Belief, Faith And God's Power
A Rock Of Offence Special Commentary
The following commentary is taken from a previous response to a reader from South Africa. It is modified to address the subjects of Divine healing, faith -- and why Christians suffer. Our answers may surprise you. Many sincere believers in Christ are asking the same questions. Today, the critics are spreading massive amounts of misinformation inside the Church. Their answers are often misleading and cause believers to draw wrong conclusions about God's will for their life.
Here are the original questions:
"We have a new and better covenant and we are the seed of Abraham. Why then do we experience such suffering? Is it lack of being conscious of Jesus grace? Paul was under the new covenant and suffered greatly, however, one thing I have noticed is that the suffering he experienced was only due to the fact that he was preaching the true good news, the gospel of grace. I've researched his suffering and it had nothing to do with what some of us believers are experiencing. Sickness, financial lack, etc not due to the gospel at all. Why do we experience these things? Is it a curse from the law/lack of receiving grace? Could you please help me by answering or pointing me in the right direction?" Also....
"May I please ask another question? I am a little confused on faith & belief, what is the difference? Is it true to say that the more grace or Christ's righteousness you receive the more power you will walk in? (seeing signs, wonders & miracles). Is faith then simply believing in Gods grace, in Jesus?"
This Bible Study is the second in a special five
part series, which addresses the controversial
subject of Christian suffering. The other 4
studies are available below:
(Study 1) The Reasons Why Christians Suffer
(Study 3) Misconceptions About Paul's
Thorn in the Flesh
(Study 4) Is Suffering God's Will For The Christian?
(Study 5) Does God Really Do Whatever He Wants To Us?
Dear Brother,
In most cases the words “faith” and “belief” are used interchangeably because they are closely related. Few preachers are willing to expound upon the differences. Our “faith” is actually a type of EMPOWERMENT TO RECEIVE GOD'S BENEFITS. It is initially acquired AND GROWS IN US as a result of hearing God’s Word. The Scripture says, “faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the word of God” (Romans 10:17--Important Note: Faith comes from hearing God's Word -- NOT NECESSARILY WHAT PREACHERS AND THEOLOGIANS SAY IS GOD'S WORD). Some preachers refer to faith as “a force” that causes miraculous things to happen. Other’s refer to it as a “power switch” that allows God’s miracle working power to work for us in time of need. In the story of the woman with the issue of blood -- Jesus told her, “Daughter, your faith has made you whole” (Read Matt. 9:22, Mark 5:34, Luke 8:48). Jesus didn’t say that His power made her whole. HE GAVE THE CREDIT TO HER FAITH. If we read this account carefully, we discover that this woman’s faith also came from something she acknowledged (or said to herself) beforehand. Her faith did seem to act like a switch or conduit, which allowed Christ’s healing power to flow directly to her when the crowd pressing around Jesus at the same time failed to receive what they were seeking. Here's another amazing fact: Jesus didn’t know who had accessed the power that flowed out of Him. He asked, “Who touched me”. I find this question both very revealing and interesting. Why? JESUS WAS OBVIOUSLY NOT IN CONTROL OF THIS HEALING -- AND HE SAID SO!
This is why if we believe wrong things through misunderstanding or misinterpreting God’s Word (using and believing Scripture out of context), our faith will either be weak OR IT WON'T WORK WHEN WE NEED IT. Yet, it appears to the individual struggling in this situation that nothing is wrong. It seems they are believing God’s Word to the best of their ability - and the power still doesn’t flow. The problem can be found in a common, yet dangerous assumption. We have convinced ourselves that our "believing" is based on Biblical truth, which is an assumption that may not necessarily be correct.
THE BIGGEST HINRANCE TO HEALING AND MIRACLES
OCCURS WHEN WE ESTABLISH OUR FAITH ON POPULAR
CHURCH OR DENOMINATIONAL DOCTRINE, WHICH IS
UNKNOWINGLY BUILT ON OUT-OF-CONTEXT SCRIPTURE.
