Faith is a hot topic these days, wouldn't you agree? Faith can mean many different things to many different people. However, I am more concerned with biblical faith, rather than the current trend of "generic faith." I'm sure you have seen the bevy of T-shirts walking around with the single command "Believe" or "Faith" emblazoned upon them. Well, a thinking person must ask themselves - "Believe what? - or "Have 'faith' in who, or what?" As a Christian, and I thinking person, I must search what Scripture has to say about anything, especially faith. Why? Because upon the pages of Scripture, we are able to read with certainty, what God has to say about biblical faith, meaning that it contains God's perspective regarding biblical faith and is our guide to proper Christian living. Why? Because The Almighty is the author of the Bible, and of our faith. So, according to Scripture, how is biblical faith defined, and
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how does it work? This is an important issue for me, because I came from a cult that worshiped "mega" or "hyper" faith, so I want to be very careful as to how I approach this subject. Now, dear reader, at this point, I feel compelled to remind you that Satan knows Scripture. He is also very good at twisting it, so we must be on our guard and be good exegetes. Many false teachers claim to read, know, and teach Scripture accurately, but we must test to see if what they say is so. A person's professed knowledge of Scripture doesn't impress me anymore, knowing that Satan knows Scripture too. What I now look for, is whether or not the teacher teaches Scripture in proper context and from God's perspective, and doesn't contradict it -ever. If they do contradict Scripture, are caught, corrected, but then refuse to acknowledge the correction, then they are to be marked as a false teacher, and as a wolf in sheep's clothing.
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A good exegete looks at the words used in a verse to see if the parts of speech such as: nouns, verbs, and adjectives are being used properly, and in context to not only the verse it is in, but in the entire chapter. In most if not all languages, a noun has a verb form, so in order to avoid confusion and improper interpretations, we need to make sure words are being used in their proper form or part of speech. This can easily be done by using a concordance and a dicitonary. For instance, the English word: faith is a noun, and the Greek word for faith is: pistis. Pistis is also a noun and includes the noun "belief" as one of its synonyms. However, the verb or action form of faith and belief in English is believe which is the verb pisteuo in Greek .
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Verbs are action forms of a noun. I say this because false teachers will switch noun forms with verb forms to confuse their listeners. This technique of deception is very subtle, not unlike the ways of their father, Satan. For instance, here is a quote form a false teacher:
"Faith and belief are different...believing something will never change your circumstances,
but faith will change your circumstances. And faith is acting on what you believe."
-Fredrick Price
Okay, first of all, faith and belief are both nouns in English and Greek and can be interchangeable, so they are the same thing. Second of all, is he talking about biblical faith, or wishful thinking as not being able to change your circumstances? In this quote he is using the verb form of belief which is: believing, and then he slips faith in as a substitute for the action word believing. In truth, people can engage in wishful thinking and it will never change their circumstances, right? Action is required, a verb, or deeds, must be done to prove faith- the noun. So really, obedience is that acting on what you believe or have faith in. Jesus qualified those who believe him, and love him, as those who obey him. Now, let's look at the last line of Fred's quote. It goes against the biblical, Greek and English definitions of these words. Hebrews 11:1 (one of W.O.F. favorite scriptures) not only defines faith, but shows us how it works, and this is where they use their wresting of the parts of speech to confuse and twist God's word. If they are able to get you to reason that faith and belief aren't the same noun, and that faith is a verb or action word in the verse, then they are able to teach that in Heb. 11:3, God used faith [as an action or verb] as a means of creating the world, rather than its contextual meaning. In context of Hebrews 11:3, it is taught that we, not God, must have faith [noun]that God made the worlds even though we were not there to see him do it. So we are going by what he says and the visual evidence of this world's diverse life, as well as the reasonable law in biology that states, life begets life. Do you see, dear reader, just how important it is too listen to what is said, and how something is said, and to study the Greek words behind the English words to see if they are congruent? These false teachers are abusing and misusing the word: faith, and by doing this, they will subtly be able to get some people to believe that they are a god, and according to them, then these misinformed souls can use faith just like the Almighty did, which is of course a lie. We need faith because we can't see the big picture, God doesn't need faith; he sees the end from the beginning, he gave all of us humans a measure of faith, it is his gift to all of us humans.
"Faith and belief are different...believing something will never change your circumstances,
but faith will change your circumstances. And faith is acting on what you believe."
