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Allow all this Scripture which is a part of this study to speak to your heart. Allow it to bring the faith of Christ that it was intended to bring.
Matthew 17:20b ... for verily I say unto you, If you have faith as a grain of mustard seed, you shall say unto this mountain, Remove from here to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you.
Faith as a grain of mustard seed. It’s not faith that does the work, it’s God’s power that does it, which we allow to work by believing when He speaks.
II Corinthians 4:7 But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us.
Philippians 2:13 For it is God who works within you both to will and to do His good pleasure.
For it is God who works in us to 1) Will of His good pleasure and 2) Do His good pleasure. He wills and He does… we believe.
Believing… anyone can do it. Everyone does it. It’s a most basic human ability. Everyone believes something.
We can be “strong in faith” in one area of spiritual maturity and not so strong in another. For example, a person may find it easy to preach Jesus Christ to others, but still lose his/her patience with those they love. They may get insightful revelation from God on an hourly basis, but still get tempted by lustful thoughts. They may find it easy to love and forgive others, but be hounded by fear and depression. Like as how a child grows from inability to ability in so many different areas, so does the spiritual person grow. A little here, a lot there, fail here, two steps forward, a step back there, large gains here, little ones there.
Ephesians 1:5, 9 Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will. Having made known unto us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure which He has purposed in Himself;
Romans 10:17 So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
“Word” is the Greek word rhema, indicated what someone hears. Faith comes as we receive the revelation of what God imparts to us. Rhema is first used (in the NT) in Matthew 4:4,
Matthew 4:4 (Jesus is speaking to the devil) Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word (rhema) that proceeds out of the mouth of God.
Rom 10:14 How then shall they call on him whom they have not believed, and how shall they believe (in is not in the text) him whom they have not heard?
A big difference here between believing in something or someone, and believing someone when they speak. Believing is not an academic exercise. It is akin to trust… to trust on what someone says. For example, God says He will supply my needs. If I believe what He says, then I trust that He will do it. Where there is faith, there cannot be fear. I cannot believe the promise of God supplying my need unless I receive His spoken word to my heart.
Philippians 4:19 But my God shall supply all your need, according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.
Trust means to depend on, lean on. If I need to buy groceries and don’t trust my car, then I walk, or get a ride with someone else. If I trust that I know enough for a test, then I don’t study. If I trust that it won’t rain, then I don’t bring an umbrella.
Ephesians 2:8 For by grace are you saved by faith, and that (faith) not of yourselves, it is the gift of God.
Faith is a gift from God. It is the gift of the faith of Jesus Christ himself. The ability to hear from and understand God is itself a gift from God. It is the gift of Christ within, making plain the ways and truths, even the very life of God.
We believe on Jesus Christ and we receive the gift of the faith of Jesus Christ, which is his accomplished ability to rule over all that God his Father has entrusted into his authority. The faith of Jesus Christ is his ability to think the thoughts of God, to believe to receive the promises of God, to walk supernaturally.
Romans 3:22 The righteousness of God is by the faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all those that believe.
Romans 1:17 The just shall live by faith.…by the faith of Jesus Christ which has been imparted unto them.
Galatians 2:20 I am crucified with Christ; nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
If the above verses are all only talking about my faith, my ability to believe, then it is me that has to do that work (believing is a verb, a doing). But the only work required of me is to believe unto Jesus Christ… and then it is his faith that does all the spiritual work.
Faith and believing are both the same Greek word, pistis.
Galatians 2:16, 17a Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in (eis – unto) Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law; for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified. But if, while we seek to be justified by Christ …
Seeking to be justified by faith, is seeking to be justified by Christ… by his faith.
Romans 12:3 For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God has dealt to every man the measure of faith.
We are to think according as God has dealt to us the measure of faith. Whatever faith we have, it is given to us as we hear Him speak to us. (See study How Do We Get Faith? ….. God GIVES It To Us)
It is not up to us to accomplish wonderful works, to bear spiritual fruit, to do the works of God by our own human ability. In fact, that is an impossible task. It is up to us to believe Jesus Christ, as God reveals his spirit within us by His spoken words (rhema) to us. Tthis “spoken” word is revelation, however it comes… a picture, a smell, a feeling, a knowing, etc.
When and where we believe on the Christ revealed to us, his faith is energized within us, and we walk supernaturally, spiritually, as true sons of God. The more it happens, the more spiritually mature we become.
Ephesians 4:16 But living out the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things who is the head, Christ.
This is how Christ is formed in us,
Galatians 4:19 My little children, of whom I travail in birth again, until Christ be formed in you,
how Christ dwells in our hearts, by faith,
Ephesians 3:17a That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith;
how Christ is revealed in us,
Galatians 1:15a, 16a But when it pleased God…. to reveal His Son in me….
This is how we know him.
Philippians 3:10a That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection….
Ephesians 1:17 That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge (intimate knowing) of him;
Faith is a manifestation of the spirit…..I Corinthians 12:9 Faith is a fruit of the spirit…….Galatians 5:22
Galatians 3:22-26 But the scripture has concluded all (the works of the law) under sin, that the promise by the faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them who believe (unto him). But before faith came, we were kept under the law, shut up unto the faith which should afterwards be revealed (in and by the spirit of Christ within). Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster until Christ, that we might be justified by (his) faith. But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster. For you are all the children of God by the faith (which is) in Christ Jesus.
Walk in the spirit of Christ, and let his faith lead you, uplift you, strengthen you, fulfill you. For his faith in you is now your faith… the perfect gift from God.
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See studies:
The Fellowship of Our Sonship
Holy Spirit Sanctification
The Gift of God’s Righteousness
Justified, what it means
What Pleases God
How Christ is Building His Church