IT IS SCRIPTURE THAT A DENOMINATION, PASTOR,
TEACHER OR FAMILY MEMBER HAS LIFTED FROM THE
CONTEXT WHERE GOD PLACED IT AND USED IN A WAY
THAT HE NEVER INTENDED.
Most Christians wrongly think that the teaching and doctrine of their church or denomination is God’s Word, simply because it's taken from the pages of Scripture and taught by a highly educated member of the clergy. We should remember that “REAL FAITH THAT WORKS” only comes from God's Word and not necessarily from church doctrine and teachings, which can be out-of-context distortions of The Word. Those two positions look similar, but are vastly different. Contrary to popular thinking, THEY ARE NOT "JUST A DIFFERENCE OF OPINION". WHY? THE NEW TESTAMENT WARNS THAT GOD RESPECTS ONE, BUT REJECTS THE OTHER. This problem is nearly impossible to correct because most Christian believers, especially those in the “fundamentalist” and “reformed theology” camps (Roman Catholics are also in this group under a different label), are convinced they’ve got the truth. If you are convinced that you've been correctly taught God's truth, it's likely that you won't examine yourself and the doctrine you embrace. If you're convinced you have the authentic truth of God, YOU WON'T THINK ANY CHANGE OR SELF-EXAMINATION IS NECESSARY. This is why you hear so many well-meaning believers and their leaders claim that God doesn’t heal or do miracles any more. These excuses are used because it's offensive to consider that the real problem could be their wrong Scriptural interpretation of God's Word, which causes their faith (or the ability to receive God's benefits) to be neutralized and ineffective.
INEFFECTIVE FAITH CAUSED BY HEARING AND RECEIVING
OUT-OF-CONTEXT BIBLE TEACHING HINDERS AND/OR
BLOCKS THE OPERATION OF GOD'S POWER.
Mark 16:18 teaches: “These signs shall follow them that believe...they shall lay hands on the sick and they shall recover.” Most of us who try to operate in this Scripture assume that the sick will be healed when we pray because we see ourselves in the group “that believes”. Yet, few of us test ourselves to see if “what we believe” follows the guidelines and principles that God established THROUGH CHRIST'S NEW COVENANT THAT OPERATES AFTER THE CROSS. If our believing is built on wrong Bible teaching (Scripture lifted from its context), the sick won’t be healed regardless of how “committed” or “well meaning” we are. THE BLOCKED HEALING IS NOT CAUSED BY GOD'S UNWILLIINGNESS. THE BLOCKAGE IS CAUSED BY OUR COMPROMISED FAITH AND WRONG BELIEVING.
To learn more about the importance of Biblical context CLICK HERE.
"EXAMINE YOURSELVES AS TO WHETHER YOU ARE IN THE FAITH. Test yourselves. Do you not know yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you? -- unless indeed you are disqualified." (2 Corinthians 13:5)
"Be diligent to PRESENT YOURSELF APPROVED OF GOD, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, RIGHTLY (OR CORRECTLY) DIVIDING THE WORD OF TRUTH." (2 Timothy 2:15 NKJV -- Emphasis Added)
Here's another important fact: Both the minister of healing and the recipient must possess a faith that is in agreement. It’s not enough for the person ministering healing to have a correct and working faith, while the one being prayed for is in some unknown state of unbelief. This is why Jesus, many times, required the recipient of healing to make a verbal confession that validated their agreement with Him to receive what He had to offer. For these reasons, it is often necessary to teach the recipient first before they can receive healing from you. As you can see, this can quickly become complicated because human pride tends to get in the way. Many Christians assume you can “impose or force” healing on someone regardless of what they believe. They think that if it’s God’s will for the person to be healed, healing will happen anyway. This might sound good, but it's not the way God operates. WRONG BELIEVING CAUSED BY WRONG TEACHING WILL LIMIT OR BLOCK GOD'S POWER. Many are surprised to learn that unbelief (compromised faith) hindered and prevented Jesus Christ from doing the mighty works He wanted to do, even though He was the Son of God.
