Faith is usually not what people think it is. It is not hope, yet faith gives hope. It is not trust, yet faith gives trust. It is not belief, yet faith brings belief. Faith is not something we ‘strive’ at, yet we can deny it. Many times I’ve heard statements of people that say, “If you only had more faith… then …this would have happened.” Faith isn’t something we can just ‘jin’ up like a genie to do our will and wishes.
So what exactly is faith?
Faith is always a gift from God, and never something that can be produced by people. In short, (“faith”) for the believer is “God’s divine persuasion” – and therefore distinct from human belief (confidence), yet involving it. The Lord continuously births faith in the yielded believer so they can know what He prefers, i.e. the persuasion of His will (1 Jn 5:4). So this fruit again …is an impartation from God to the individual.
(Strongs #4102 pístis (from 3982/peithô, “persuade, be persuaded”) – properly, persuasion (be persuaded, come to trust); faith.
Faith persuades us to know God and His will for us. Often I think …people have this turned around, as if I have enough faith then GOD will be persuaded to do what I want Him to do. Actually faith persuades you to trust God and allow Him to be in the place of your choices. Faith is only (exclusively) given to the redeemed. It is not a virtue that can be worked up by human effort.
This is where the discipline of learning to hear His Voice is SO important. Otherwise we will get real confused as to what His will is for us in a certain situation or moment. We must learn to receive His faith. This is the fruit of the HOLY SPIRIT, not ours. Faith (4102/pistis) is received by us from God, and never generated by us. We are given a measure of faith at the time we understand and accept who Jesus is to us. Then if we yield to the Holy Spirit He begins the work of implantation of the fruit of faith into our lives. And then come the challenges that will grow that faith … for His purposes, and not necessarily our own.
In Scripture, faith and belief are not exactly the same. Faith always comes from God and involves His revelation therefore faith is beyond belief! Faith is God’s work; faith is never the work of people. We cannot produce faith ourselves, nor can we “drum it up at will.” Rather, faith comes as Christ speaks His Rhema word within our minds and hearts. And there it is again .. that Word Rhema … which is the Word spoken directly to your heart and mind by the Father, Jesus, and Holy Spirit.
Belief and faith are not exactly equivalent terms. When Jesus told people, “Your faith has made you well,” faith was still His gift (Eph 2:8,9). Any gift however, once received, becomes the “possession” of the recipient. Faith however is always from God and is purely His work within us.
The Greek definite article is uniformly used in the expressions “your faith,” “their faith” (which occur over 30 times in the Greek NT). This genitive construction with the article refers to “the principle of faith (operating in) you” – not “your faith” in the sense that faith is ever generated by the recipient.
Faith (4102/pistis) involves belief but it goes beyond human believing because it involves the personal revelation (inner working of the Rhema Word) of God. Faith is always God’s work.
So consider… demons believe (and shudder) . . . but they do not have (experience) faith!
So … understanding that Faith isn’t a muscle that you have to condition, but a yielding of your will and choices to Him so that He may work out what His purposes are for that particular situation or challenge that is before you. Then He may give you a Rhema Word to do an action or instruction — and by that Word of Faith the purposes of God are fulfilled.
IS this clear as mud now to you? I gently suggest you take this topic to the Holy Spirit and ask Him questions. Like… where is my concept of faith wrong? How do I receive faith from You? What is faith like in me? How do I get better at receiving faith from You?
Faith is a spiritual component for the redeemed.
For the terminally committed to Christ – faith brings joy, and peace knowing our destination and ultimate goal.
So don’t allow the enemy to shame you by telling you, “It didn’t happen …because you just didn’t have enough faith, it’s all your fault.” And it really bothers me that there has been so much bad teaching on the fruit of Faith. All of that bad teaching has allowed the enemy to bring so much more pain to the believer.
Be brave …and ask the Holy Spirit …for more faith.