-Fredrick Price
Okay, first of all, faith and belief are both nouns in English and Greek and can be interchangeable, so they are the same thing. Second of all, is he talking about biblical faith, or wishful thinking as not being able to change your circumstances? In this quote he is using the verb form of belief which is: believing, and then he slips faith in as a substitute for the action word believing. In truth, people can engage in wishful thinking and it will never change their circumstances, right? Action is required, a verb, or deeds, must be done to prove faith- the noun. So really, obedience is that acting on what you believe or have faith in. Jesus qualified those who believe him, and love him, as those who obey him. Now, let's look at the last line of Fred's quote. It goes against the biblical, Greek and English definitions of these words. Hebrews 11:1 (one of W.O.F. favorite scriptures) not only defines faith, but shows us how it works, and this is where they use their wresting of the parts of speech to confuse and twist God's word. If they are able to get you to reason that faith and belief aren't the same noun, and that faith is a verb or action word in the verse, then they are able to teach that in Heb. 11:3, God used faith [as an action or verb] as a means of creating the world, rather than its contextual meaning. In context of Hebrews 11:3, it is taught that we, not God, must have faith [noun]that God made the worlds even though we were not there to see him do it. So we are going by what he says and the visual evidence of this world's diverse life, as well as the reasonable law in biology that states, life begets life. Do you see, dear reader, just how important it is too listen to what is said, and how something is said, and to study the Greek words behind the English words to see if they are congruent? These false teachers are abusing and misusing the word: faith, and by doing this, they will subtly be able to get some people to believe that they are a god, and according to them, then these misinformed souls can use faith just like the Almighty did, which is of course a lie. We need faith because we can't see the big picture, God doesn't need faith; he sees the end from the beginning, he gave all of us humans a measure of faith, it is his gift to all of us humans.
Faith Defined
Again, looking to the concordance, I find that there are at least 4 words in Hebrew that define "faith," and at least that many in Greek. I won't take the time to list them here, you can look them up for yourself, and I hope you do. Basically, faith is a noun and is defined as: being true, assurance, stability, belief, trust, and standing fast. All of these words define biblical faith. We are told to be still and know He is God[Ps. 46:10], and that the just live by faith [Habakkuk 2:4; Heb. 10:38], and to trust in the Lord and in the power of his might[Eph. 6:10], and having done all we are to stand[Eph. 6:13], and we have all been given a measure of faith [Rom. 12:3]. Scripture admonishes us that we must have faith in God and his promises. For many of us, all these things are easier said than done - why? Well, we humans have a saying: "seeing is believing," but this is not biblical faith, as doubting Thomas found out. So is biblical faith completely "blind," if it involves things not seen? Not exactly. Blind faith implies belief or trust without understanding, perception, or discrimination, or at least that is how it should be defined. This is not the definition of biblical or Christian faith, we are always admonished to know our God and his ways, and to perceive and discriminate between his goodness and Satan's evil tricks. Naturally speaking, we view our world with our five senses, we use them to acquire information about our
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information about our world, they are how we learn, understand, perceive and discern what is going on in our world. Even so, while we cannot "see", or we don't "touch" what it is we hope for, proper biblical faith is assisted by the sense of hearing, as in we have to first hear what God says before we can believe it. When God says something, we are then given the opportunity to perform the action of believing it, or not through our obedience to his word. Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. Scripture is made up of the words of God, dictated to his prophets, which they dutifully wrote down - which is something you can see and touch. You can choose to believe this, or you can choose to not believe this. God has given us all a measure of faith, some more than others. We are also told that we are to walk by faith not by sight. That means we are not to be swayed from God's promises by what we see happening around us, and we are not to judge our faith by "feelings." There are cults that always ask: "Can't you just feel the Lord's presence here?" Most of the time I could answer: "No, I don't feel his presence, so now what?" Biblical faith believes what God said, that he won't leave us nor forsake us even unto the end of the age, and that where ever there is two or more gathered in his name, he is there with us- no goose bumps, or hair standing on end required.
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The Father Of Our FaithJust look at this amazing photo of the night sky. Isn't it marvelous? When I first saw this photo I had a lump in my throat, and tears came to my eyes - it's just magnificent! I have never, in my whole life, seen so many sparkling stars in the night sky. It makes one feel very small and fills one's soul with wonder. At my home, when I look at the night sky, I'm fortunate to see the few stars bright enough to outshine the city lights, and it is hardly what I would call an impressive display.
