Part 4 (1/2)

Human Faith Human faith is based upon natural knowledge. G.o.d created mankind as faith beings. Even before being born again and separate from the influence of G.o.d, there's still a natural kind of faith. In an attempt to explain faith, this was what my church taught me while I was growing up.

Taking a chair, they'd say, ”How do you know if this chair will hold you up? It takes faith to sit in it.” Then they'd add, ”It's faith when you drive through a green light. You must believe that the other side has a red light. You don't know it because you can't see it, so you can't prove it. Even if the red is there, you still have to believe that the other cars will stop.” And s.h.i.+fting to the skies, they'd say, ”It's faith to ride in an airplane. You don't know how it works, and you aren't personally acquainted with the pilot. How can you be sure the mechanisms are correct and the pilot can work them?” They'd declare, ”That's faith!”

It's a type of faith, but it's human faith. In other words, it's a faith based on sense knowledge-facts-things you can see, taste, hear, smell, and feel.

Whether you are conscious of it or not, the first thing you'd do before attempting to sit in the chair would be to glance over at it to see if it had all four legs. If it only had three legs and teetered like it was about to fall, you wouldn't sit in it. Whether you realize it or not, when you get ready to sit down in a chair, you inspect it. It might not be a perfect inspection, but you do gather some sense knowledge to base your action upon.

You've also been trained to know that when your side of the traffic light is green, the other side has red. You've got personal experience to base that upon because you've been on the other side waiting on the red many times before. However, for additional safety, you probably made sure n.o.body looked like they might speed through and run the light before you proceeded.

Human faith is limited to what it can see, taste, hear, smell, and feel. If you noticed that one of the wings was missing, you wouldn't fly on that airplane. If you saw a wreck at the intersection, you wouldn't just go right on through it, even if the light was green. If the chair looked like it would fall apart under your weight, you wouldn't try to sit on it. If the facts don't seem to support the action, you can't act contrary when you are using natural faith.

Your Faith Is Supernatural!

While human faith follows sense knowledge, supernatural faith precedes it. G.o.d demonstrated this kind of faith when He changed Abram's name to Abraham (father of many nations) before he even had a single child (Gen. 15:2-6, 17:4-6). ”(As it is written, I have made thee a father of many nations,) before him whom he believed, even G.o.d, who quickeneth the dead, and calleth those things which be not as though they were”

(Rom. 4:17). This is how G.o.d's faith operates. He acknowledges those things which aren't yet manifest as if they already are. G.o.d calls those things as if they were, even before there is any physical proof of their existence. Natural faith can only acknowledge what it already sees, tastes, hears, smells, and feels. Supernatural faith literally brings things into manifestation from the spirit realm. Now that's a radical difference!

You used supernatural faith to become born again. It wasn't natural faith because you were believing for things that were beyond your sense knowledge. Unless you had a vision or heard an audible voice, neither of which is the norm, you couldn't perceive spiritual truth with your natural senses. You had to believe in things you couldn't see, like: heaven and h.e.l.l, G.o.d and the devil, sin and forgiveness. All these were faith issues that could not be verified or proven by mere human faith. The Holy Spirit enlightened you from within as He spoke to your heart so you could take a step of faith that wasn't based on what you could see, taste, hear, smell, or feel. Through His Word, you were given G.o.d's supernatural faith when you were born again.

The same faith you used to become born again is now always present in your spirit. It doesn't evaporate, diminish, or get old and lose its power. That supernatural faith is exactly the same in your born-again spirit as it was the very moment you were saved. You may not be experiencing that faith and all of its benefits in your body and soul, but it's there in your spirit. If you've been born again, you already have the supernatural faith of G.o.d!

Faith is a fruit that stems from your spirit. ”But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith. Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law” (Gal. 5:22-23, emphasis mine). Faith-belief-is a product from deep within the heart, not just the mind. ”For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness” (Rom. 10:10). For the born-again believer, faith has actually been put into your recreated spirit!

