Faith

by | May 1, 2022 | Articles

‘Faith sees the invisible, believes the unbelievable, and receives the impossible’. Corrie Ten Boom

Types of faith

Libraries are filled with books about faith, and rightly so. It’s a noble subject and THE great theme of the Bible. It is both a gift and a fruit of the Holy Spirit. I have found, overall, that more teaching books directed towards the life and fruit of faithfulness (Gal 5 v22-23), than about the specific gift of faith (1 Cor 12v 9), which I am keen to study closely. There are similarities between the two, and they certainly work in synergy together, but they are not the same.

Leaving the gift of faith to one side for a moment, it helps to note that not all faith is the same. Some Christians have faith in a certain area, often relating to their own areas of struggle and victory. Others have faith for a season, which does not necessarily cross over into the next season, or vice versa. The scriptures describe different quantities and qualities of faith; here are a few,

  • A measure of faith (Romans 12v 3)
  • Growing faith (2 Thess 1v 3)
  • Unwavering faith (Heb 10v 23)
  • Strong faith (Romans 4v 20)
  • Historical faith – the witness of the scriptures (2 Peter 1 v19)
  • Faith that moves mountains (1 Cor 13v 2b)
  • Active faith (Rom 4v 17)
  • Genuine faith (2 Tim 1v 50
  • Common faith (Romans 1 v12)
  • Faith without root (Luke 8v 13)
  • Little faith (Matt 8v 26)
  • Mustard seed faith (Matt 17v 20)
  • Great faith (Matt 15v 21-28). Interestingly both New Testament examples are gentiles, the Canaanite woman and Centurion.

I’m sure we all aspire to the last of these, great faith!

Great faith

God is no respecter of persons (Romans 2 v11). The two people Jesus commends for great faith in the New Testament are both non-Jewish and therefore outside the Abraham-covenant promises. They both represent everything that was culturally abhorrent to Jewish people; the brutal Roman oppressor and the Canaanite idolator.

Jesus is not hamstrung for a moment by cultural norms. He goes where He finds faith. The Roman Centurion and the Canaanite woman both exercise the gift of faith to even approach Jesus. There were myriad cultural and spiritual barriers that could easily have stopped them both. Beyond that, for all they knew Jesus might reject them – outright.

In the gospels people bring their sick relative or friend to Jesus, even if it involves deconstructing a roof (Luke 5 v19); or they plead with him to come to them (John 11 v21 &32). There’s something about the proximity of Jesus that helps people to raise their faith, they need His physical presence.  Both the Centurion and Canaanite woman exercise the gift of faith, they believeJesus can heal the sick from a distance, just as if He were in the same room.

The centurion replied, “Lord, I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. But just say the word, and my servant will be healed. (Matt 8 v8)

Then Jesus said to her, “Woman, you have great faith! Your request is granted.” And her daughter was healed at that moment. (Matt 15 v28)

Both received a miracle by faith without Jesus physically ministering to the sick person. Surely this is the gift of faith in operation, and by people without the spiritual advantages of Jewish people.

A gift and fruit

Faith (faithfulness – same root word) is unique in the list of spiritual gifts and fruits, as the only one mentioned in both. Double emphasis surely indicates high importance. This should not unduly surprise us, we have been taught,

And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him. (Heb 11 v6)

Faith is the bankcard that accesses the bank account containing all the riches of heaven. And this analogy doesn’t mean faith only applies to money! Without faith all we have is Christian hot air and theoretical doctrine. Absolutely everything hinges on faith. Faith should shine out of us as a gift and as a fruit.

Faithfulness is the fruit of a lifestyle of faith; trusting in God through thick and through thin, not wavering with circumstances and faddy doctrines (James 1 v6-8). Faithful people are steady, dependable, and often plough through years of discouragement and heartache. Today we have too many ‘consumer’, fly by night, Christians in our hedonistic society.

The gift of faith appearing in the list of gifts relates to a special faith given for a particular task, season or need. Often a gift of faith facilitates a miraculous healing, or even resurrection. Almost always a resurrection is preceded by a strong gift of faith.

“Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep; but I am going there to wake him up.” (John 11 v11b)

Consider for a moment the gospel encounter with Lazarus (of resurrection fame); Jesus demonstrates a strong gift of faith; He was not being flippant about the death of a dear friend. With each passing hour and then day (4 days to be precise John 11 v17), the gift of faith gives Jesus a holy confidence. Others who didn’t understand could perceive this as cavalier or unfeeling; Lazarus’ sisters Mary and Martha come very close to rebuking Jesus. Jesus was working to a different plan, to His fathers’ agenda. God was setting up a remarkable miracle which prophesied of Jesus’ own coming resurrection (John 11 v25).

A gift of faith

I can think of several ways the gift of faith has been a wonderful blessing in my life, sometimes indirectly. Usually in life it’s harder, and requires more faith, to believe a positive report, the negative report is so easy to agree with, and typically demands no faith. If Holy Spirit gives you a gift of faith, you might find things get lonely, even with your Christian friends. Of the twelve spies sent into the promised land only Caleb and Joshua returned with a gift of faith to say the giants would be ‘our bread’ (Num 14 v9). Their bright faith separated them from their compatriots.

My wife exemplifies faithfulness (as a fruit) in her life and has also demonstrated a gift of faith for specific healing. This related to a chronic health issue I was suffering from; against the flow of opinion, she knew because she had heard from God that everything was going to be OK. Bec is not remotely prone to saying ‘God told me’ about things. In all our married life she has only said this twice!

There were many other doubting voices speaking into our circumstances; many (some Christian) without much hope or faith. There were also medical ‘prognosis’ which were hard to shake off given the authority with which they were spoken. (NB, we can respect the ‘wisdom’ of doctors and their desire to help, but Jesus is our great physician, and He gets the last word)

I wavered between faith and unbelief, as did some Christian friends. Unbelievers had plenty of opinions and the medical world offered little or no hope. But my wife never wavered. Her banner of faith plunged deep into the rock that is Christ. This faith was tested many times, including through my unbelief, but remained a bulwark to me.

Titanium spine

Bec does not make a big song and dance about things, but her quiet steadfastness in my time of trouble spoke volumes. God put titanium in her spine and she wouldn’t give an inch over this issue, or allow me to. She refused to lower her stance when others, even Christians, wanted her to agree with their well-meaning platitudes. I am eternally grateful for Bec’s strength through that season. I thank Holy Spirit for giving her the gift of faith and I honour her for exercising it. She was right, I am healed!

Personally, God has given me a gift of faith relating to housing, or more specifically our home. Every time we have moved we have lived in a house (in size and aesthetic beauty) beyond which we could have reasonably expected, given (at times) our miniscule income. For years we were earning a fraction of what our wealthier friends were, and yet we lived in a home they were jealous of!

This is not so we can indulge an opulent lifestyle, or rub other people’s noses in our blessings, but so that we can give hospitality. I can work from home, we can host bible study meetings, BBQs etc. God knows what we shall need to accomplish what He has asked us to do, and if we’re not selfish, He can – and will – give it to us. The gift of faith has facilitated us receiving His specific blessings (John 14 v3a). There’s a compound effect in faith as I have seen God come through for us in this way three times now. I’m expectant, we go from glory to glory, faith to faith (2 Cor 3 v18).

Faith is the one thing Jesus said he’d be looking for on His return

But when the Son of Man returns, how many will he find on the earth who have faith?” (Luke 18 v8b)

Giving back to Jesus

Faith is the one gift we can offer back to Jesus; everything else is a gift from Him. Everything else belongs to God or has been created by Him. Trust, we give to him, as a child to a father who cares, protects, and provides for us. It delights Him. The Bible simply doesn’t have a story or a scenario to fit every situation we face. In a rapidly changing world, the gift of faith is an umbilical cord that keeps us firmly attached to Jesus when everything else is sinking sand. If you feel  like you are sinking today, ask Jesus for a gift of faith!

<<<<>>>>

Daniel Holland is a UK missionary with Through Faith Missions. He wrote “Through The Tunnel – Free at Last” published by PUSH Publishing, as his personal testimony. His second book “Prophetic Evangelism – Kingdom Exploits in the Risk Zone” was reissued in an expanded second edition in August 2021, via Christian Publications International: https://christian-publications-int.com/PropheticEvangelism.html . More recently he has penned 2 short-ish books on Growing As a New Christian and Caring for the New Christian.

<<<<>>>>

Here is a link to a Prophecy Today review of “Prophetic Evangelism”: https://prophecytoday.uk/study/resources/item/2076-review-prophetic-evangelism.html