BASICS OF FAITH
'For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you.’
(Romans 12:3)
As the above verse mentions, each of us has received a measure of faith when we come into Christ.
Every believer (every person who has given their lives to Christ) has a measure of faith given by God. This explains why certain new converts were able to accomplish extraordinary things within a short space of time. They perform those exploits, not because of their own strength, but due to the fact that God had given them a special amount of faith allowing them to move with speed. For this reason, nobody should brag about their faith and every believer should have a sober view of themselves.
In many instances, Jesus mentions the terms ‘little faith’ and ‘great faith’ (ref: Matthew 14:31, Matthew 8:10 and Matthew 15:). Such mentions reveal that we do not all have the same levels of faith.
In Matthew 17:20, Jesus mentions the word ‘size of a mustard grain’, thus alluding to the size needed to move a mountain. Since Jesus mentions the word ‘size’, we can imply that faith can have various sizes, and the effects of faith will depend on its size.
So far, we have established that:
The final thing to remember is that though every believer has received a measure of faith, some believers have dead faith and others have living faith.
Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word about Christ (Romans 10:17).
A dead faith is filled with knowledge on the word but excludes both action and practice of the word. This explains why many hear the Scriptural messages without making any changes to their lives.
A living faith is filled with the knowledge of the word and includes both action and practice of the word.
(Romans 12:3)
As the above verse mentions, each of us has received a measure of faith when we come into Christ.
Every believer (every person who has given their lives to Christ) has a measure of faith given by God. This explains why certain new converts were able to accomplish extraordinary things within a short space of time. They perform those exploits, not because of their own strength, but due to the fact that God had given them a special amount of faith allowing them to move with speed. For this reason, nobody should brag about their faith and every believer should have a sober view of themselves.
In many instances, Jesus mentions the terms ‘little faith’ and ‘great faith’ (ref: Matthew 14:31, Matthew 8:10 and Matthew 15:). Such mentions reveal that we do not all have the same levels of faith.
In Matthew 17:20, Jesus mentions the word ‘size of a mustard grain’, thus alluding to the size needed to move a mountain. Since Jesus mentions the word ‘size’, we can imply that faith can have various sizes, and the effects of faith will depend on its size.
So far, we have established that:
- Every believer has received a measure of faith
- The faith of believers differ
- There are different sizes of faith
The final thing to remember is that though every believer has received a measure of faith, some believers have dead faith and others have living faith.
Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word about Christ (Romans 10:17).
A dead faith is filled with knowledge on the word but excludes both action and practice of the word. This explains why many hear the Scriptural messages without making any changes to their lives.
A living faith is filled with the knowledge of the word and includes both action and practice of the word.