What is faith?

 

What is faith?

Faith is something that an appalling number of people, who claim to be educated, do not understand. Many think of faith as confidence. Indeed, confidence is something that exudes as a result of possessing faith. Assurance is another term that is associated with faith. Assurance is also something faith imparts. Conviction is another word that is associated with faith. Conviction indicates that integrity generates from faith. However, a significant number of people view faith as a body of ideas that constitute a belief system. Consequently, we hear expressions such as “people of faith” and “many faiths of the world”. These expressions indicate faith is synonymous with religion or a worldview or religious behavior. In fact, in too many instances when people think or talk about faith, they seem to give the impression they mean “belief” and faith is an exact synonym. This is not the case; faith is the term used to denote a substance (believe it!) that enables events to occur.

Once we realize that faith is a substance enabling us to perform actions that otherwise would not be possible, we realize that faith can change our lives. For faith is not a spiritual orientation or a body of theoretical suppositions or a repository of cultural ideas.

Faith Is A Substance

To say that faith denotes a substance may seem strange, but in the metaphysical realm that transcends our temporal world, words are more than the fleeting sounds of wind that we quickly forget. In some respects, we could compare faith to words that wound the heart: the pain is real—unseen, but very real. Unfortunately, this is a poor analogy, because absolute certainty and complete conviction are matters of possessing faith. If we doubt, we do not possess sufficient faith. We can have faith and still experience doubts, but possessing faith that eliminates doubt is a tall order. This is the kind of faith that overflows and influences our environment. Such faith empowers its possessor to achieve anything, for nothing is impossible if we have sufficient faith.

Faith is a substance—different from a chemical substance, yet capable of growing, expanding, and motivating. Just as pain can motivate, it can also cripple; whereas faith empowers. If faith were merely a belief, it would lack substance, for a belief can be akin to a wish. Since faith is not a belief, we understand that it must have substance. Substance is something we consider to be of a material nature rather than an immaterial quality. Evidence is the reality of faith, as this substance establishes its completeness and signifies its capacity to grow within us.

Recognizing this truth about faith is difficult for many because it exists outside our natural understanding of objectivity, where we can measure the limits of things, whether vegetable or chemical, active or inert. This is because faith is subjectively known and part of the infinite existence of the One who alone exists, and beside whom there is no other. Faith comes from God and is part of His being, person, and nature.

The idea that faith is actually part of the person of God may seem rather alien to our thinking, but this is exactly what faith is.  To help us understand this a little more, the very Greek word used in the book of Hebrews to explain faith says that is a substance, and this same word (hypóstasis) is used to indicate that the Father and the Son are of the same substance. In the book of Hebrews we read:

Now faith is the substance [hypostasis] of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. (Hebrews 11:1 KJV)

Now faith is the assurance (the confirmation, the title deed) of the things [we] hope for, being the proof of things [we] do not see and the conviction of their reality [faith perceiving as real fact what is not revealed to the senses]. (Hebrews 11:1 AMP)

The King James Version uses the word substance, whereas other versions may use terms such as assurance, confidence, surety, reality or foundation of trust. The Amplified expounds on the idea using the terms confirmation and title deed. This is because when we receive the assurance that this substance brings, it is like the confirmation of securing our abode by being given the title deed as proof of our ownership. In fact, we are talking about being born again, but also having secured an inheritance that has been left for us in the will and testament of Jesus of Nazareth, when He died on the Cross. Jesus’ death means life for us, because His righteous life has been imputed to us (transferred to us) by virtue of the will that He left. This is legal declaration and eternally binding. Jesus resurrection is also an essential component of this promise; because, not only does He provide us with righteousness, He also promises to give us glorified bodies in the resurrection upon His return to Earth to reign for a millennium.

The Bible lexicon, HELPS Word-studies, provides us with an understanding of the Greek word that is used to describe faith:

Hypostasis (from /hypó, "under" and  /hístēmi, "to stand") – properly, (to possess) standing under a guaranteed agreement ("title-deed"); (figuratively) "title" to a promise or property, i.e. a legitimate claim (because it literally is, "under a legal-standing") – entitling someone to what is guaranteed under the particular agreement.

For the believer, hypóstasis ("title of possession") is the Lord's guarantee to fulfill the faith He inbirths (cf. Heb 11:1 with Heb 11:6). Indeed we are only entitled to what God grants faith for (Ro 14:23).

As we can see, the idea of possessing a title that guarantees ownership is very much at the heart of what faith is about; hence, we can have confidence as we grow in our understanding of what this means for us, as our faith grows within. Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance and Thayer’s Greek Lexicon inform us:

From a compound of hupo and histemi; a setting under (support), i.e. (figuratively) concretely, essence, or abstractly, assurance (objectively or subjectively) -- confidence, confident, person, substance.

a  setting or placing under; thing put under, substructure, foundation:

2. that which has foundation, is firm; hence,

a.  that which has actual existence; a substance, real being:

b.  the substantial quality, nature, of any person or thing:

c.  steadiness of mind, firmness, courage resolution confidence, firm trust, assurance: confidence, substance.

The word hypostasis is the best we can do within our limited understanding to describe the immutability of the essence that is the One Who Is and besides Whom there is no other. Here are some of the Scriptures that give us an understanding of God; for He is not just one of many, but the Only One and He has even risen from the dead:

Acts 17:22-28  Paul stood in the middle of the Areopagus, and said, “You men of Athens, I perceive that you are very religious in all things. For as I passed along, and observed the objects of your worship, I found also an altar with this inscription: ‘TO AN UNKNOWN GOD.’ What therefore you worship in ignorance, this I announce to you. The God who made the world and all things in it, he, being Lord of heaven and earth, doesn’t dwell in temples made with hands, neither is he served by men’s hands, as though he needed anything, seeing he himself gives to all life and breath, and all things. He made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the surface of the earth, having determined appointed seasons, and the boundaries of their dwellings, that they should seek the Lord, if perhaps they might reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us. ‘FOR IN HIM WE LIVE, AND MOVE, AND HAVE OUR BEING.’ As some of your own poets have said, ‘For we are also his offspring.’

Deuteronomy 4:35 It was shown to you so that you might know that Yahweh is God. There is no one else besides him.

Deuteronomy 4:39 Know therefore today, and take it to heart, that Yahweh himself is God in heaven above and on the earth beneath. There is no one else.

Isaiah 44:8 Don’t fear, neither be afraid. Haven’t I declared it to you long ago, and shown it? You are my witnesses. Is there a God besides me? Indeed, there is not. I don’t know any other Rock.”

Isaiah 45:5 I am Yahweh, and there is no one else. Besides me, there is no God. I will strengthen you, though you have not known me

Deuteronomy 32:39 See now that I myself am he.  There is no god with me. I kill and I make alive.  I wound and I heal.  There is no one who can deliver out of my hand.

Isaiah 43:11 I myself am Yahweh; and besides me there is no savior.

Isaiah 44:6 This is what Yahweh, the King of Israel, and his Redeemer, Yahweh of Armies, says: “I am the first, and I am the last; and besides me there is no God”

Revelation 1:8 “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.”

Revelation 1:18 And the Living one. I was dead, and behold, I am alive forever more. Amen. I have the keys of Death and of Hades.