"Then He went out from there and came to His own country, and His disciples followed Him. And when the Sabbath had come, He began to teach in the synagogue." (Mark 6:1-2) "Now HE COULD DO NO MIGHTY WORK THERE, except that He laid His hands on a few sick people and healed them. And He marveled because of their unbelief. Then He went about the villages in a circuit, teaching." (Mark 6:5-6)
Through understanding these facts, we can begin to see that several things must be in agreement (or alignment) for God’s power to operate. Having correct faith (or faith that is in agreement with God's Word) is one vitally important element. A lot of wrong out-of-context Bible teaching in the modern Church EITHER LIMITS OR TOTALLY BLOCKS HIS POWER FROM MANIFESTING. THE BLOCKAGE IS RARELY CAUSED BY GOD'S UNWILLINGNESS TO ACT ON OUR BEHALF. Rather than dealing with the root cause of "wrong theology and doctrine" (especially the popular error of Legalism commonly found within Catholicism and Christian Fundamentalism), it's easier and less embarrassing to just say that God doesn't heal or do miracles anymore. Professing Christians and their leaders who carelessly make this assertion don't seem to understand that they're propagating a lie about God to protect their particular denomination, theology or church fellowship. Proclaiming religious untruths of this nature causes a type of "spiritual short-circuit". It's not too different than an electrical "short-circuit". Both are dangerous and can be lethal. The spiritual type of short-circuit carries many unintended consequences. Being "cut-off" from God's power and the flow of His benefits is not the only penalty. We (individually or as a congregation or denomination) can proudly call ourselves "Bible believers", YET UNKNOWINGLY BE ATTEMPTING TO BELIEVE THE BIBLE THROUGH A THEOLOGY THAT GOD REJECTS. This is what the apostle Paul referred to as "a different gospel and another Jesus". Contrary to popular church teaching, it is not a problem found only in popular religious cults. Paul made it clear in one of the most horrific warnings given in the New Testament THAT GOD DOES NOT HONOR THIS POPULAR "BIBLE-BASED" THEOLOGY (Galatians 1:6-8). Why would God reject something that appears to be based on the Bible? It is established, not on the "rightly divided truth" that God honors, but on a corrupted interpretation of the Bible, which He said that He does not accept or honor. Many Christian people and their leaders assume they can "twist or spiritualize Scripture" (we call it "designer theology") to make it fit their beliefs and the doctrine of their church. They use these verses (now subtly redefined by its altered context) to defend certain teachings. They think that because they cite Scripture, God must now respect their "theology" and answer their prayers. However, God is under no obligation to honor a redefined version of His Word. Many of these professing Christians are the ones who claim that God doesn't heal or do miracles anymore. The Bible sounds a sober warning about this misguided way of believing, which is commonly found in the institutional Christian Church.
Below, I’ve listed 4 major areas that prevent us from receiving a healing touch from God.
Short-Circuited Faith -- Problem Area #1
Today, many Christian believers are taught to live their “new life in Christ” under an Old Testament form of religion. This common belief exists under countless names and labels. The popular, yet disastrous practice of mixing Law and Grace ALWAYS SHORT-CIRCUITS THE OPERATION OF GOD’S POWER. It takes principles of Old Testament Jewish Law (also known as Judaism) and wrongly applies them to the New Testament Church, which is currently under the unmerited favor of God (also called Grace). MIXING OLD TESTAMENT JUDAISM AND THE NEW TESTAMENT GRACE OF CHRIST HINDERS OR BLOCKS THE MIRACLE-WORKING POWER OF GOD. THE POWER IS BLOCKED BECAUSE THIS POPULAR RELIGIOUS KIND OF FAITH UNKNOWINGLY SEPARATES THE INDIVIDUAL FROM CHRIST, WHICH AUTOMATICALLY CAUSES THEM TO BE SUBJECT TO A CURSE.