You don't need more faith-you just need to believe that you already have it. As Jesus is now, so are you in this world (1 John 4:17). Is Jesus in faith? Of course He is! He's operating in faith perfectly. Your born-again spirit has the faith of G.o.d in it perfectly, without lack or inadequacy. Acknowledge it! Go to G.o.d's Word and discover the laws that govern how faith works. Then, start cooperating and using them to your advantage. You'll find that the faith that's already inside you is more than sufficient for any problem you'll ever face!

Chapter 12.

Like Precious Faith You were justified by the faith of Christ. ”Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified” (Gal. 2:16, emphasis mine).

G.o.d not only provided salvation but also gave you the faith to receive it. You were so bound up in sin before being born again that you couldn't reach out in your own ability to receive the salvation G.o.d had already purchased for you. Your mind and heart were simply too corrupted to believe. This sin-caused blindness separated you from G.o.d. He pierced through your darkness.

Not only were you born again through that faith, but you're to live your entire Christian life by it! ”I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of G.o.d, who loved me, and gave himself for me” (Gal. 2:20, emphasis mine). It doesn't say ”I'm living by faith in the Son of G.o.d” but rather ”I'm living by the faith of the Son of G.o.d. ” (I am aware that several modern translations render it ”I live by faith in the Son of G.o.d,” but that's not accurate according to the Greek.) Just a few verses earlier in 2:16, Paul stated twice that you are justified by the faith of Christ. It's very clear that it's not just a human faith that receives from G.o.d but His own supernatural faith.

Knowledge Problem The first step is to believe you have this faith, but the goal is to release its benefits into your soul and body. Just like everything else in your spirit, your faith doesn't fluctuate because of your performance. You were born again, apart from your works, using the supernatural faith of G.o.d. Now, that faith is always there. Your faith begins to operate, work, become effective when you acknowledge the good things that are in you in Christ (Philem. 1:6). Acknowledge that G.o.d has already given you His super-natural faith!

You don't have a faith deficiency, you have a knowledge problem! You don't know what you've got. You haven't learned the laws that govern faith or how to cooperate with them. If you don't acknowledge this faith and learn how to use it, then you won't see it manifest. It won't be because you don't have it but because you're ignorant of how it works!

Every born-again believer has been given the measure of ta.th. ”For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as G.o.d hath dealt to every man the measure of faith''1 (Rom. 12:3, emphasis mine). Some people teach and some Bible versions actually translate this incorrectly, saying a measure of faith. How-ever, Galatians 2:16 & 20 both verify that this is truly the measure of faith.

You received the exact same quant.i.ty and quality of faith when you were born again as did every other Christian. However, in G.o.d's ”soup line,” most people think He dishes out faith using a wide variety of different measures. Someone's given a ladle full, another a teaspoon. To this one, a tablespoon, and to that one, barely a drop. Romans 12:3 soundly refutes this false perception. In reality, everyone's given the ladle full because it's the measure of faith!

Looking on externals, there's no doubt some people operate in more faith than others. You might think, They've got more faith than I do! No, they just have more of it out in the physical realm. In other words, they are using more of their measure of faith than you are. Let's say you and I were both given identical gift cards worth $1,000 each. I buy an $800 stereo system, and you purchase a $200 leather coat. Even though we were given the exact same measure initially, according to our use, we experience very different results!

Peter, Paul & You Paul used the faith of Jesus. In Galatians 2:20, he basically stated, ”I'm living by the same faith that Jesus used when He walked on this earth.” Romans 12:3 reveals that there aren't varying measures or different amounts. So if Paul lived by the faith of the Son of G.o.d, then that means every other born-again believer like him also has the faith of the Son of G.o.d. What a radical truth!

When you were born again, you were given the faith of Jesus Christ. Even if you don't yet understand how to release it, just the knowledge that it's there and its potential would give you all the motivation you need to not quit until you see it manifest. If you could just grasp what I'm sharing, your expectation level would shoot through the roof!

Peter had this faith. ”Simon Peter, a servant and an apostle of Jesus Christ, to them that have obtained like precious faith with us through the righteousness of G.o.d and our Saviour Jesus Christ” (2 Pet. 1:1). Peter wrote this letter to a group of believers who had already obtained this ”like precious faith.” It wasn't something they were searching for or seeking after; they already had it. Did they receive this faith by being holy and do-ing things? No, it came ”through the righteousness of G.o.d and our Saviour Jesus Christ.” When you were born again, you also received this ”like precious faith.”

