In part one of this teaching we began to look at the different usages of the word faith in the bible.
We looked at several translations of Mark 11:22 that read "Have the faith of God."
We saw that the faith of God the size of a mustard seed was enough to move a mountain. We noted that the faith of God has been around as long as God himself. It was this kind of faith that according to Hebrews 11 he framed the world. It was this kind of faith that he spoke light into being.
We looked at faith as a gift and faith as a power.
We saw that faith can be little or great, personal or it could be a fruit.
Now, let's continue our study and look at "Faith as a Trust."
Matthew 9:20-22 20And, behold, a woman, which was diseased with an issue of blood twelve years, came behind him, and touched the hem of his garment:21For she said within herself, If I may but touch his garment, I shall be whole. 22But Jesus turned him about, and when he saw her, he said, Daughter, be of good comfort; thy faith hath made thee whole. And the woman was made whole from that hour.
Jesus said, "thy faith hath made thee whole."
Now how are we to understand this faith? Was it her faith; meaning she was the source of the faith? Most people I believe lean this way and understand the verse to mean she had faith to be healed. I know she had faith to be healed no one is disputing that. My question is where did she get that faith from? This is pre Pentecost before the faith of Jesus Christ was available. His faith came as a seed on the day of Pentecost wrapped up in the holy spirit the gift of God.
Did her faith originate with her? Or was it a faith she was in possession of? Was it faith as a trust and thus would be understood as thy trust in God has made thee whole? Either way it cannot be her faith, faith that she manufactured or "created" or that originated with her. Why?
Simple. Because there are only two sources of spiritual power in the world. And whenever spiritual power is manifested in the senses realm its origin is always from one of those two sources God or the devil.
Clearly there was a manifestation of supernatural power which produced a physical healing. If it was "her" faith that made here whole why did she need to touch Jesus garment? If her faith was the source of this miracle then we have a problem.
Once again there are only two sources of supernatural power God or the devil. Man has no spiritual power unless one of these two spiritual sources give it to him.
Mankind cannot believe, chant, labor or create this power it can only come from God or the devil.
If she had faith why didn't she heal herself years earlier? I believe this is a usage of faith as a trust.
The word faith (pistis) in the Greek according to Strong's has a usage that means trust or confidence. Faith (pistis) here means - a belief with the predominate idea of trust (or confidence).
This is clearly a manifestation of spiritual power. The faith she had was her trust, her confidence in Jesus, her trust in God. And when she believed in her heart that all she needed to do was touch his garment that faith as a power was imparted to her from God.
A seed of God's faith was all that was needed to heal her and then that faith returned to God's storehouse.
When we are in need of a faith above and be on our own faith God may impart a seed of his faith to get the need met. Once this faith is imparted and the need is met our believing unplugs and this faith returns to the storehouse of God.
This is why it's called her faith; because she received it by believing and trusting in her heart.
Which leads us to consider the subject of believing for a moment.
Believing from the heart places us in a receptive position to receive the promise of God. There is no power in believing per say.
Believing plugs you into the source and then the power of God can flow to be manifested.
Believing is like an electrical cord. When we believe from the heart we plug into the source of all power. As we remain plugged in and trust we receive the promises of God.
Mark 9:23 Jesus said unto him, If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth.
Jesus said all things are possible to him that believe; he did not say all things are possible by believing alone.
Luke 1:45 And blessed is she that believed: for there shall be a performance of those things which were told her from the Lord.
Mary believed God's word from the heart. At that moment she plugged into God and opened the door for God to fulfill his promise to her. Her believing did not produce the Christ her believing in her heart made it possible for her to connect with God who by faith produced the Christ inside of her.
Why because it was a manifestation of spiritual power.
I keep saying believing in or from the heart.
Believing from the heart plugs you into God. Believing from or in your mind only may convince you mentally that something is available. You do not receive by thinking in your mind that the promise is available. That's a starting point however if you do not move past being convinced in your mind all you will have is a mental assent. With mental assent you may never receive the promise of God.
Believing from the heart as you rest, and trust in the Lord puts you in a receptive state to receive the promises of God. Believing from the heart enables you to receive the promises of God.
Romans 10:9-10 9That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. 10For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
The words unto in verse 10 represent the Greek preposition eis. This preposition means towards. It can be represented geometrically by drawing a line from one point to another. It means approaching or towards, it means into or unto.
For with the heart man believeth unto or towards righteousness. The believing from the heart represents point A the righteousness represents point B. The believing from the heart is the means or vehicle by which we travel towards and reach the righteousness.
It is not the righteousness it is simply the path we must travel to reach the righteousness.
Thus all believing is simply a means to an end and not the end itself. That's why I refer to believing as an extension cord. The cord is not the power; the cord carries the power from point A to point B. Without the cord we can't tap into the power but the cord does not produce or make the power.
To use a more familiar analogy to me in an automobile you have a battery. The battery is the source of all the power in the vehicle.
Now you have many accessories throughout the vehicle, a radio, lights, heater, air bag etc. In order for any of these components to work they must be connected to the source by a hard wire.
The wire is likened to believing. The wire connects the component to the source. Once the wire is plugged in the accessory is energized and when certain conditions are present the component will work.
For some the conditions are simple as simple as turning on a switch. For instance if we are talking about a radio as long as the radio is energized if you turn on the switch and reception is available it works.
However, some other components are more complex. Just because an air bag is connected to the source and it's energized at its module doesn't mean it's going to deploy.
There is an algorithm written into the system for all air bag deployment. Just because a vehicle is in an accident doesn't mean it will deploy.
For example most algorithms will not permit an air bag to deploy when the vehicle is involved in a rear end collision.
There need to be certain conditions present in order for an air bag to deploy. And so it is with believing from the heart. Continual believing from the heart plugs us into the power source and when conditions are right the power and promises of God can flow through our believing into manifestation….
To be continued …ÿ
Note: All scripture is from the King James Version unless otherwise noted. NIV indicates The New International Version, NKJV indicates the New King James Version, ASV means the American Standard Version, BBE means the Bible in Basic English, DBY means the Darby translation, NAU means the American Standard Version, 1995 Edition, and NAB means the New American Bible translation. For more information, go to the Works Cited page.