"FOR AS MANY AS ARE OF THE WORKS OF THE LAW ARE UNDER THE CURSE; for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who does not continue in all things which are written in the book of the law, to do them.” BUT THAT NO ONE IS JUSTIFIED BY THE LAW IN THE SIGHT OF GOD IS EVIDENT, for “the just shall live by faith.” YET THE LAW IS NOT OF FAITH..." (Galatians 3:10-12 -- Emphasis Mine)
"You have become estranged (cut-of/separated) from Christ, you who attempt to be justified by law; YOU HAVE FALLEN FROM GRACE." (Galatians 5:4 -- Emphasis Mine)
The apostle Paul constantly warned about this counterfeit theology. Yet, this rejected practice is often referred to as “preaching the whole Word of God”, which is a very misleading statment. It expresses itself by either casting doubt or completely rejecting the idea that eternal life is God's free and unmerited gift as the New Testament teaches (Romans 10:8-13, Romans 6:23, Ephesians 2:8-9 Romans 4:4-8, Romans 3:24-26 and Titus 3:4-7). A vast majority of professing Christians are in this group regardless of the name on the church building.
Short-Circuited Faith -- Problem Area #2
You asked, “Is it true to say that the more grace or Christ’s righteousness you receive the more power you will walk in? (seeing signs, wonders & miracles). Is faith then simply believing in Gods grace, in Jesus?”
You’re question about faith is not easy to answer. We begin our spiritual journey by believing the Gospel of Grace to receive salvation as God's unmerited gift. If we meet the simple requirements found in Romans 10:9-10, Scripture tells us that we are saved. Christ's salvation comes by confessing Jesus as our Lord and by believing in our heart that God raised him from the dead. In this situation, sincerely (out of an honest heart) confessing Jesus as Lord is an expression our faith. it's so simple that a young properly instructed child can satisfy the requirements. If it involved anything more, God couldn’t call it a gift (Romans 10:8-13, Romans 6:23, Ephesians 2:8-9 Romans 4:4-8, Romans 3:24-26 and Titus 3:4-7). The gift of eternal life is a tremendous blessing. Yet, this initial act just gets us inside the door of heaven. Having the faith to meet these simple requirements to receive eternal life will generally not be enough to operate in a ministry of healing and miracles.
One healing evangelist used this example: Growing or increasing our faith is like climbing a ladder. Most Christians fail because they try to operate at the top rung when the actual level (or ability) of their faith is still at the bottom.
Our initial salvation obtained through simple child-like faith is God’s unmerited gift to us. But, growing our faith to operate in the miraculous takes time, study, prayer and a lot of sober commitment in seeking truth. Another preacher put it this way; “faith cometh by hearing and hearing and hearing and hearing God’s Word. As The Word gets inside us, faith naturally grows. Also, our Heavenly Father does not turn His power over to be used by just anyone. Your heart has to be right. Why do you want power; to glorify yourself or to bring glory to God? Miracle working power is like an atomic weapon in the spiritual world. It can do great harm when misused.
Short-Circuited Faith -- Problem Area #3
On the topic of righteousness -- we’ve received all the righteousness we’re going to get. If we’ve accepted God’s gift of eternal life, then we are, at this very moment, “the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus” (2 Corinthians 5:21). As far as God is concerned, we have this blessing regardless of whether we feel like it or not. We’ve already received Christ’s total righteousness, which the Scripture says is “God’s very own righteousness”. In other words, a true believer in Christ is just as righteous as God because he or she is given “God’s righteousness”. Under the rules of the New Covenant, we are given someone else’s righteousness, which happens to be God’s. Under New Testament Grace, your righteousnss, like eternal life, is a gift. It no longer comes from your behavior or good deeds as it did under the Old Testament religion of the Law (Judaism).
"....And be found in him (Jesus Christ), not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law (Old Testament religion), but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith". (Philippians 3:9 -- Emphasis Added)
“For if by the one man's offense death reigned through the one, MUCH MORE THOSE WHO RECEIVE ABUNDANCE OF GRACE AND OF THE GIFT OF RIGHTEOUSNESS will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.) Therefore, as through one man's offense judgment came to all men, resulting in condemnation, even so THROUGH ONE MAN'S (JESUS’) RIGHTEOUS ACT THE FREE GIFT (RIGHTEOUSNESS) CAME TO ALL MEN, resulting in justification of life. For as by one man's disobedience (Adam) many were made sinners, SO ALSO BY ONE MAN'S OBEDIENCE (JESUS CHRIST) MANY WILL BE MADE RIGHTEOUS." (Romans 5:17-19 -- Emphasis Added)
This is crucial to understand. There isn’t any more – or any higher form of righteousness than the type God possesses. Think about that. All of God’s righteousness is imputed to our account by Grace, without any merit requirements. The question is not whether we learn to “receive more righteousness”, but whether we accept the total righteousness of Christ, which is prepaid by His blood and already belongs to us. If we’re constantly trying to “receive more righteousness”, especially through good works and behavior (which are good things for other reasons), then we haven’t properly understood what Jesus did for us. For more information about the need to "Rightly Divide God's Word" CLICK HERE.
