Keys to Biblical Faith
Faith is trusting in God. Lack of faith is doubting God. The Lord has shown me three things concerning Biblical faith. When you combine these three elements, we can operate in mountain moving faith!
In Mark 9, there was a boy that had an unclean spirit, such a strong unclean spirit that even Jesus' disciples couldn't cast him out. They were regular deliverance pastors going about casting out demons on regular bases, but for some reason, when they reached this case, they were unable to cast it out:
Mark 9:17-18, "And one of the multitude answered and said, Master, I have brought unto thee my son, which hath a dumb spirit; And wheresoever he taketh him, he teareth him: and he foameth, and gnasheth with his teeth, and pineth away: and I spake to thy disciples that they should cast him out; and they could not."
Now Jesus had given His disciples authority over all powers of the enemy, so they clearly did not lack authority to drive out that unclean spirit:
Luke 10:19, "Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you."
So what did these disciples lack? Clearly they didn't lack authority! What they lacked was faith in their authority:
Mark 9:19, "He answereth him, and saith, O faithless generation, how long shall I be with you? how long shall I suffer you? bring him unto me."
Now in Matthew 17, this story is also told, and when they asked Jesus why they were unable to cast out the spirit, He told them flat out... they lacked faith!
Matthew 17:19-20, "Then came the disciples to Jesus apart, and said, Why could not we cast him out? And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you."
We need to stop wavering and start taking God for His Word and lay hold of His promises! If He said we shall cast out demons, then it means He's given us the ability to drive out those evil spirits! If He's said we have a right to be healed in Jesus' name, then we have that right, and we ought to start trusting Him and believing it!
Christian faith is basically taking God for His Word and believing the promises He's made.
Faith key #1: Knowledge brings faith
Knowledge of the truth (in God's Word) brings faith. Faith is believing something, thus requiring something to believe. The new age movement believes that we can 'believe things into existence', which is not the same kind of faith that us believers should have. Our faith is based upon the truth in God's Word. Thus, knowing what God's Word has to say about something gives us the ability to believe it. Our faith should be based upon God's Word.
Romans 10:17, "So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God."
For example, how can you have faith to pray for a healing, believing that He will heal you, if you didn't know it was God's will for your healing? This is why Satan works so hard to tell the church today that it may not be God's will for them to be healed! Why? Because it casts doubt, the opposite of faith, upon the hearts of God's children! How can you lay hold of the promises of God, if you don't know what they are? We must first know the truth, then believe it. That's Biblical faith!
Mark 9:23, "Jesus said unto him, If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth."
In the verse above, the word believeth means to trust. Jesus was in essence telling His disciples that all things (referring to the promises of God) are possible for them who will trust God for them (believe).
How can you believe something that nobody told you? You can't. That's why it's important to know what the Word of God has to say, so that we can believe it. Faith comes by hearing, and hearing God's Word:
Romans 10:17, "So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God."
Faith key #2: Faith and a pure conscience
One time the Lord spoke to me about the connection between a clean conscience and faith. He told me clearly that you must KNOW you are clean spiritually, because your faith depends on it. How can you confidently approach God, when your conscience is dirty? The truth is, you can't!
Hebrews 10:22, "Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water."
We need to have a true heart of full assurance of faith and washed clean from an evil conscience.
If you struggle with a guilty conscience, then you owe it to yourself to read the teaching on Dealing with Guilt.
Faith key #3: Faith works through love
The third key to operating in faith is to be rooted and grounded in love so that your faith will operate through love. The Bible tells us clearly that all believers should be rooted and grounded in the love of Christ, if we want to experience the fullness of God, who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think. When we are grounded in the love of Christ,
Ephesians 3:16-20, "That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man; That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fullness of God. Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us."
We are told to put on the breastplate of faith and love... the two go together like hand and glove!
1 Thessalonians 5:8, "But let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for a helmet, the hope of salvation."
As we walk in the Spirit, the love of Christ will begin to flow through us, and will give birth to much faith. Among the fruit of the Spirit, we find both faith and love:
Galatians 5:22-33, "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law."
When the love of Christ is flowing through us, it brings fourth much faith. God's Word tells us clearly that faith works through love.
Galatians 5:6, "For in Jesus Christ neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision; but faith which worketh by love."
A great hindrance to faith
One of the greatest hindrances to faith is strongholds. If we see something wrongly, we can have a very difficult time believing God for something. For example, if you see God has a cruel and distant God who wants you to be sick and poor, how can you believe that it's His will to heal and bless you? Strongholds can be devastating to our faith!