Revelation 2:8 To the angel of the assembly in Smyrna write: The first and the last, who was dead, and has come to life says these things.

Revelation 22:13  I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.

The Son of God and the One Who Is Infinite are the One and Same. There is no difference in essence between the Father and the Son. There is difference in form, because the Son has taken on human form. The Bible tells us:

Have this in your mind, which was also in Christ Jesus, who, existing in the form of God, didn’t consider equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, being made in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself, becoming obedient to death, yes, the death of the cross. Therefore God also highly exalted him, and gave to him the name which is above every name; that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, those on earth, and those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. (Philippians 2:5-11)

But now Christ has been raised from the dead. He became the first fruits of those who are asleep. For since death came by man, the resurrection of the dead also came by man. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive. But each in his own order: Christ the first fruits, then those who are Christ’s, at his coming. Then the end comes, when he will deliver up the Kingdom to God, even the Father; when he will have abolished all rule and all authority and power. For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. The last enemy that will be abolished is death.  For, “He put all things in subjection under his feet.” But when he says, “All things are put in subjection”, it is evident that he is excepted who subjected all things to him. When all things have been subjected to him, then the Son will also himself be subjected to him who subjected all things to him, that God may be all in all. (1 Corinthians 15:20-28)

We ourselves need to understand that within God, we live and have our being, but He wants to live and move and have His being within us. However, in order for God to do this, we need to accept what is on offer. God desires us to realize the values of life are more than selfish exaltation and are about discovering the joys of fellowship in the appreciation of what life has and knowing the peace that passes all understanding. For us to grasp the significance of this, we may need to consider Adam and what God had intended for him; because, as far as we are concerned, this is where everything started.

Adam and Eve

God created Adam and placed him in the Garden of Eden. God told Adam that he could eat of any tree except the tree of the knowledge of good and evil; for when he did, he would die. Adam was introduced to the animals, and he named them, but none was able to provide him with the companionship or help that a woman could. Eve was created from Adam’s rib. Eve then ate of the tree. Adam saw that she did not die. He himself also ate, in defiance of what God had said; thus breaking faith with his Creator.

The fundamental truth that needs to be understood from the biographies of Adam and Eve is they broke faith. Eve broke faith with Adam and God. Adam broke faith with God. We could call this disobedience of faith (as opposed to obedience of faith); for, indeed, this is exactly what the actions of Adam and Eve were.

God intended to create Eve as well as Adam. However, there was an important reason for creating Adam first. God wanted Adam to appreciate Eve, and not think of her as just another creature, as the angels, who also could think, probably thought of each other. God’s desire was to create a race of beings in His Own image, who would interact and appreciate each other as the Father and the Son cherished each other. More to the point, there is every indication within the Scriptures that Son of God was going to take on human form when the first child was born of this couple. Unfortunately, Satan broke faith with God. At the time, from Scripture, we are told that he was the ancient serpent, with every indication being that he was the guardian angel who had been posted in the Garden of Eden, but, because of his beauty, he became vain and lifted himself up against God. These are the Scriptures that give us the indication that this is the case:

Luke 10:18 He said to them, “I saw Satan having fallen like lightning from heaven.

John 8:44 You are of your father, the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning, and doesn’t stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks on his own; for he is a liar, and its father.

Genesis 3:12-13 The man said, “The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit from the tree, and I ate it.” Yahweh God said to the woman, “What have you done?” The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”

Revelation 12:7-9 There was war in the sky. Michael and his angels made war on the dragon. The dragon and his angels made war. They didn’t prevail, neither was a place found for him any more in heaven. The great dragon was thrown down, the old serpent, he who is called the devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world. He was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him.

Ezekiel 28:14-17 You were the anointed cherub who covers: and I set you, so that you were on the holy mountain of God; you have walked up and down in the middle of the stones of fire. You were perfect in your ways from the day that you were created, until unrighteousness was found in you. By the abundance of your traffic they filled your insides with violence, and you have sinned: therefore I have cast you as profane out of the mountain of God; and I have destroyed you, covering cherub, from the middle of the stones of fire.  Your heart was lifted up because of your beauty; you have corrupted your wisdom by reason of your brightness: I have cast you to the ground; I have laid you before kings, that they may see you.

Isaiah 14:12-15 How you have fallen from heaven, morning star, [Lucifer, meaning light-bearer] son of the dawn! How you are cut down to the ground, who laid the nations low! You said in your heart, “I will ascend into heaven! I will exalt my throne above the stars of God! I will sit on the mountain of assembly, in the far north! I will ascend above the heights of the clouds! I will make myself like the Most High!” Yet you shall be brought down to Sheol, to the depths of the pit.

Psalm 8:4-6 What is man, that you think of him?  What is the son of man, that you care for him? For you have made him a little lower than God, and crowned him with glory and honor. You make him ruler over the works of your hands. You have put all things under his feet.

When we read the above Scripture about Satan falling from Heaven and see that he is also referred to as the ancient serpent and the Devil, we begin to understand the reason he lifted himself up. Although the Son of Man had been made lower than God, he was to be crowned with glory and honor and to rule over all of Creation. It appears the guardian angel, at the time being the most admired of all God’s creation, became jealous of his position, and sinned by breaking faith with God, when he deceived Eve by telling her a lie.

The reason the guardian angel became jealous of his position, and feared losing his preeminence in the scheme of God’s creation, can only be because the Son of Man had not yet been born. Adam was created, not born. Adam was not who the guardian angel feared because, he was lower than him in status, at least, this is probably what he thought. However, if when the baby, to be born of Eve, were to come on the scene and the Son of God were to enter it, then all of Creation would see a new race of beings being brought forth; who were not just created beings, but true Sons of God. Instead of the Son of God revealing Himself as the Lord of the Sabbath when He came to Earth, because of what the Devil had done, He had to come to save the world. Hence, we read:

You made him a little lower than the angels. You crowned him with glory and honor. (Hebrews 2:7)

Now when Jesus came into the parts of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, saying, “Who do men say that I, the Son of Man, am?” (Matthew 16:13)

For the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.” (Matthew 12:8)

For the Son of Man came to save that which was lost. (Matthew 18:11)

He who sins is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. To this end the Son of God was revealed: that he might destroy the works of the devil. (1 John 3:8)

But we see him who has been made a little lower than the angels, Jesus, because of the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor, that by the grace of God he should taste of death for everyone. For it became him, for whom are all things, and through whom are all things, in bringing many children to glory, to make the author of their salvation perfect through sufferings. For both he who sanctifies and those who are sanctified are all from one, for which cause he is not ashamed to call them brothers, saying, “I will declare your name to my brothers. Among of the congregation I will sing your praise.”

Again, “I will put my trust in him.”