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Is this what Abraham saw that night the Lord came and spoke with him and promised him many children? If it was, then no wonder Abraham was inclined to believe God and take him at his word! Truly, there is no one in the Bible that is more iconic regarding biblical faith, than the man we know as Abraham. He is the premiere example, and father of Christian faith - why? Because he simply believed what God told him, and he proved it by obeying God. Let's read what is written:
"After these things the word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision, saying,
"Do not be afraid, Abram, I am your shield, your exceedingly great reward."
But Abram said, "LORD God, what will you give me, seeing I go childless,
and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?" Then Abram said, "Look,
you have given me no offspring; indeed one born in my house is my heir!"
And behold, the word of the LORD came to him, saying, "This one shall not
be your heir, but one who will come from your own body shall be your
heir." Then he brought him outside and said, "Look now toward heaven,
and count the stars if you are able to number them." And he said to him,
"So shall your descendants be."And he believed in the LORD, and he
accounted it to him for righteousness." Genesis 15:1-6
"After these things the word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision, saying,
"Do not be afraid, Abram, I am your shield, your exceedingly great reward."
But Abram said, "LORD God, what will you give me, seeing I go childless,
and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?" Then Abram said, "Look,
you have given me no offspring; indeed one born in my house is my heir!"
And behold, the word of the LORD came to him, saying, "This one shall not
be your heir, but one who will come from your own body shall be your
heir." Then he brought him outside and said, "Look now toward heaven,
and count the stars if you are able to number them." And he said to him,
"So shall your descendants be."And he believed in the LORD, and he
accounted it to him for righteousness." Genesis 15:1-6
Abraham's Faith Rested On God's Power
Now I must ask you dear reader, what did God give Abraham to prove that he would perform the high and lofty promises he gave Abraham? The Almighty took him outside and he showed Abraham his handy work, and by doing this, the Almighty gave Abraham hope! Was Abraham present when God made all those brilliant sparkling stars? No, he wasn't. He simply believed that God could and would give him a son because God made all those stars. Genesis and Hebrews tells us that God spoke this universe into existence. Now just because Abraham could see the billions of twinkling stars in the inky night sky, and he heard and understood God's voice inferring that he made them, does that mean he would automatically believe it? No, not really. How many people see those same twinkling stars [surly, not as many as seen in the photo] and have heard the same account of God's creation, yet they don't believe it? Millions of people willfully believe that this whole universe is a product of chance, and that life as we know it, evolved over billions of years from non-living matter, without any divine intervention. These very people are discussed in Romans 1:18-32, if you want to read about them. He does provide us with physical evidence of his might, and of his existence, so we won't have any excuses. They are not using their measure of faith to believe in their creator. Therefore, biblical faith, dear reader, is not completely dependent upon
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the senses and facts. The facts said that both Abraham and Sarah were way past child bearing years, and Sarah was barren, but even so, God is supernatural and supersedes the natural by performing wonders, something we call miracles. Scripture is careful to record that Abraham's faith was in God's word and his promises, and that is what made God pleased as punch! Why? Because we cannot please God without having faith in him and in what he says, and promises us. This is what makes Abraham the father of the Christian faith, he simply believed that there was and is an all powerful God, and he simply believed what God said, backed by the visual proof of his might as demonstrated by what he saw, billions of stars, and this gave him hope. This is what Paul means in 1 Corinthians 2:5 when he says that he came to preach the gospel and demonstrate God's power, so our faith may not rest on man's wisdom, but on God's power. So our faith should rest on God's power, not ours. Words are containers of information, but they are vain and empty unless you can back them up with works of power. We have a saying: Put up or shut up. And yes, Abraham did ask for a seal of God's promise, and God gave him one by blood sacrifice, but this doesn't mean he lacked faith, Abraham only wanted a closing of the deal.
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Faith, Hope, & Love, but the greatest of these is...
...LOVE! Why? Because Scripture says that faith and hope are temporary, but love never fails, and it will never end, and we also learn that God is love in 1 John 4:8! Paul tells us that we humans now see as if in a mirror, darkly, but when all is accomplished, we won't need faith or hope, because we will see him, or Jesus, as he is. But until that fine day - we need faith and hope to live in this world - in this age. Faith and hope involve things that are unseen.