Desiring a ministry of healing and miracles, while thinking you have less than “God’s righteousness” is a sure path to failure. It means we might be falling into the false religious trap of “trying to be more righteous” through some form of religious performance. Under Christ’s New Covenant, righteousness doesn’t come through our behavior, religious performance and good works. Believing that it does (or disagreeing with this New Covenant truth) will hinder or stop God’s power. Under Old Testament religion (Judaism), righteousness came through works, obeying the Mosaic Law and religious performance. Under the New Covenant of Christ, righteousness is given as a gift and freely imputed to our account (Read Romans chapter 5, specifically verse 17). To learn more about God's New Covenant method of "imputing spiritual benefits" CLICK HERE.
Short-Circuited Faith -- Problem Area #4
Another major hindrance is neglecting the “Baptism with the Holy Spirit”. THROUGH HOLY SPIRIT BAPTISM GOD GIVES YOU THE CAPACITY AND ABILITY (OR POWER) TO PERFORM HIS MIRACULOUS WORKS. Since most Christians in the Church are taught by their leaders to reject this area of Holy Spirit baptism (and its various ministry manifestations), they unknowingly lack this Divine ability to perform the miraculous works of Christ. When confronted with the failure, once again they blame God by saying that He doesn’t heal and do miracles anymore. Yet, as we discovered in this study, the real blame rests on their ineffective faith, which is caused by believing wrong doctrine that they've been tricked into thinking is God’s Word.
You can read more about this incredible area
of empowerment in the section entitled:
The Present-Day Ministry Of The Holy Spirit
I won’t go any further in this letter. If you are interested, you can find more information on my website at these suggested links:
Divine Healing: A Blood-Bought Benefit
The Righteousness Of The Believer
Our Position In Christ
The Spiritual Revolution Of Christ
The Holy Spirit's Role In Salvation
After The Cross
You may also want to read a response I gave a reader from Taiwan who was asking some of the same questions. You can find my response HERE
Brother, you’re asking the question many Christians want answered; “How do I get God’s power to work for me?” There are no easy answers because of the emotional faith issues few want to confront. The information provided in this letter is a good place to start. I’ve studied several ministers who operate in “Divine healing” and in “signs and wonders”. I have limited experience in this area of supernatural ministry myself. Yet, no one has discovered any kind of secret formula that turns God’s power on and off at will. Most of the time, these miraculous ministries operate through one (or more) of the expressions of the nine “gifts of the Holy Spirit” given to the New Testament Church. The apostle Paul warned that these gift ministries (or special spiritual callings) are not given to every member of the Body of Christ, but are handed out “as the Spirit wills” to specific individuals (1 Corinthians 12:4-11). Two of these nine gifts are “gifts of healing” and “working of miracles”. This doesn’t mean you can’t pray for someone to be healed and get an answer (as we see in Mark 16:18). It just means that many times these benefits flow through people that operate in one of these specific gifts or callings. Do not be deceived into believing that a few of these "gift ministries" are no longer used by God. This is a popular teaching from a group called "Cessationists", who believe God no longer uses (or He has "ceased" to use) some of the gifts mentioned in 1 Corinthians chapter 12, especially those involving healing and tongues.
ALL NINE OF THESE SPIRITUAL GIFT MINISTRIES WILL
CONTINUE TO OPERATE UNTIL JESUS CHRIST RETURNS.
We hope this information is helpful in
your walk with our Lord Jesus Christ.
Rock of Offence Ministries
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