Again, “Behold, here I am with the children whom God has given me.” Since then the children have shared in flesh and blood, he also himself in the same way partook of the same, that through death he might bring to nothing him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, and might deliver all of them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage. (Hebrews 2:9-15)

Defining Sin

Instead of Jesus coming to establish Himself as Lord of the Sabbath in Paradise, Jesus had to come and redeem man from captivity (Luke 4:18). The Devil held people in captivity because he reigns and lures people into sin. However, it needs to be recognized that sin only occurs when we are tempted according to our own desires. Sin is not something we automatically do, but it is something we are tempted to do. Our first temptation begins as children when we begin to desire touching what we see around us. Only sin is not recognized as sin, until we actually violate a command not to sin.  When we violate a command to sin willfully, which is called a sin of commission, we are guilty of sin, and usually know it—as the Apostle Paul stated (Romans 7:9). However, when we willfully break the commandments on a regular basis, we sear the conscience that is a natural part of our constitution. If we sin unknowingly, we commit a sin of omission; this can lead to habitual sin, and when we learn it is sin, we still might not want to give it up.  For many people, because they see themselves as good persons, as they may not have stolen anything or murdered anybody, they think that they have no need to confess any sin. Let us suppose these people have done what the rich ruler claimed he had done and kept nearly all the commandments that Jesus said were essential to inherit eternal life. This ruler lacked one thing: He omitted to honor God with all that he had. For we notice that Jesus omits the commandment not to covet and the four commandments that relate directly to God.  Here is the story of the rich ruler and some Scripture from James (the Lord’s brother in the flesh) that explain how sin comes about:

A certain ruler asked him, saying, “Good Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?”

Jesus asked him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good, except one—God. You know the commandments: ‘Don’t commit adultery,’ ‘Don’t murder,’ ‘Don’t steal,’ ‘Don’t give false testimony,’ ‘Honor your father and your mother.’”

He said, “I have observed all these things from my youth up.”

When Jesus heard these things, he said to him, “You still lack one thing. Sell all that you have, and distribute it to the poor. You will have treasure in heaven. Come, follow me.”

But when he heard these things, he became very sad, for he was very rich.(Luke 18:18-23)

Blessed is the man who endures temptation, for when he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life, which the Lord promised to those who love him.

Let no man say when he is tempted, “I am tempted by God,” for God can’t be tempted by evil, and he himself tempts no one. But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own lust, and enticed. Then the lust, when it has conceived, bears sin; and the sin, when it is full grown, produces death. Don’t be deceived, my beloved brothers. Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom can be no variation, nor turning shadow. (James 1:9-17)

The Bible informs us that the sin of omission is very real. For although we might appear to do what is required of us, our desire to do the will of God may be the one thing we omit in our life. Self-righteous people do not seek God because this requires faith. Instead, people will desire what they can see, rather than walk with God. To walk with God, we need to walk by faith and not by sight (2 Corinthians 5:7). Jesus omitted the commandments that speak of envy, resting in God, honoring God, appreciating His loving kindness and obeying His voice. We can assume, and rightly so, the reason Jesus left out the five commandments is the rich ruler was walking by sight and intent on keeping up appearances.

Causes Of Sin

Sin manifests from the flesh in three areas of our life, and it is in these that we are tempted: the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eye, and our pride. If the Devil cannot tempt us to give in to any of the first two sins, he will somehow find a reason for us to feel proud and succumb to the sin of pride. The sins of the flesh are such things as gluttony and sexual lusts. The sins of the eye cause us to be greedy and seek wealth and its trappings (pretty things, such a jewelry, fine clothes and cosmetics). The pride of life causes us to be proud of our achievements, culture and upbringing, knowledge we possess, and leads on to being self-righteous. In each of these areas, we will be tempted and will already have been, only to give in to temptation at least once but probably more than once. Not everyone commits the same sins, but if we have not desired God all our life, then we have omitted to honor the Father of Lights from Whom all good things come.  Only John the Baptist is on record of having the Holy Spirit upon Him from birth (John 1:15); something Jesus did not know until His baptism (Luke 3:22; 4:1).  The implication is John the Baptist did not sin; at least not until he doubted whether Jesus was the one to come (Matthew 11:2). For John to do this is incredible, after having baptized and made the declaration that Jesus was the Lamb of God (John 1:36; Luke 7:28-29). Doubt is sin because it sabotages faith. Here are four instances from the Gospels that provide some lessons about doubt in relation to faith:

Peter answered him and said, “Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the waters.”

He said, “Come!”

Peter stepped down from the boat, and walked on the waters to come to Jesus. But when he saw that the wind was strong, he was afraid, and beginning to sink, he cried out, saying, “Lord, save me!”

Immediately Jesus stretched out his hand, took hold of him, and said to him, “You of little faith, why did you doubt?”  When they got up into the boat, the wind ceased.

(Matthew 14:28-32)

But they [the eleven disciples] were terrified and filled with fear, and supposed that they had seen a spirit. He said to them, “Why are you troubled? Why do doubts arise in your hearts? See my hands and my feet, that it is truly me. Touch me and see, for a spirit doesn’t have flesh and bones, as you see that I have.” (Luke 24:37-39)

But the eleven disciples went into Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had sent them. When they saw him, they bowed down to him, but some doubted. Jesus came to them and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth. Go, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I commanded you. Behold, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen. (Matthew 28:16-20)

Jesus answered them, “Have faith in God. For most certainly I tell you, whoever may tell this mountain, ‘Be taken up and cast into the sea,’ and doesn’t doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says is happening; he shall have whatever he says. Therefore I tell you, all things whatever you pray and ask for, believe that you have received them, and you shall have them. Whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone; so that your Father, who is in heaven, may also forgive you your transgressions. But if you do not forgive, neither will your Father in heaven forgive your transgressions.” (Mark 11:22-26)

We see that Peter was walking by sight, when he saw Jesus on the water. This is the case, even though he believed that if Jesus told him he could walk on the water, this is what he could do. However, when Peter took his eyes off Jesus and looked at the water, it is evident that he was not walking by faith; instead, he was walking by sight.

When Jesus had risen from the dead and He appeared to the disciples (about ten days after the resurrection), and invited them to touch Him, we would expect the disciples to rejoice. Instead, we find that they are still coming to grips about the truth of the resurrection. It is one thing to have a belief and base our knowledge on what we want to believe; it is another to have faith and direct this towards God.  There is a difference between relying on our experience from the past alone and reaching out in faith to the resurrected Jesus. Jesus tells the eleven disciples to reach out to Him and not to let their hearts be troubled. Likewise, by faith we who believe that God has to exist, seek Him. If we desire to know the truth of the resurrection—in hope—we reach out to Jesus through faith.

Amazingly, the many experiences the disciples had when they were with Jesus, and what they saw Him do, were insufficient for some of them to accept the truth of His resurrection based on observation alone. They required an assurance. This is because, even if we place our faith in what we see, we cannot be sure of it—too often people are let down by those whom they have trusted, and put faith in, to honor their word. Jesus chose these eleven disciples in person. He had faith in them that they would carry out His word; so Jesus gave them instructions about their commission. This is because Jesus had the ability to see into people’s hearts and knew what their desires were. He knew whether a person truly desired to do what was right or was not committed to doing so.

Many people do claim that the Bible is the literal word of God—particularly among the TULIP adherents—but, in truth, they do not take it literally that Jesus meant that if we had sufficient faith we would be able to tell a mountain to move and it would move. This is because they suffer from unbelief, and not just doubts. For it is true, one of the reasons why we are not able to do what Jesus said we could, is doubt, another is unforgiveness. If we do not forgive everybody from the heart, then we will find God will not hear our prayers. Any one of the sins of commission and the sins of omission could prevent us from having absolute faith in God. The disciples were not able to demonstrate sufficient faith in Jesus after His resurrection to remove all doubts. However, when the Holy Spirit came upon them, doubts vanished and they were preaching about the Gospel and baptizing people in the name of Jesus (Acts 2:1-38). Stephen who was not one of the twelve, became a believer as the word of God increased in Jerusalem, and being filled by the Holy Spirit with faith and power, performed many wonders and signs among the people (Acts 6:5-8).