Not long ago, about 3 years ago, I belonged to a cult known as the Word of Faith. They get this appellation from Romans 10:25, but they take biblical faith and shift it into hyper-drive. According to them, that is a good thing. Yes, they exalt faith to the point of worshiping it, they even go to the extreme of claiming that even God operates by this kind of faith, which of course is not true. How do I know that? Well, Scripture declares in Hebrews 11:1 that faith is the substance of things hoped for, and the evidence of things not seen. We also read in 2 Corinthians 4:17-18:
For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far
more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, while we do not look at the
things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things
which are seen are temporary, but the things not seen are eternal. [emphasis mine]
By comparing these two Scriptures we can 'see' that we are being taught that unseen things are eternal. And because we can't physically see them with our eyes, then we must have faith that they exist, because God says they do. Faith is the arm we extend toward and grasp the hope of what has been promised, of what we can't yet see. What are some things we hope to see, but can't see with our eyes pertaining to things that are eternal? Well how about seeing The Almighty himself, his kingdom, and his promise of a new body for starters. Are these promised things that we hope for, visible to the naked eye? No. But God says they exist, so we either believe him or we don't. Now as for biblical hope, that hope is based on what God has already done, like our new bodies, Jesus got one when he rose from the dead, so that means we will get one too. So by saying that God operates by using "hyper-faith", what they are really saying in essence, is that God can't see all things, and that he doesn't know everything. This is completely at odds with the entire Bible, and is therefore a false teaching.
Not long ago, about 3 years ago, I belonged to a cult known as the Word of Faith. They get this appellation from Romans 10:25, but they take biblical faith and shift it into hyper-drive. According to them, that is a good thing. Yes, they exalt faith to the point of worshiping it, they even go to the extreme of claiming that even God operates by this kind of faith, which of course is not true. How do I know that? Well, Scripture declares in Hebrews 11:1 that faith is the substance of things hoped for, and the evidence of things not seen. We also read in 2 Corinthians 4:17-18:
For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far
more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, while we do not look at the
things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things
which are seen are temporary, but the things not seen are eternal. [emphasis mine]
By comparing these two Scriptures we can 'see' that we are being taught that unseen things are eternal. And because we can't physically see them with our eyes, then we must have faith that they exist, because God says they do. Faith is the arm we extend toward and grasp the hope of what has been promised, of what we can't yet see. What are some things we hope to see, but can't see with our eyes pertaining to things that are eternal? Well how about seeing The Almighty himself, his kingdom, and his promise of a new body for starters. Are these promised things that we hope for, visible to the naked eye? No. But God says they exist, so we either believe him or we don't. Now as for biblical hope, that hope is based on what God has already done, like our new bodies, Jesus got one when he rose from the dead, so that means we will get one too. So by saying that God operates by using "hyper-faith", what they are really saying in essence, is that God can't see all things, and that he doesn't know everything. This is completely at odds with the entire Bible, and is therefore a false teaching.
Biblical Hope Isn't Wishful Thinking
Hope, the second word in the list found in 1 Corinthians 13:13, is needed for things not yet seen [Rom. 8:24]. Yet the hope we have as Christians, isn't based on vain imaginings, or wishful thinking. Earthly wishful thinking is an erroneous belief that one's wishes are in accordance with reality, so many people's hopes are mere fantasies that will never really come true. Like biblical faith, biblical hope has its heart confidently set on God's promises. This hope is confident that he will do what he says, based on what God has already done in reality, so again, we have hope in his power. Biblical or Christian hope is ever expecting, and gives the Christian the spiritual energy, and the active patience required to be steadfast until the end, or until what is hoped for has been finally acquired.
As the Bible student eventually learns, there are conditions to God's promises and he has set a certain order, or reason as to why things work the they way they do. So it is here. Faith, hope, love, and obedience all work in tandem, to bring a follower of Christ into maturity, well, at least that is the goal. These things are important building blocks in the Christian faith. If you have one without the other, then something is wrong, and your faith will be unstable. Faith alone is not enough, biblical faith must be accompanied by hope, love, and of course, obedience.
As the Bible student eventually learns, there are conditions to God's promises and he has set a certain order, or reason as to why things work the they way they do. So it is here. Faith, hope, love, and obedience all work in tandem, to bring a follower of Christ into maturity, well, at least that is the goal. These things are important building blocks in the Christian faith. If you have one without the other, then something is wrong, and your faith will be unstable. Faith alone is not enough, biblical faith must be accompanied by hope, love, and of course, obedience.