Peter released his faith and manifested many awesome things! He walked on water in the midst of a raging storm (Matt. 14:29). He preached and saw three thousand people born again on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2:37-41). Peter healed the lame beggar at the temple gate (Acts 3:6-7). His shadow fell on people who were instantly made whole as he walked down the street (Acts 5:15-16). He also raised Dorcas from the dead (Acts 9:36-41). This is he who said you have like precious faith!

If you don't believe that you have this faith, then you might as well tear 2 Peter right out of your Bible because it doesn't apply to you! It's specifically written to believers with ”like precious faith” (1:1). Peter wasn't operating in his own human faith. It wasn't because he was an apostle and had walked with Jesus that he was endued with such faith. Like Paul, Peter had been given the measure of faith upon being born again. He was living his life by the faith of the Son of G.o.d-and you can too!

Only Americans You have the same faith as Jesus! You might not have all of it operating the way He did, but it's there. Your soul, like a filter, screens what flows out from your spirit into the physical realm. All of your thoughts and concepts that are contrary to the revelation of G.o.d's Word block the flow. The fact is, if your thoughts are really screwed up, very little of what's in your spirit will be able to pa.s.s through your soul and manifest. That's why you may not be seeing much happen as far as actions and results. How-ever, as you continue renewing your mind, more of G.o.d's supernatural faith that's in you will be free to manifest!

I've experienced a tremendous increase of G.o.d's faith manifest in my life. Although I'm not a perfect example, I've seen people rise from the dead. Blind eyes and deaf ears have literally opened right before my eyes. The gifts of the Holy Spirit have been able to flow through me far beyond anything I could have ever perceived in the natural realm. Through a word of knowledge, I've actually told individuals their names before! I've also accurately perceived in my spirit different people's sicknesses and diseases, what's going on in their marriages, etc. It takes faith to do such things! I don't manifest it perfectly, but I've seen such an increase that I can tell you about the positive results I've experienced, all because I've believed that I already have G.o.d's supernatural faith. I'm not trying to get more faith-I'm just learning to release what I already have!

When asked on television ”Why do you see so many more healings in Third-World countries than here in the United States? Is it because they have more faith?” Reinhard Bonnke, renowned German world healing evangelist with a special pa.s.sion for Africa, answered, ”That's an invalid question!” He clarified his a.s.sertion by adding, ”Americans are the only people on the face of the earth that I have encountered who have this concept of 'more faith' and 'little faith.' In other countries, either you believe or you don't! Only Americans believe in varying degrees and having to hit level 10, 20, or whatever before their faith starts to work. Really, this idea violates what Jesus taught in Matthew 17:20. He said that if your faith was like a grain of mustard seed, you could tell a mountain to move, and it would obey you. You could just speak to it, and your faith would work!”

What a difference this revelation will make in your life! You can now honestly and boldly declare, ”1 was given the measure of faith from Jesus at salvation. The faith of Christ is in me-no more and no less than any other born-again believer. The same faith Jesus used to raise Lazarus from the dead is available to me right now. It's just a matter of renewing my mind because in my spirit, I've got the same power, anointing, and potential. From this day forward, I expect to see an increase of manifestation in my life to the glory to G.o.d! Amen!”

Chapter 13.

Your Spirit Knows All Things Your born-again spirit came with the mind of Christ. ”For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ” (1 Cor. 2:16). In your spirit, there's a mind that already knows all things. The rest of the Christian life is learning how to draw it out into the physical realm. When that happens, you experience what's called ”revelation knowledge.”

You were born with a natural mind. It operates both in the soulish realm and in the physical realm as your brain. When you came into this world, you didn't know anything. Your brain had some automatic functions that kicked in, like breathing, pumping blood, etc., but your mind had to be educated. You didn't come out of the womb walking and talking. You had to train yourself to coordinate your muscles. This required lots of input!