Stephen was killed by those who did not believe the message of repentance from dead works and faith towards God through Jesus Christ. One of the witnesses being the Apostle Paul (Acts 22:20). The Apostle Paul was struggling with his own conscience at the time, for while he was trying to do what he had been taught was the will of God by honoring the Fathers and the fifth commandment (cf. Romans 7:9-11; Ephesians 6:2; Galatians 1:14), he found himself breaking the commandment not to murder. Paul had made a god out of what he wanted to accomplish. For although Paul’s claim was that he was honoring the Fathers when fulfilling the fifth commandment by signing the death warrants of those who believed in Jesus Christ (just as John Calvin signed that of Michael Servetus, who believed Lord Jesus Christ was his Savior), this was really about Paul’s own vanity. The Apostle Paul, prior to his conversion, was seeking to cement the advancement in Judaism that he had already attained over many of his own age, in his zeal for the traditions of the Fathers (Galatians 1:13-15), such faith he had in his abilities. At the time, he was seeking the favor of men, not God. Yet Paul believed in God, and he understood the Old Testament—no doubt having memorized it, as was the practice in those days (a phenomenon observed today among Muslims memorizing the Koran in Imam Schools). Besides the Old Testament, Paul would have had to memorize the other books in the tradition, as well. Maybe the emphasis was on the Talmud and the Jewish interpretations of the Bible rather than the Scriptures written and inspired by God. We do not know for sure. One thing we do know is the Apostle Paul was well versed in the traditions of the Pharisees, which Jesus stated were traditions of men, not of God. To quote Jesus:

He answered them, “Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written, ‘This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. But they worship me in vain, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’ For you set aside the commandment of God, and hold tightly to the tradition of men—the washing of pitchers and cups, and you do many other such things.” (Mark 7:6-8)

Difference Between Faith And Belief

When we speak of faith, it is easy to confuse faith with belief, and many people do. What people overlook is faith is not the same as belief, but belief is essential if we are to have faith in something. We build faith upon belief and this is where the distinction needs to be clear between the two concepts; because wrong beliefs lead us to placing our faith in misconceptions that do not hold up when put to the test.

Belief comes from the information that we gather, this is what Mahatma Gandhi observed, and therefore on this basis withstood the invitation to come to Jesus, possibly because he could not see any difference between unconditional election and reincarnation. In fact, of the two philosophical beliefs, it is difficult to see the doctrine of unconditional election before the foundation of the world as being a better alternative to the doctrine of reincarnation. At least with the doctrine of reincarnation, everybody had a chance of avoiding eternal punishment, whereas, according to the Reformed Churches of South Africa, God predestined people for Hell, regardless of what they choose to do. If this were the reason why he rejected the Reformed Churches plea to be saved, then Gandhi would have a valid case before Lord Jesus Christ. In fact, everyone from another culture could argue as Gandhi could. Gandhi could rightfully argue:

I heard the people preaching about You Lord Jesus, but they said I had no choice, so since I had no choice in being born a Hindu, I naturally assumed that I was excluded from being saved. From what I could ascertain, of the two systems of belief, my hope lay in the idea of reincarnation, because at least I had a choice and this teaching acknowledges freewill. I chose the way of non-violence.

When it comes to us seeking God, the Gospel message begins to become clear when we understand we exist to choose between life and death. This way the message makes sense, if we were to present the gospel to someone like Gandhi. When pointing out the futility of being born to die, and the futility of being born to go through a series of reincarnations only to become unidentifiable again, we are able to provide a realistic alternative. The Calvinist message of unconditional election provides no alternative, because it is not good news about the fact that we have freewill and can use it to choose life. The Calvinists can only provide a myth that has the same basis of falsehood as reincarnation, but denies freewill. Whereas the truth is, God gave the first man and woman the opportunity to choose between life and death. We, too, are given the same opportunity. The only difference is Adam was not born into a world governed by sin—we are!  Nevertheless, we have freewill and are able to choose for ourselves whether we want to know the truth about our existence or not.  With this ability to choose, also comes faith; which is, the ability to demonstrate the reality of the things we have accepted to be true. For a Christian this means a changed life and one that bears fruit.

However, faith itself results from belief; that is, the acceptance of something to be true, based on the information that we possess from the world around us. A child in his or her natural surroundings wonders who created the sky and eventually the whole of Creation. Later on, if that child is schooled in the world of the WEIRD (Western, Educated, Industrial, Rich and Democratic) tradition that espouses the theory of evolution as the means by which life is formed, that natural childlike sense of wonderment ceases to exist. A new paradigm is adopted, where everything evolved from the first particle, which formed of itself out of nothing. One a person accepts this; he or she has difficulty accepting that the principles of life and the regularity of the seasons are the design of the Creator of the Universe.

In the book of Hebrews, we read about the people who came out of Egypt suffering from unbelief, even though they had witnessed their miraculous rescue from the Egyptians through crossing the Red Sea (at present day, Nuweiba, on the Gulf of Aqaba, which forms part of the Red Sea). The book of Hebrews provides a warning to readers that actually tells us a very significant truth about faith. We read:

Beware, brothers, lest perhaps there be in any one of you an evil heart of unbelief, in falling away from the living God; but exhort one another day by day, so long as it is called “today”; lest anyone of you be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. For we have become partakers of Christ, if we hold fast the beginning of our confidence firm to the end:  while it is said, “Today if you will hear his voice, don’t harden your hearts, as in the rebellion.”

For who, when they heard, rebelled? No, didn’t all those who came out of Egypt by Moses?  With whom was he displeased forty years? Wasn’t it with those who sinned, whose bodies fell in the wilderness? To whom did he swear that they wouldn’t enter into his rest, but to those who were disobedient? We see that they were not able to enter in because of unbelief. Let us fear therefore, lest perhaps anyone of you should seem to have come short of a promise of entering into his rest. For indeed we have had good news preached to us, even as they also did, but the word they heard didn’t profit them, because it wasn’t mixed with faith by those who heard. (Hebrews 3:12-4:2)

There is one thing that prevents us from acknowledging the evidence that God is working on our behalf and this is unbelief. Unbelief prevents us from even having a grain of faith. This is a telling account, because the good news, that is, the gospel of salvation, did not meet with faith in those who heard it. This idea of people requiring faith to receive the message is foreign to many people’s thinking. However, the reason these individuals did not possess the faith required to receive the gospel message is the same reason people all over the world reject the gospel. The principle holds up, because like gravity, this is the truth. Unbelief is the reason people refuse to believe the truth. But where does unbelief come from? How does it occur?

The Devil would have us believe that unbelief is what God has ordained. The Apostle Paul says that the god of this world (the Devil) has blinded the minds of unbelievers from recognizing the truth that the light shines in the darkness (2 Corinthians 4:4-6). Can we accept as true that God ordained unbelief? Maybe we can accept the Devil can blind the minds of those who prefer not to believe and prevent them from seeing the truth. Such a statement suggests that unbelievers could change their minds, if they saw the truth for what it is—which, by the way, is the reason we are told that Jesus spoke in parables—least the hypocrites caught on. Hypocrites consider themselves wise in the ways of the world and feign spiritual conviction (Luke 8:10; Matt 11:25).