Biblical Faith And Willful Obedience
The Children of Israel, those who came straight out of Egypt, most of them were a bunch of faithless and idolatrous hooligans. How can I say something so harsh? Easy. Scripture reveals to us, that the majority of them, either consistently disobeyed God and openly worshiped idols, or they grudgingly obeyed him while "secretly" worshiping idols. Why? Because they didn't have hope or faith in God or his promises, even though he reminded them time and again, that he was the one and only God who took them out of bondage in Egypt. Not only that, but they were actually there and experienced it. They simply didn't love him. God says that if you love him, then you will do what he tells you to do. I don't say that to be judgmental in the sense of condemning these people, but as a way of determining what role the cause and effect of their fickle devotion to God played in their eventual captivity in Assyria and Babylon.
The Word of God, more specifically, Paul, said that the law was added via Moses, due to their unbelief [Gal. 3:19]. So they required the Law of Moses to be their teacher in righteousness, until the Prophet, the promised Messiah, came to fulfill the law and usher in a New Covenant based on better promises, which he sealed with his physical death and holy blood. Even though they had the law, they still rebelled or disobeyed it. Yes, only a remnant was ever completely faithful to The Almighty, and lived obediently by faith. Only a few in the Old Testament ever willfully, joyfully, and lovingly obeyed his commandments, statues, and judgments, because they had faith and hope in him, and they loved him. And those precious few who made up the righteous remnant were always vexed by the rampant idolatry among them, and were even persecuted by the inhabitants of the surrounding idolatrous nations, and shamefully even by their own adulterous countrymen. This is still true today.
However, unlike worldly generic faith, biblical faith must be coupled with willful obedience, before one can truly be considered as an over comer, like the saints mentioned in Hebrews 11. We are informed that even evil spirits and Satan know there is a God and that they tremble in fear of him. But that doesn't mean they have biblical faith in him, because they don't willfully obey him nor do they love him. Willful obedience is considered to be "deeds" or "works" in Scripture as related to faith. If we believe what God says, then we will joyfully obey, or do, what he tells us to do; knowing his promise will come to pass, no matter what the circumstances look like. It's that simple. James informs us that faith without works is dead. But word and deed must match and work together patiently before we can have what was promised. If our words and deeds do not match, then we are hypocrites, or pseudo- Christians. Simply put: deeds prove words. Jesus Christ our Lord basically said that if we love him, then we will do what he tells us to do. This is what Abraham did, he obeyed what the Lord told him to do [Gen. 26:4&5].
The Word of God, more specifically, Paul, said that the law was added via Moses, due to their unbelief [Gal. 3:19]. So they required the Law of Moses to be their teacher in righteousness, until the Prophet, the promised Messiah, came to fulfill the law and usher in a New Covenant based on better promises, which he sealed with his physical death and holy blood. Even though they had the law, they still rebelled or disobeyed it. Yes, only a remnant was ever completely faithful to The Almighty, and lived obediently by faith. Only a few in the Old Testament ever willfully, joyfully, and lovingly obeyed his commandments, statues, and judgments, because they had faith and hope in him, and they loved him. And those precious few who made up the righteous remnant were always vexed by the rampant idolatry among them, and were even persecuted by the inhabitants of the surrounding idolatrous nations, and shamefully even by their own adulterous countrymen. This is still true today.
However, unlike worldly generic faith, biblical faith must be coupled with willful obedience, before one can truly be considered as an over comer, like the saints mentioned in Hebrews 11. We are informed that even evil spirits and Satan know there is a God and that they tremble in fear of him. But that doesn't mean they have biblical faith in him, because they don't willfully obey him nor do they love him. Willful obedience is considered to be "deeds" or "works" in Scripture as related to faith. If we believe what God says, then we will joyfully obey, or do, what he tells us to do; knowing his promise will come to pass, no matter what the circumstances look like. It's that simple. James informs us that faith without works is dead. But word and deed must match and work together patiently before we can have what was promised. If our words and deeds do not match, then we are hypocrites, or pseudo- Christians. Simply put: deeds prove words. Jesus Christ our Lord basically said that if we love him, then we will do what he tells us to do. This is what Abraham did, he obeyed what the Lord told him to do [Gen. 26:4&5].
