combination ‘without ceasing’ refers to perpetually, never stopping. So how can one ‘pray always at all times’, ‘without ceasing or stopping’? Is Paul just using hyperbole here to over emphasize the importance of prayer and supplication and thanks giving as being the ‘will of God in Christ Jesus‘ for us to do?! –
(If he is, that creates a real problem for us in interpreting and using the scripture/logos, for now we have to judge the scripture and decide when he or another author is using hyperbole or is just ‘speaking to their time and culture’ – and therefore this is not relevant for us – and we also now judge when it is to be taken literally as written as instructions and doctrine for us in our time or not! This is a ‘Pandora’s box’ – literally – that I am simply not willing to open. Who am I to judge the word of God!? So, I have taken the stance that the teachings, and doctrines of scripture is literal and is for us NOW and for ALL TIMES, unless it is an obvious metaphor or clearly symbolic or clearly a personal note to an individual (like Paul recommending that Timothy have little wine – 1 Tim 5:23) or is as of yet, an unrevealed mystery (prophecy) for times that have not yet come.)
– Or is it actually possible to pray at all times without ceasing? It is obviously impossible for any person to literally pray without ceasing using our natural mental capacity. As soon as we focus our attention on to anything else; a task or engage in a conversation with someone else, etc.- we will stop praying! So is there a way to literally ‘pray without ceasing’? Again, let’s see. First let’s talk about the Spiritual mind and the Natural mind.
The Mind of the Spirit vs the Natural carnal mind
In 1 Cor 2 – (which we covered in Part 2) – Paul goes into some detail about the difference between the ‘mind of the Spirit’ and the ‘natural/carnal mind of the flesh’ – i. e. the mind of man. He states that one’s natural mind cannot ‘comprehend’ (understand) the things of the Spirit for they are ‘foolishness’ to it. Spiritual things are discerned through the Spirit and the flesh, the natural fallen – under the curse – mind with its natural gnosis/gnostic knowledge and self-centered nature, is totally useless and blind when it comes to “knowing/ginosko’ the things of God, Jesus says this: John 6:63 – It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words – RHEMA – that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life.
Not only can the natural mind not understand the things (rhema/logos) of the Spirit it will and does in fact oppose, be at enmity with God – (Roman’s 8:7, James 4:4). The mind of the Spirit is and will be at war with the carnal/natural mind. Paul makes this clear in Gal 5:16-22 and in numerous other passages.
So, we should ask this question. What is this ‘praying in the Spirit’ that Paul tells us to do ‘always at all times, without ceasing’? Does scripture give us a definitive answer to this question? Well, we will soon see, but first let us note that Eph 6:17 is one of two mentions in the New Testament of the “word of God” as a sword and in this usage here it is specifically related to the Holy Spirit and the ‘rhema word’ of God’; and even more specifically – as I will irrefutably prove here through the scripture – it is “praying always without ceasing in the Spirit” which is ‘what happened to the 120 who obeyed the Lord’s command in Acts 1:4-8
And being assembled together with them, He commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the Promise of the Father, “which,” He said, “you have heard from Me; 5 for John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.” 6 Therefore, when they had come together, they asked Him, saying, “Lord, will You at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” 7 And He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has put in His own authority. 8 But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”
Of which we see the fulfillment and manifestation of in Act 2:1- And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, AS THE SPIRIT gave them utterance. ‘Praying in the Spirit” is simply ‘Speaking or praying in tongues, as the Spirit gives utterance!”
[Strong’s utterance NT:669 apophtheggomai (ap-of-theng’-om-ahee); from NT:575 and NT:5350; to enunciate plainly, i.e. declare: – say, speak forth, utterance.] This is to speak or proclaim clearly!
(Please bear with me here, and let me prove this from Scripture, the Logos, before you just discard it out of hand and call my a ‘Charismatic kook! You are going to find out that Peter, and all those that were in the upper room at Pentecost, including Jude, and Paul, – (who was not at Pentecost) – were all ‘charismatic kooks’. And we are going to find out, from scripture, that this speaking/praying in tongues is fundamental foundational spiritual tool/gift given to us and it still is available today, and that it is clearly related to FAITH.)
Laying Biblical Foundations for ‘the Sword of the Spirit’ as related to “Praying in the Spirit” and it’s correlation to Faith.
https://www.surefoundint.org/2022/06/17/fundamentals-5b-faith-continued/