How does unbelief come about? From what the writer of Hebrews has to say about the people in the wilderness, it appears disobedience has something to do with unbelief. Disobedience is the act of sin. We are told the reason those freed from slavery failed to enter the Promised Land was because of disobedience. Here is the scripture:

To whom did he swear that they wouldn’t enter into his rest, but to those who were disobedient?  We see that they were not able to enter in because of unbelief….Seeing therefore it remains that some should enter therein, and they to whom the good news was before preached failed to enter in because of disobedience (Hebrews3:18-19; 4:6)

However, if we consider how sin came about, we learn Adam disobeyed God and partook of the prohibited fruit. Why did Adam take of that which was prohibited?  The only reason we can find in the Bible is he saw Eve eat of it and she did not die. For we read:

When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took some of its fruit, and ate; and she gave some to her husband with her, and he ate it, too. (Genesis 3:6)

The scenario was not one where Adam was listening to the Devil. The Devil was able to speak to Eve privately and get her to eat the prohibited fruit. God had told Adam that he would die the day he eats of the fruit. Eve ate the fruit and Adam had to make a choice. Does he believe God or the fact that Eve has eaten of the fruit and is not dead?  Pride got the better of Adam and he disobeyed his Creator.

From this account of Adam and Eve, we learn that it is our interpretation of the evidence with which we have been presented that determines whether we will believe the truth or not. In Adam’s case, he overlooked the truth that his Creator, who had made him, had also told him what he could and could not do. Adam had the choice of obeying or disobeying. But it was not until he was presented with information that appeared to contradict what he was told that he ceased to believe the truth that his Creator must know more than him. In the same manner, those who came out of Egypt disbelieved the truth, even though they had experienced and had seen events that confirmed the greatness and power of God that confirmed the truthfulness and reliability of His promises.

When the people were taken out of Egypt, they comprised of both Israelites and non-Israelites (Ex.12:38; Num. 11:4; Deut. 29:11). Many of the non-Israelites were probably slaves of the Egyptians too. As slaves, they were sorely treated, but at least they had houses to live in and food to eat. The area where they were resident was fertile land on the basin of the Nile River. People by nature try to avoid backbreaking work, however, as slaves forced to work against one’s will, this presents an added burden. When Moses appeared on the scene, his requests to set the slaves free were met with more burdens placed upon the people, and they resented his presence (Exodus 5:21). To be set free from slavery would appeal to any of us enslaved against our will; but circumstances can change. Even prisoners imprisoned for years have been known to become institutionalized to the extent that when they are released into freedom, and cannot find a job or settle down, they become lost and long to be back inside prison, where they have a roof over their heads, a bed for sleep and food in their belly. What we discover about those who left Egypt is there were some who were pleased to be free from slavery at the time, but they did not have the same sense of destiny as others did. These people did not have the understanding that was required for them to receive with faith the promises of God. These people were thinking in terms of immediate benefits and not in future prospects of continuing freedom that would benefit themselves and their offspring. This becomes particularly evident when the people are led to a large beach on the Red Sea (present day Nuweiba on the Gulf of Aqaba) that is surrounded by mountainous wilderness and has only one road in or out.  At some point when they were coming on to the beach, they could hear Pharaoh’s army coming after them.  Instead of remembering the plagues and the miraculous manner in which they had been delivered out of slavery, we read:

When Pharaoh came near, the children of Israel lifted up their eyes, and behold, the Egyptians were marching after them; and they were very afraid. The children of Israel cried out to Yahweh.  They said to Moses, “Because there were no graves in Egypt, have you taken us away to die in the wilderness? Why have you treated us this way, to bring us out of Egypt? Isn’t this the word that we spoke to you in Egypt, saying, ‘Leave us alone, that we may serve the Egyptians?’ For it were better for us to serve the Egyptians, than that we should die in the wilderness.” (Exodus 14:10-12)

The people had a pillar of cloud moving in front of them during the day and a pillar of fire by night. They had not stopped walking since they had left Egypt. The pillar of fire during the night and cloud during the day is a supernatural sign, but the people might have thought that it was some trick compared to the plagues brought upon the Egyptians. Then when they cross the Red Sea and see Pharaoh’s army swallowed up by the returning waters, this alone should have been evidence that God knows what He is doing. Instead, we read that these people grumble about their circumstances:

And the children of Israel said to them, “We wish that we had died by Yahweh’s hand in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the meat pots, when we ate our fill of bread, for you have brought us out into this wilderness, to kill this whole assembly with hunger.” (Exodus 16:3)

The people were thirsty for water there; and the people murmured against Moses, and said, “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt, to kill us, our children, and our livestock with thirst?” (Exodus 17:3)

The mixed multitude that was among them lusted exceedingly: and the children of Israel also wept again, and said, “Who will give us flesh to eat? We remember the fish, which we ate in Egypt for nothing; the cucumbers, and the melons, and the leeks, and the onions, and the garlic. (Numbers 11:4-5)

All the children of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron. The whole congregation said to them, “We wish that we had died in the land of Egypt, or that we had died in this wilderness! Why does Yahweh bring us to this land, to fall by the sword? Our wives and our little ones will be captured or killed! Wouldn’t it be better for us to return into Egypt?” (Numbers 14:2-3)

The people spoke against God, and against Moses, “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no bread, and there is no water; and our soul loathes this light bread.” (Numbers 21:5)

When people doubt, they might murmur among themselves, but they will soldier on, and will at least remember the miracles that have happened in their life, especially if they are as significant as the ones the people who came out of Egypt saw. There were ten plagues, the crossing of the Red Sea, the drowning of Pharaoh’s army, the sweetening of the waters at Marah (Exodus 14:21-15:25) which were marvelous to behold. Yet these people were carnal in their thinking, and instead of waiting to see what God was going to do next, they loathed even the daily witness of the provision of manna that appeared every morning. The people could have reflected upon the marvels, beheld the night sky, considered the glory of God and pondered the knowledge of Him. But for them, the rocky wilderness with its sparse vegetation, the daily gathering of the morning manna (light wafer-thin bread) and lack of water, were such pressing issues, that those who only thought about what they saw, did not bother to consider the promises of God. Looking around them, they were thinking that if God did massive miracles to bring us to a place as barren as this—what a joke—we would rather be slaves for meager comforts. The result was not just doubts, but unbelief—a product of seeing is believing. Just like Adam, they were walking by sight and not by faith. Consequently, the people delivered from slavery, disobeyed the commandments of God, and the god of this world blinded their minds from seeing the truth. Instead of waiting upon God and desiring to see what He would do to continue bringing glory to His name, they desired wrongly, thus breaking the tenth commandment. When we desire anything other than what God has promised, we commit idolatry; this turns into rebellion when we deny the truth by going after other gods or exalting human effort in defiance or denial of our Heavenly Father.