Hypocrisy - The Language Of The Double Minded
We see this time and again through out all of Scripture. There are many many examples of where someone says they believe in and follow God, or that they are one of his children, or that they are his prophet. Yet their deeds betray their words. James Chapter 3 expounds upon this very thing-hypocrisy, or the danger of word not matching deed in various ways. And of course, The Word of Faith bunch miss this point entirely and only focus on the mystical subject of the power of spoken words, and so give words themselves far too much power. I Corinthians 4:20 states that the kingdom of God is not in word, but in power, or one could say in powerful deeds, or acts. James' point was that something small, like the bit on a bridle, or rudder, effects larger things like a horse and a ship. As for the human tongue, as small as it is, it is capable of great evil and evil boasting in particular. Not only that, but no man can tame it like they can tame wild animals. What does that mean? That means that even though we can tame a wild animal, it is still wild and sooner or later, it will bite the hand that feeds it. The tongue is even worse, since it can't be tamed by men. Sure, the hypocrite might be able to intentionally fool some people for a while, but sooner or later their tongue will slip up and it will reveal what is really in their heart - hypocrisy, or poison. That means their tongue was and is geared toward evil the whole time, or it was never really tamed or good to start with. |
The Masters Of Hypocrisy
The Pharisees were masters of hypocrisy. They were able to both "bless God," with their tongue, and use it to "curse" men, who are made in the image and likeness of God; men who didn't conform to their man-made traditions. Jesus and John the Baptist called these men "hypocrites" and "vipers." Vipers, as we all know, have poison in their mouths. For a Christian, this should not be so. We are to bless God and our enemies, we are not to curse anyone. What's more, a Christian should not present themselves as one thing, in James' example, as a fig tree, and then bear or give totally different fruit, such as olives. This all relates to his first statement warning Christians to not be so quick as to be a teacher. Why? Because James reveals that a teacher is judged more strictly than the average Christian. Why? Because, the responsibility of teaching sound doctrine is not to be taken lightly. When you are given this great responsibility, or take it upon yourself to teach, then there is a danger of becoming a hypocrite, or of being seduced to lie against the truth, as false teachers do. He warns them away from being covetous, murderers, and adulterers, and he warns them away from worldly lusts. Very few would-be teachers take this sage admonishment to heart. Is it any wonder that Paul rejoiced when he had come to the end of his race- of his life, that his faith didn't suffer shipwreck? This was indeed a great thing to rejoice over considering all of the fleshly pit falls, and spiritual land mines that litter the field of ministry. Like James said, the wisdom that is from above, as opposed to earthy and demonic wisdom, is pure, then peaceable, gentile, willing to yield, full of mercy, and produces good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy. The characteristics of earthy and demonic wisdom are self-seeking, being envious, boastful, and lying against the truth. Envious could be even defined as covetous. All of these devilish things are the fruits of the Word of Faith. Don't believe me? Well I will expound upon that theme in other articles throughout this website. |
So indeed, the hyper-faith of the Word of Faith cult is indeed an idolatrous false and lying faith. They put their trust, not in the Lord Jesus, but in their "hyper"-faith, and they glory in and boast of it and the power of their words. Words of power that they claim are backed by Jesus' authority. And like all who sin, they want you to do the same thing they are doing. They even want you to put your hyper-faith in them and their teachings. This is idolatry, dear reader, not biblical faith.
True Biblical Faith Says, "If It Be Thy Will..."
When I was still in the process of questioning my faith, and searching for the truth, I went to a Wednesday night service at the church we used to attend. The speaker was a guest, and I can't remember the exact title of his message. He titled his message something to the effect of "hyper-faith vs. biblical faith" and that dear reader, caught my attention. I had ears to hear. I was hungry to hear the truth that blessed night, and my searching soul wasn't going to be disappointed, I would be satisfied with the meat of truth. To this day I wish I had taken the time to search him out and thank him for his timely message that fed my starving soul. Perhaps the Lord will grant me another chance one day this side of heaven. Anyway, he based his sermon on the Hebrews: Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, a.k.a. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.
Godly Men of Character
When faced with their untimely death, because they refused to bow down to a 60 foot golden statue of King Nebuchadnezzar [keep in mind other Hebrews that were there, did bow], these godly men of character had these amazing words to say in their defense of Nebuchadnezzar's anger:
"O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter. "If that
[is the case], our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning
fiery furnace, and He will deliver [us] from your hand, O king. "But if not,
let it be known to you, O king, that we do not serve your gods, nor will we
worship the gold image which you have set up."
When faced with their untimely death, because they refused to bow down to a 60 foot golden statue of King Nebuchadnezzar [keep in mind other Hebrews that were there, did bow], these godly men of character had these amazing words to say in their defense of Nebuchadnezzar's anger:
"O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter. "If that
[is the case], our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning
fiery furnace, and He will deliver [us] from your hand, O king. "But if not,
let it be known to you, O king, that we do not serve your gods, nor will we
worship the gold image which you have set up."
