Faith
By Ryan Bridgeo
Avery County
Now when we are talking about faith we are not talking about religion. You hear people ask what faith are you. And you hear answers like Catholic, Protestant, Baptist, Methodist, etc. But that is not what we are talking about. We are not looking at religion, we are looking at belief. In this lesson we will look at; what faith is, where faith comes from, and where we receive faith.
So, what is faith? Hebrews 11:1 says, “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” The word “substance” here means confidence, firm trust, and assurance. And the word “evidence” means conviction or proof. Now I know that this verse says that faith is…, but this verse is not telling us what faith is, this verse is telling us what faith looks like. Faith is believing in God. Faith is trusting God. Verse 2 says, “For by it the elders obtained a good testimony.” Faith looks like confidence, firm trust, an assurance, a conviction, that we have received the unseen thing that we are hoping for or anticipating. Faith is particularly important. Hebrews 11:6 says, “And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists (is) and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.” It is impossible to please God without faith. The phrase please God in the Greek language means to gratify entirely. So, it is impossible to gratify God entirely without faith. Faith pleases God, and faith gratifies God entirely.
So where does faith come from? Romans 10:17 (KJV) says, “So then faith [cometh] by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” Now there are two different words for “word” in the Bible. They are logos and rhema. Logos is the written word of God. Rhema is the spoken word of God. Guess which one is used in verse 17? That is right, rhema. Well, there is also a translation error here. The word for God in the Bible is Theos which is where we get the word theology. Which is the study of God. The word in this verse is Christos. Which means Christ. This is the only time in the whole NT where the word God is used where Christ is supposed to be. So then, faith comes from hearing the spoken word of Christ. Well, you might think, what’s the difference? Isn’t Jesus God, the Trinity, and all of that? Yes, He is. But when people see the “Word of God” written here they immediately think about reading the word of God, or their Bible. How many people do you know that read their Bible every day and they have whole sections memorized but they don’t appear to have much in the area of faith?
Now all Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness 2 Timothy 3:16 (NIV). All of the scripture was spoken by God. But that doesn’t mean that the Bible recorded everything that God had to say. Jesus said in John 16:12, “I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now.” Paul said that he would address other things when he arrived in person. He also said that he heard inexpressible things that he was not permitted to share. Now even though you can get faith from reading your Bible that is not what it is referring to in verse 17. It says faith comes by hearing the spoken word of Christ. Remember Jesus said in, Matthew 4:4, “It is written: ‘Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’” Jesus also said that He only said what He heard the Father say. Could this be a key to activating the faith He gave us? Think of a time when God spoke to you, and you know, that you know, that He did. How much faith did it feel like you needed to exercise to believe it? None, right? Because His Faith was activated when we heard the rhema word of Christ.
Now, where do we receive faith? Romans 10:10 says, “For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth, confession is made unto salvation.” We receive what we asked for in prayer in our hearts. It is with our hearts we believe, not with our heads. This is what Jesus said in Mark 11:24, “Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them.” Again, we receive in our hearts, in our spirits. Not our heads. This is where people miss it. They do well logically agreeing with the Word. That is a good place to start. We can’t have faith without agreement. But the logical agreement never moves from their heads to their hearts. John Wesley said, “that the devil has given the Church a substitute for faith; one that looks and sounds so much like faith that few people can tell the difference. He called this substitute “mental assent.” I believe mental assent is keeping many people from receiving the blessings of answered prayer. It is keeping some people from truly being born again. They are mentally agreeing with the word, but they are not believing in the Bible way. Faith is not of the brain; it is with the heart one believes unto righteousness.
Blessings,
Pastor Ryan
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Ryan Bridgeo is the Pastor of Plumtree Church in Avery County, NC. If you would like to know more or how you might become involved in this ministry please reach out to Pastor Ryan at pastor@plumtreechurch.com or call 828-765-6919.
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