Beliefs come from the information or misinformation that we accept to be true. Whatever we perceive to be true, this will form our beliefs. In Buddhism, the eightfold pathway to end suffering is expressed as possessing the right view (understanding), right intention (aspiration), right speech, right action (conduct), right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness and right concentration. Whatever a person perceives to be right, this is correct, with the ultimate aim to avoid suffering. Unlike Buddhism, Jesus taught that through suffering, not only are we enlightened but, more importantly, set free from the forces that produce death.

The Lord God led the Israelites via a route to the Promised Land that required a Spartan lifestyle. The journey took longer than necessary, because the people lacked the faith to possess the Promised Land when they had the opportunity. Only two individuals had the faith to believe that it would be possible to take the Land that God had promised them. The following is the account of what happened—and also the consequences:

Caleb stilled the people before Moses, and said, “Let us go up at once, and possess it; for we are well able to overcome it!”

But the men who went up with him said, “We aren’t able to go up against the people; for they are stronger than we.” They brought up an evil report of the land which they had spied out to the children of Israel, saying, “The land, through which we have gone to spy it out, is a land that eats up its inhabitants; and all the people who we saw in it are men of great stature. There we saw the Nephilim, the sons of Anak, who come from the Nephilim. We were in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so we were in their sight.”

All the congregation lifted up their voice, and cried; and the people wept that night. All the children of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron. The whole congregation said to them, “We wish that we had died in the land of Egypt, or that we had died in this wilderness! Why does Yahweh bring us to this land, to fall by the sword? Our wives and our little ones will be captured or killed! Wouldn’t it be better for us to return into Egypt?” They said to one another, “Let us make a captain, and let us return into Egypt.”

Then Moses and Aaron fell on their faces before all the assembly of the congregation of the children of Israel.

Joshua the son of Nun and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, who were of those who spied out the land, tore their clothes. They spoke to all the congregation of the children of Israel, saying, “The land, which we passed through to spy it out, is an exceeding good land. If Yahweh delights in us, then he will bring us into this land, and give it to us; a land which flows with milk and honey. Only don’t rebel against Yahweh, neither fear the people of the land; for they are bread for us. Their defense is removed from over them, and Yahweh is with us. Don’t fear them.”

But all the congregation threatened to stone them with stones…. Because all those men who have seen my glory, and my signs, which I worked in Egypt and in the wilderness, yet have tempted me these ten times, and have not listened to my voice; surely they shall not see the land which I swore to their fathers, neither shall any of those who despised me see it. But my servant Caleb, because he had another spirit with him, and has followed me fully, him I will bring into the land into which he went. His offspring shall possess it. Since the Amalekite and the Canaanite dwell in the valley, tomorrow turn, and go into the wilderness by the way to the Red Sea.” Yahweh spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying, “How long shall I bear with this evil congregation, that murmur against me? I have heard the murmurings of the children of Israel, which they murmur against me. Tell them, ‘As I live, says Yahweh, surely as you have spoken in my ears, so will I do to you.  Your dead bodies shall fall in this wilderness; and all who were numbered of you, according to your whole number, from twenty years old and upward, who have murmured against me, surely you shall not come into the land, concerning which I swore that I would make you dwell therein, except Caleb the son of Jephunneh, and Joshua the son of Nun. (Numbers 13:30-14:10, 22-30)

The days in which we came from Kadesh Barnea, until we had come over the brook Zered, were thirty-eight years; until all the generation of the men of war were consumed from the middle of the camp, as Yahweh swore to them. (Deut. 2:14)

Caleb had the faith to possess the land that was occupied by people whom God said were to be dispossessed. Obviously, Caleb had pondered the night sky and the marvels that had occurred; for he recognized that Yahweh was not a man-made god, but the Creator of the Universe. In the case of Caleb, he evidently had been rejoicing in his sufferings, having seen the glory of God. For it appears Caleb realized that suffering persevered made him stronger as a person and gave him the character to be courageous in the face of adversity, because his hope was anchored in the promises of God Almighty, the Sustainer of life, the Immortal Judge of the whole Earth (Romans 5:1-5). How much more definite can we be? Where our heart is at, this is where we will find our treasure. For the things that we value the most are what we will think about, and this will determine the level of confidence that we will possess in what we hear. If we think about Earthly things, we will value them more than hearing from God.

We learn in the Scriptures, faith comes from hearing, and hearing comes by the preaching of the anointed one (Romans 10:17). We learn also that we are expected to walk by faith and not by sight (2 Corinthians 5:7). If we combine these two statements, we have faith does not come from what we see with our eyes but through the hearing of God’s voice. The reason we say the hearing of God’s voice and not from the word of God is that the consistency of truth is its very hallmark. We learn the books of Moses (that is, the Law) have the embodiment of truth. In the books of Moses, we read we are to keep God’s commandments, His statutes, His laws, and His charge, but we do not read that we are to obey the word of God; instead, we read we are to obey God’s voice. When someone is preaching, if the Holy Spirit anoints the person, we hear the voice of God. If there is no anointing, we do not hear the voice of God. We hear the voice of man only. The voice of man is not conducive to faith in God. Faith in God is different to possessing a belief just because we might accept certain things to be true. This is the case, even though we might be contemplating the words written in the Bible. Faith in God really comes from hearing His voice and responding by obeying.

Some people believe that they are found of God even when they were not seeking Him. Experience and investigation has taught me that people are seeking for God when they believe they have been found of Him. Sometimes these people get lost and seek elsewhere, but they are really seeking for the way to the truth. For instance, I have met people who have gone through a series of worldviews before they have settled for one that they believe is the truth. I have met people who have successively taken up studies with theosophy or Rosicrucianism or Catholicism, then the Mormons, followed by the Jehovah Witnesses to settle for Seventh Day Adventism. Others have started with Mormons and then successively progressed through Jehovah Witnesses and Seventh Day Adventists before finally becoming Baptists. In fact a number of people have told me that their search for truth has taken them through three worldviews before they have finally settled for a fourth that they believe is the truth. Surely this indicates that there is some sort of principle involved that concerns the human psyche and searching for truth. This principle could have something to do with what Jesus said regarding the four different soils in parable of the The Sower and The Seed. However, being filled with unbiblical doctrine or church dogma is not bearing fruit for the kingdom of God.

If people happen to find teachers of unconditional election, and they are natural candidates for that belief, the Devil gets the better of them and they do not grow in faith as Christians. Instead, they accumulate knowledge about propositional truths (which are nothing but human suppositions) and, as often is the case, these individuals spend much of their time defending their beliefs. Rather than bearing fruit in the kingdom of God and seeing souls saved, they are often caught up in the defense of their viewpoint, because subconsciously they feel the need to justify their illogical belief system; their pride in the matter causes them to go on the offensive.