Wow, did you catch that? They said the word "if" not once, but twice! That should raise the hackles of most Word of Faith minions, and it does for some, but most Word of Faith minions read this without it even raising any alarms or questions. Why? Because they have been blinded by half-truths. They are taught to believe the word of God is true, but also to believe in what Word of Faith preachers say about the Bible, as they are so-called "anointed prophets" of God. That is why not many of them catch this subtle discrepancy or contradiction within the core teachings of the Word of Faith Bunch. Word of Faith minions are taught to never say "if" because that is a faithless word, according to them. There are times when the word "if" can be translated as "whether" as in: whether or not something is the case. When someone uses that word, it simply means they don't know the impending will of God, or what he is up to, at that moment. That doesn't mean the person doesn't have faith in him, quite the contrary. As illustrated by these brave me, they were placing their lives in God's hands, and that takes a huge amount of faith, their words were about to be backed by action. It appears that these young men were entirely prepared to die for their faith or belief in God. They were willing to obey God's command at the pain of death. This is biblical faith because hope, obedience, and love are at work here, proving their faith. They took God's ancient commandment of: thou shalt not worship any god but Me, very seriously. They weren't rebuking and binding King Nebuchadnezzar, instead they honored his position over them as king, and they honored God's position over them as their only God. They weren't naming and claiming their victory. They were being lead to their slaughter. They were willing to die for a righteous cause, that being, holiness unto the Lord, as was their reasonable service, as representatives of the Most High.
James teaches directly against The Word of Faith heresy of "name it and claim it" in the fourth chapter of his epistle:
13 Come now, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a
city, spend a year there, buy and sell, and make a profit";
14 where as you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life?
It is a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away.
15 Instead you ought to say, "If the Lord wills, we shall live and do this or that.
16 But now you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil.
17 Therefore, to him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin.
[Emphasis mine]
13 Come now, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a
city, spend a year there, buy and sell, and make a profit";
14 where as you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life?
It is a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away.
15 Instead you ought to say, "If the Lord wills, we shall live and do this or that.
16 But now you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil.
17 Therefore, to him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin.
[Emphasis mine]
According to James, the Word of Faith Bunch's teachings, like name it and claim it, or declaring and decreeing, are EVIL, and performed by sinners! So who is right? Kenneth Copeland or the Holy Spirit speaking through James? I don't know about you, dear reader, but I'll put my money on the Holy Spirit and James any day of the week and twice on Sunday. But as if that isn't bad enough, the Word of Faith Bunch claim that even the Almighty uses their brand of "hyper" faith.
Are There Rocks Ahead? If There Are, We'll All Be Dead!
The Bible does record a few maritime disasters with in its ancient pages. In the Old Testament, one is found in the book of Genesis, and involves a man named Noah who built a great ark to escape a world wide flood. Another is found in the book of Jonah, which is about a man who was swallowed by a great fish after being hurled into an angry storm tossed sea that God specifically whipped up for his benefit.
As for the New Testament, we have accounts of raging seas and near sinking boats on the Sea of Galilee, and then of a particular ship thrust onto a reef in the Mediterranean Sea off the coast of Malta, is found in the book of Acts chapter 27. Reading these historic accounts makes me wonder what it would be like, knowing that the violently pitching vessel under your feet could be completely swallowed whole at any moment by a dark, roaring, rogue wave, or terrifyingly dismantled with ease by powerful relentless watery blows? I shutter to think about it. The possibilities of drowning, or being shark bait are not thoughts I like to entertain. Yet, these are the very things the apostle Paul, and those sailing with him, faced. And according to Paul in 2 Corinthians 11:25, the Acts 27 account wasn't the only ship wreck he suffered; he went through three of them! The only one dutifully recorded in Scripture is in the afore mentioned book of Acts. Only one brush with oceanic peril would be enough to keep me far far away from sea travel! But airplanes had not been invented yet. So like it or not, seafaring was a major mode of travel in his day.
