Scripture says faith comes by hearing and hearing, by the word of God, but I believe there is more that is directly related to having knowledge of truth and understanding of things as revealed in the word by the Holy Spirit. Faith is also about perceiving the need to serve Him, ourselves, and others as proposed. Rom 10:17 (MSG)The point is, Before you trust, you have to listen. But unless Christ’s Word is preached, there’s nothing to listen to.
Most churches do not accept this as spiritual truth. But if we apply a little spiritual sense to faith and include our spiritual heritage, I believe this will be a key for the child of God. Revealing that God already loves you and desires to bless you in your life, therefore, faith in the manner you are to be transformed to operate in is not required to get from God certain blessings He has already promised you. Ps 68:19 Blessed be the Lord, who daily loadeth us with benefits, even the God of our salvation. Selah.
I know that this cuts across some traditional teachings about faith, but let us allow the Holy Spirit to teach us something here. I believe God is not expecting us to constantly use faith to get what He already said He lovingly desires to give us, but He gave us faith to bring what is presently in the supernatural realm into the earth for the purpose of blessing His creation. Phil 4:19 (MSG) You can be sure that God will take care of everything you need, his generosity exceeding even yours in the glory that pours from Jesus.
Let me emphasize: He is requiring believers to live by faith in Jesus Christ, so that, through the knowledge and understanding of truth as revealed by the Holy Spirit, we will exercise His authority for the purpose He expects us to fulfill. Thus, serving Him reveals an unseen kingdom in this earth that brings forth a manifestation of supernatural events which are not of this world. Math 14:28-31 And Peter answered Him, Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water. 29 He said, Come! So Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water, and he came toward Jesus.
As we see, Peter walked on water, manifesting a supernatural event into the natural realm, and no one outside of Christ has ever, or even today, walked on water in the same manner. At that moment, Peter’s faith in Christ, his Lord, brought about a supernatural event that occurred in the presence of the disciples, not natural to how things normally work on the earth; it was an otherwise impossible event. However, faith operates in the realm of the Spirit, making the impossible possible.
Math 15:22-28 (NKJV) And behold, a woman of Canaan came from that region and cried out to Him, saying, “Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David! My daughter is severely demon-possessed.” 23 But He answered her not a word. And His disciples came and urged Him, saying, “Send her away, for she cries out after us.” 24 But He answered and said, “I was not sent except to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” 25 Then she came and worshiped Him, saying, “Lord, help me!” 26 But He answered and said, “It is not good to take the children’s bread and throw it to the little dogs.” 27 And she said, “Yes, Lord, yet even the little dogs eat the crumbs which fall from their masters’ table.”
This woman, illustrated here, is a Canaanite and a gentile from Palestine who is not a disciple of Christ. Yet in this event, we see that her faith served her well and brought about something that, again, in the natural, was impossible. While many do not view healing as significant as Peter walking on water, it still required faith to make it happen. And Jesus said it was great faith, as we will see in a moment. 28 Then Jesus answered and said to her, “O woman, great is your faith! Let it be to you as you desire.” And her daughter was healed from that very hour.
While faith may be about quantity, it is also about quality, in that one’s faith versus another’s is not solely about how much, but about how much one can use it. In Peter’s case, Jesus said, ” Oh, you of little faith, but in the case of the Canaanite woman, He said, ” Woman, great is your faith. What’s different? It is obvious that faith is not about who the individual is, but how they use it, as both believed in Jesus’s ability. Each used their faith to bring something that did not exist into the natural, and yet it wasn’t the same.
Peter’s faith served him until fear and doubt appeared, but the Canaanite woman was evident in the fact that her faith was great because she did not allow fear and doubt to intervene concerning who she was. And therefore, received what she asked for. Mark 11:23-24 For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith. 24 Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.
A spiritual principle is at work here: personal faith brings into manifestation something from an unseen realm, regardless of whether it involves throwing mulberry trees into the sea, moving mountains, bringing forth healing, or even walking on water. What is relevant for our knowledge and understanding is that the main process to be applied to breach any realm of doubt is Faith without apathy (a state of indifference).
Math 9:27-30 And when Jesus went on from there, two blind men came after him, crying out, Have mercy on us, you Son of David. 28 And when he had come into the house, the blind men came to him; and Jesus said to them, Have you faith that I am able to do this? They said to him, Yes, Lord. 29 Then he put his hand on their eyes, saying, As your faith is, let it be done to you. 30 And their eyes were made open. And Jesus said to them sharply, Let no man have knowledge of it.