For instance, six day, twenty-four hour creationism is a propositional truth. One proponent of this belief is Ken Ham (founder of Answers in Genesis, a Creationist apologetics ministry that operates the Creation Museum, Petersburg, Kentucky). I heard Ham say that whoever does not believe in six-day, twenty-four-hour creationism cannot be saved, because they have not believed the word of God. However, that is only his interpretation. The truth is the Bible does not teach six-day, or seven-day, twenty-four-hour creationism. The Bible teaches there was a time God created the Heavens and Earth. On the fourth day He created the Universe, He created the Sun to give light on the Earth during that day and the Moon to provide light at night. God created the Earth on the third day when there was no Sun.  If the solar system did not come in to existence until the fourth day, how could it be possible for each day of the Creation week, as recorded in Genesis, be twenty-four hours duration?  Besides this, at the end of the Creation account, the Bible states that in the day (singular) when the Lord God made the Heavens and the Earth, this is the history of the account (Genesis 2:4).  Even though there is evidence within the Bible that refutes their claim, what these people do is take a proposition, and then call it a truth, because they can find a text to support their claim. Instead of growing in faith in God and having Him defend them, they claim they need to defend the faith and, by so doing, they believe they are glorifying the name of our Heavenly Father. This is not how we grow in faith. It is how we acquire a belief and strengthen a belief system; only that system might not be the truth, even though people can claim it is biblically based. The truth is sand might come from rock, but rock it is not.

Obeying God’s voice is what the Bible informs us we need to do. Hearing God’s voice means we need to become responsive to our conscience. Our conscience is found in our innermost parts of our being, and it is here that God searches our heart. For the spirit of the man is the lamp of the Lord (Proverbs 20:27). Our spirit is also where our thoughts arise and the faculty that we possess which enables us to think (1 Corinthians 2:11), because the spirit has the ability of discerning right from wrong—irrespective of the heart of some people being deceptively wicked. If we sear our conscience, we have to harden our heart towards what we know to be right. Since not all hearts are desperately wicked, God searches them to see where each person is really at (Jeremiah 17:9-10). Each one is given a choice to make his or her own decisions. Nothing has changed. Initially, Adam and Eve were given a choice to obey or disobey God. They did not know good and evil like we do, but they had the ability to choose, because they were given a spirit; the same as we are given a spirit. The knowledge they possessed formed their belief system. Simply put, all they knew at the time was: Paradise is good. Life for Adam and Eve changed, when they changed.

God’s Voice

There are claims that people cannot hear God’s voice. However, people hearing God’s voice is a truth communicated in Scripture a number of times from Genesis to Revelation. People heard the voice of God and either obeyed and reaped the rewards, or disobeyed and suffered the consequences. Here are some verses from Scripture about hearing and obeying God’s voice, beginning with Abraham, the father of all who believe (Romans 4:11-16), and finishing with Jesus the source of our salvation:

Genesis 26:5 Abraham obeyed my voice, and kept my requirements, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws.”

Exodus 4:1 Moses answered, “But, behold, they will not believe me, nor listen to my voice; for they will say, ‘Yahweh has not appeared to you.’”

Exodus 19:5 Now therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice, and keep my covenant, then you shall be my own possession from among all peoples; for all the earth is mine;

Exodus 23:21 Pay attention to him, and listen to his voice. Don’t provoke him, for he will not pardon your disobedience, for my name is in him.

Numbers 14:22 because all those men who have seen my glory, and my signs, which I worked in Egypt and in the wilderness, yet have tempted me these ten times, and have not listened to my voice;

Deuteronomy 18:16 This is according to all that you desired of Yahweh your God in Horeb in the day of the assembly, saying, “Let me not hear again Yahweh my God’s voice, neither let me see this great fire any more, that I not die.”

Deuteronomy 26:14 I have not eaten of it in my mourning, neither have I removed any of it while I was unclean, nor given of it for the dead. I have listened to Yahweh my God’s voice. I have done according to all that you have commanded me.

Joshua 22:2 And said to them, “You have kept all that Moses the servant of Yahweh commanded you, and have listened to my voice in all that I have commanded you.…”

Judges 2:2 You shall make no covenant with the inhabitants of this land. You shall break down their altars.’ But you have not listened to my voice. Why have you done this?

Judges 2:20 Yahweh’s anger burned against Israel; and he said, “Because this nation transgressed my covenant which I commanded their fathers, and has not listened to my voice,

Judges 6:10 I said to you, “I am Yahweh your God. You shall not fear the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell.” But you have not listened to my voice.’”

Proverbs 8:4 To you men, I call! I send my voice to the sons of mankind.

John 10:16 I have other sheep, which are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will hear my voice. They will become one flock with one shepherd.

John 10:27 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.

John 18:37 Pilate therefore said to him, “Are you a king then?” Jesus answered, “You say that I am a king. For this reason I have been born, and for this reason I have come into the world, that I should testify to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice.”

Revelation 3:20 Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, then I will come in to him, and will dine with him, and he with me.

Many people talk about obeying the word of God. By this, they usually mean obeying their interpretation of the Bible or the interpretation of the Bible that they have accepted. The Bible is our guide and, indeed, we who are born of the Spirit of God acknowledge that God’s truth is written in the Scriptures; what we know as the sixty-six books of the Holy Bible. These Scriptures bear witness to Jesus Christ (John 5:39-40) and instruct us how we are able to be saved by faith in Him (2 Timothy 3:15).  Because of this, these very Scriptures are profitable for teaching, admonishment, correction and training in righteousness. What we learn in the Scriptures is that we are to obey God’s voice and exercise obedience of faith (Romans 1:5). Obeying God’s voice requires us to hear His voice, which means we need to be able to recognize His voice. However, learning to recognize and obey God’s voice is not easy, because our adversary the Devil does not want us to do this. The Devil would prefer us to be disobedient.

We can identify God’s voice in Creation, through our conscience, and by anointed speakers. People say they identify God’s voice as he speaks through the Bible, and in certain respects this is true, but this is not exactly what the Bible teaches. The Bible teaches that it bears witness to Lord Jesus Christ and what is required to walk in His footsteps; but of itself, the written word is not able to speak; for what has been written down is a dead letter. We read this in the following verses from Scripture:

You are our letter, written in our hearts, known and read by all men; being revealed that you are a letter of Christ, served by us, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God; not in tablets of stone, but in tablets that are hearts of flesh. Such confidence we have through Christ toward God; not that we are sufficient of ourselves, to account anything as from ourselves; but our sufficiency is from God; who also made us sufficient as servants of a new covenant; not of the letter, but of the Spirit. For the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life. (2 Corinthians 3:2-6)

Nevertheless, we need to possess the right understanding, if we are to understand the Scriptures and rightly handle the word of truth (2 Timothy 2:15). As we read the Bible, we learn that the connection between the written word and the spoken word is valid, even if the letter does not have the life provided by the Spirit of God. For, along with the Apostle Paul, we begin to realize this:

Now these things, brothers, I have in a figure transferred to myself and Apollos for your sakes, that in us you might learn not to think beyond the things which are written, that none of you be puffed up against one another. (1 Corinthians 4:6)

But having the same spirit of faith, according to that which is written, “I believed, and therefore I spoke.” We also believe, and therefore also we speak; knowing that he who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus, and will present us with you. (2 Corinthians 4:13-14)

While it might be convenient to call the Bible, “God’s Word” or “The Word of God”, what is important to understand is the Spirit gives life, and not the written word. For if we put the written word before our Lord Jesus, we commit sin and open ourselves us to being deceived by the Devil. What we really need to do is learn to obey God’s voice and exercise obedience of faith, so like the Apostle Paul, we can say, “We believed and so we spoke,” knowing that we are speaking the truth in love (Ephesians 4:15), because we are speaking in the anointing of the Holy Spirit.

How do we then come to know God’s voice and recognize when He is speaking to us?