As for the New Testament, we have accounts of raging seas and near sinking boats on the Sea of Galilee, and then of a particular ship thrust onto a reef in the Mediterranean Sea off the coast of Malta, is found in the book of Acts chapter 27. Reading these historic accounts makes me wonder what it would be like, knowing that the violently pitching vessel under your feet could be completely swallowed whole at any moment by a dark, roaring, rogue wave, or terrifyingly dismantled with ease by powerful relentless watery blows? I shutter to think about it. The possibilities of drowning, or being shark bait are not thoughts I like to entertain. Yet, these are the very things the apostle Paul, and those sailing with him, faced. And according to Paul in 2 Corinthians 11:25, the Acts 27 account wasn't the only ship wreck he suffered; he went through three of them! The only one dutifully recorded in Scripture is in the afore mentioned book of Acts. Only one brush with oceanic peril would be enough to keep me far far away from sea travel! But airplanes had not been invented yet. So like it or not, seafaring was a major mode of travel in his day.
Not surprisingly, after these harrowing maritime experiences, Paul related the loss of one's faith to a shipwreck in 1 Timothy 1:19. He also gave the metaphor of being tossed to and fro by every wind of doctrine in Ephesians 4:14, a maritime visual which he links with children. When you are at the mercy of a raging sea, you are as helpless as a child, dear reader. Only a full grown adult who has skillful knowledge of sailing, would stand a far better chance of surviving a storm at sea, than a helpless child, novice sailor, or mere passenger. A sailor is equipped for the task he undertakes, that of sailing. Just as there are instructors in sailing, so too the Lord gave us apostles, prophets, evangelists, teachers, and shepherds to instruct and equip the saints for ministry toward one another and the lost, and to bring his followers into full maturity, in the knowledge of our Lord. Becoming a full grown Christian takes a lot of effort, not to earn salvation, but to earn adulthood in the faith. There are many perils that await the new born babe in Christ, as he sails on the turbulent waves of this life, but he is not alone. He must learn and acquire the skills of being a faithful Christian, from the instruction of Scripture and good teachers, which will help get him through the seas of this life, be they calm or stormy seas.
Yes, much like actual seas, the seas of this life are riddled with hidden perils. One of those perils that is hidden beneath calm seas and even crashing waves are rocks. Sandbars, coral reefs, and icebergs can also do a great deal of damage to a sailing vessel, but rocks are particularly devastating to a ship's hull. But these perils, hidden or otherwise, are not entirely unavoidable. A good sailor is able to anticipate, avoid, or when necessary, navigate carefully through, or better yet, around them. The negligent sailor is the one who allows avoidable situations to devastate his or her ship. That means it is entirely possible for a Christian to be knowledgeable about dangers to their faith, and yet skillfully avoid them.
Yes, much like actual seas, the seas of this life are riddled with hidden perils. One of those perils that is hidden beneath calm seas and even crashing waves are rocks. Sandbars, coral reefs, and icebergs can also do a great deal of damage to a sailing vessel, but rocks are particularly devastating to a ship's hull. But these perils, hidden or otherwise, are not entirely unavoidable. A good sailor is able to anticipate, avoid, or when necessary, navigate carefully through, or better yet, around them. The negligent sailor is the one who allows avoidable situations to devastate his or her ship. That means it is entirely possible for a Christian to be knowledgeable about dangers to their faith, and yet skillfully avoid them.
In Conclusion
And so, dear reader, I hope I have informed you what true biblical or Christian faith is...simply put: it is obedience to, and belief in God and in his promises based on the hope that he will do what he has promised via his might and power. I expect that I have shown you that Christian or biblical hope is founded upon the reality of what God has already done and is capable of doing again. I trust that I have made it clear that as Christians, we are compelled out of our love for him, to be obedient children and avoid the perils of misbehavior in favor of obedience. My prayer is that I have shown that "hyper-faith" is not biblical, nor is it godly, it is Satanic. If you have ears to hear, then you will hear the truth, and it will set you free, like it did me. However, we must not be hearers only, but doers as well. Amen!
And so, dear reader, I hope I have informed you what true biblical or Christian faith is...simply put: it is obedience to, and belief in God and in his promises based on the hope that he will do what he has promised via his might and power. I expect that I have shown you that Christian or biblical hope is founded upon the reality of what God has already done and is capable of doing again. I trust that I have made it clear that as Christians, we are compelled out of our love for him, to be obedient children and avoid the perils of misbehavior in favor of obedience. My prayer is that I have shown that "hyper-faith" is not biblical, nor is it godly, it is Satanic. If you have ears to hear, then you will hear the truth, and it will set you free, like it did me. However, we must not be hearers only, but doers as well. Amen!
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