Jesus asked the two blind men whether their faith could receive His ability, and they said yes; it was done. Jesus had great faith, and we see how He used it to serve His Father and creation while in the flesh. His faith brought supernatural power into this natural realm through signs, wonders, and miracles. For today’s believer to continue to do His will on earth is by the word and the Holy Spirit to transform us to have faith not only in, but as Christ. Therefore, we are receiving by the Holy Spirit truths concerning all the things God has declared for us and enlarging our habitation to reveal the kingdom of God on earth.
Faith equips you with a spiritual ability to do what cannot be done in the natural realm. Jesus’s faith at work in His life brought into the earth the supernatural, exposing His Father’s will. Our faith works according to the truth, by the Holy Spirit, and will never serve us in greater things unless we dare to trust God to do what is impossible. Faith is given to believers to bring into manifestation all things God has decreed to His creation. And not for us to do as we will, but do His will in bringing the kingdom to light in this world through Jesus Christ.
Every Gentile believer (the Church) must get hold of these transformation truths in God’s word, for faithfully operating as spiritual offspring, by a nature that naturally uses faith to do as He would do. Rom 11:17-24 (MSG) Some of the tree’s branches were pruned and you wild olive shoots were grafted in. Yet the fact that you are now fed by that rich and holy root 18 gives you no cause to crow over the pruned branches. Remember, you aren’t feeding the root; the root is feeding you.
There is another aspect of faith we need to understand, and the Apostle Paul brings it to the forefront by revealing that God is working in His creation to bring about spiritual transformation. As we will see in these scriptures Gentiles were not part of the Church in the beginning. Jesus began with the Jewish people, who were prophetically to receive the spiritual principles of His Church. But Paul says that branches from a wild olive tree, or Gentiles willing to be of the nature and purpose of the Church, were grafted into a recently pruned olive tree, doubtful Israel.
The Lord removed unbelieving Israel from its spiritual purpose as the Church and then grafted into it those who were not of the heritage of Israel, Gentiles. This was done because they, by faith, were willing to receive the truths that would transform them into God’s spiritual offspring, fulfilling His will as the Church on earth. 19 It’s certainly possible to say, “Other branches were pruned so that I could be grafted in!” 20 Well and good. But they were pruned because they were deadwood, no longer connected by belief and commitment to the root. The only reason you’re on the tree is because your graft “took” when you believed, and because you’re connected to that belief-nurturing root. So don’t get cocky and strut your branch. Be humbly mindful of the root that keeps you lithe and green.
The reverse aspect of faith is unbelief, which, as we see here, was contrary to the root that supplied the branches. That root Paul talks about here is Christ, the anointed Messiah. Israel was cut off from this root because of its unbelief, and new branches, the Gentiles, were grafted into it. Believers must understand that through new branches they cannot change the tree’s spiritual purpose or what it is to be by the nature of the SAP (spiritual nourishment) supplied by Christ, the word of truth.
The root (Christ) is still the same as before Israel was cut off.
21 If God didn’t think twice about taking pruning shears to the natural branches, why would he hesitate over you? He wouldn’t give it a second thought. All branches are to be of the same nature as the root so that the purpose of the olive tree, in this case, working through the body of Christ, His Church, is fulfilled. Unbelief cuts off the Holy Spirit, leaving spiritually dead branches unable to produce fruit. This is a serious matter to God; anyone with a nature of doubt is just as they were before Christ, spiritually dead or untransformed saved creations. 23 And don’t get to feeling superior to those pruned branches down on the ground. If they don’t persist in remaining deadwood, they could very well get grafted back in. God can do that. He can perform miracle grafts.
Things written here are to provoke you into seeing that God has an eternal purpose for all associated with the truth revealed through Christ’s interaction with us. Those of Israel who come to believe in Jesus as the Christ, the Messiah, are all afforded the same work of spiritual transformation as all believers. They are established by faith in the same truths that bring a renewed understanding. 24 Why, if he could graft you—branches cut from a tree out in the wild—into an orchard tree, he certainly isn’t going to have any trouble grafting branches back into the tree they grew from in the first place. Just be glad you’re in the tree, and hope for the best for the others.
There is one thing I know above all, and that is God does not change; what He by faith has purposed before the foundations of this earth is still purposed for the same results today. I am convinced He will bring all of it together in the ending days of the Church, but for now, believers are to be about becoming exactly what He says they are, spiritually transformed offspring of the Highest God capable of operating His will by faith on earth.
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