God’s voice will either come directly from Him, through someone else, or from within our conscience, while the Creation and the written word bear witness to Him. The Bible tells that day to day brings forth speech and the night sky declares the glory of God and testifies to His greatness (Psalm 19:1-4). We ourselves can experience this as we ponder Creation and marvel at its complexity and beauty; for when we do, we will find ourselves thinking of its Creator. However, if someone were speaking to us, while we might recognize the person’s voice, unless that person is speaking in the Spirit of God, we will not hear God’s voice. If the person is speaking in the Spirit of God, as some noted preachers have been known to do, God’s voice has a habit of relating to us either as a hammer that smashes rock or fire that consumes dead wood (Jeremiah 23:29); or it can be uplifting and exciting, or gentle and calming. When God Himself speaks to us, for us to hear it, we need to be tuned in to the frequency that His voice resonates at; otherwise, we will not understand what is being said. This applies even when God could be speaking through a preacher or a prophet, or any anointed messenger. We recognize human voices because our ear is tuned into the frequency of the sound they make as their breath moves through their larynx and their vocal cords vibrate to give them a distinctive timbre. If we do not recognize the voice, even though we hear our own name, we may not answer. Once we have become accustomed to listening to a person, we start to recognize the sound of that person’s voice. The same applies to the voice of God. If we are not accustomed to listening to God’s voice, when He does speak, we will not recognize whether He is speaking to us. In a similar manner, by ignoring our conscience, we can deaden it; or we can sharpen our conscience by acknowledging it. Indeed, God speaks to most of us through our conscience. This is where He is able to examine us from within, for the spirit within is His lamp to our innermost thoughts and the intentions of our heart, (Pr. 20:27; Heb. 4:12-13) and this is where our conscience resides. When we read the Bible or any literature that testifies of Jesus Christ to the glory of God, the Holy Spirit is able to illuminate truths to us and enlighten us regarding the will of our Heavenly Father.

Our Desires Win Out

When we are born, we receive the ability to process information and learn how to trust what we encounter. The environment, into which each one of us is born, may or may not be conducive for us to begin to seek the Lord God. Seeking out the Lord is an individual matter. Some of us might have been born into a very harsh social environment that was a culture of violence. Some may have been born into a culture where wickedness was so extreme that our consciences warped before they had a chance to develop. Some of us might have been born into an environment where expectations were high and, having had our days mapped out for us as children, we did not get time for personal relaxation and play with other children. Some of us may have been born into an environment where we never had the opportunity to do anything for ourselves, or where we were neglected, unsupervised and could do whatever we liked. Whatever the case regarding our upbringing as children, there would have been a point where we would have had to decide whether we are going to accept that there is a Creator and call out to Him or not.

One homosexual, who became a politician, claimed that he sought God to take away his homosexual feelings as a young man, but nothing changed. Today, he claims he does not believe in God. Yet, I can testify, that at the age of fourteen, a force tried to overcome me and cause me to sexually abuse a three-year-old girl who was in my care. I cried out to God to prevent me from doing such a thing. For nearly some thirty minutes, I went through emotional and mental torture as the force tried to overcome me. At the time, I was not a Christian. But I did not want to do what I believed to be wrong and abuse the trust that had been placed in me by the girl’s parents. Six years later, I became a Christian. The question we ask is what could have been the defining difference between someone like me and the homosexual politician who is now an atheist?

One person I know prayed the sinner’s prayer and asked Jesus Christ to come into his life. I saw this person walk up the front of a revival meeting and ask for forgiveness for sin, because he acknowledged that he had done wrong. But this person never really gave up his sin. One day I discovered him in a compromising situation with a homosexual whom he had been sleeping with for over six years. He began abusing drugs and, as a consequence, is now dead.  During those days, I saw quite a number of people acknowledge the Lord and go through the sinner’s prayer. But then they fell back into sin.  In doing so, they went from God’s blessing back into a state much worse than before, with a number ending up dead. There is more than mere mental assent required when expressing faith in the death and resurrection of Lord Jesus Christ and having a relationship with our Heavenly Father.

As we have seen, Jesus searches our hearts to see who is acceptable to Him and who is not. Acceptability to Jesus depends on whether we are honest and generous of heart and aspire to a more noble view of life, yet recognize that we are in need of our Heavenly Father to accomplish our desire. Mental assent and acknowledgement of wrongdoing, while not being truly sorry, does not lead to true repentance; neither does a lack of recognition of the goodness and kindness of God. Faith in God comes from desiring to understand our purpose for existence, and wanting to be in contact with the Father of lights, Who is also the Father of Spirits. God is our Father. The word “father” means “originator”. Thus we read:

Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom can be no variation, nor turning shadow. (James 1:17)

Furthermore, we had the fathers of our flesh to chasten us, and we paid them respect. Shall we not much rather be in subjection to the Father of spirits, and live? (Hebrews 12:9)

But you, when you pray, enter into your inner room, and having shut your door, pray to your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly. In praying, don’t use vain repetitions, as the Gentiles do; for they think that they will be heard for their much speaking. Therefore don’t be like them, for your Father knows what things you need, before you ask him. Pray like this: ‘Our Father in heaven, may your name be kept holy. Let your Kingdom come. Let your will be done, as in heaven, so on earth. Give us today our daily bread. Forgive us our debts, as we also forgive our debtors. Bring us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. For yours is the Kingdom, the power, and the glory forever. Amen. ’

For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you don’t forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses. (Matthew 6:6-15)

If we are to return to our Father in Heaven, we need, first of all, to be honest with ourselves and forgive other people of that which we have against them.  This requires us to exercise an act of faith as we release other people of that which we have believed they have done against us, whether rightly or wrongly. In doing this, we are saying that we are prepared to extend mercy to other people and believe the best of them. This is an act of faith. For when we see the individuals whom we have had something against, we believe that we are going to love them rather than seek vengeance. The more heartfelt and remorseful we feel about our own sinful attitude towards others, the more we are expectant of receiving God’s grace and forgiveness in our own lives.  This has to be the reason why Jesus said that we are to pray and ask our Heavenly Father to forgive us according to the measure we forgive others. If we have the faith that we can forgive other people, we have the faith that God can forgive us. More than this, we are able to obtain the desires of our heart, providing we delight in the goodness of God and perfection of His ways. This is what the Psalmist wrote:

Trust in the Lord, and do good; so you will dwell in the land, and enjoy security. Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him, and he will act. (Psalm 37:3-5 RSV)

Faith is the ability to demonstrate the reality of our convictions that God raises the dead from their sins.  The realization that our Creator is our only hope for eternal life is the beginning of our faith towards God. It is at this time, the substance of faith is implanted within us in seed form. Faith grows as we practice reasoning intentional spiritual devotion that is directed towards God through the experience of the Holy Spirit enlightening our understanding of truth. Faith grows as we realize our need for Jesus Christ and allow Him to be Lord in our lives. Unlike faith based on human reasoning that is said to be as sand, because it is void of the reality of the Holy Spirit, the faith that comes from God is like an immovable rock (Matthew 7:24-27).

Once we have been born from above, the more we feed ourselves with the knowledge of God through the Holy Spirit as we participate in the body of Lord Jesus Christ as fruitful members by exercising obedience of faith, the more we grow in faith and our Heavenly Father is glorified. This is everlasting faith.