I'd like to look at the anatomy of faith in this July issue of Chapter and Verse.
As I use this word anatomy here as regards to faith, I mean to separate the different usages of the word faith in order to understand its varied functions and characteristics in the bible.
Faith has many attributes and usages in God's word. To restrict and define the word Faith to one usage and definition will cause nothing but confusion and result in a gross misunderstanding of God's word.
Faith has been around since before the creation of mankind recorded in the book of Genesis.
To begin our study let's consider a record in Mark chapter 11 verse 22. I have listed below several translations of this verse.
The Geneva bible 1599 translates this verse as:
GNV Mark 11:22 And Iesus answered, and said vnto them, Haue the faith of God.
The Douay-Rheims American Edition (1899):
DRA Mark 11:22 And Jesus answering, saith to them: Have the faith of God.
The Bible in Basic English (1949/64):
BBE Mark 11:22 And Jesus, answering, said to them, Have God's faith.
Young's Literal Translation (1862/1898):
YLT Mark 11:22 And Jesus answering saith to them, 'Have faith of God;
King James (1611/1769):
KJV Mark 11:22 And Jesus answering saith unto them, Have faith in God. {Have...: or, Have the faith of God}
As you can see even the KJV in its center margin has a note (have the faith of God)
This is the accurate translation of this verse. Now if we are instructed to have the faith of God or God's faith or the God kind of faith, Jesus either told the truth, he miss spoke or he flat-out lied.
The answer is obvious Jesus told the truth. So it must be available to have a seed of God's faith regarding certain situations requiring a faith greater than our own.
Matthew 17:20 And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you.
Here we see that faith the size of a mustard seed is all that's necessary to remove a mountain from one place to another if it's the God kind of faith.
Let's consider two aspects of this kind of faith, the God kind of faith.
First this faith is said to be God's faith which means it's been around as long as God himself.
And second Faith as its used here this kind of faith is a power.
Hebrews 11:3 Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear.
This word framed here in verse 3 is very interesting. It's the Greek word katartizo one of its meanings is to mend what has been broken or rent. It also means to equip fully to put in proper order or to complete.
KJV Genesis 1:1 In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.2 And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. 3 And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.
The earth was or became without form and void. The Hebrew word for was in verse 2 is hayah.
Meaning: 1) to be, become, come to pass, exist, happen, fall out 1a) (Qal) 1a1) ----- 1a1a) to happen, fall out, occur, take place, come about, come to pass.
It is conjugated in the Qal meaning to take place or come to pass.
God did not create it that way, it became that way, and you can thank Lucifer for that.
Verse 3 said that God said let there be light and there was light.
This is what Hebrews 11 means when it says, "through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear."
God spoke His word with his faith and He mended that which was rent by his word of faith.
NIV Psalm 33:6 By the word of the LORD were the heavens made, their starry host by the breath of his mouth.NJB 2 Peter 3:5 They deliberately ignore the fact that long ago there were the heavens and the earth, formed out of water and through water by the Word of God,
Sounds like the world today deliberately ignoring the things of God.
This is the God kind of faith; it's a faith of power.
As you begin to work the word faith in the bible you quickly see that it has many usages and applications. I'd like to list some for your consideration; above we saw faith as a power.
Faith can be observed as a gift in the book of Ephesians.
Ephesians 2:8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
The grace, salvation, and faith here are all a gift from God. Man cannot earn them nor does mankind deserve them.
Ephesians 2:9 Not of works, lest any man should boast.
Next we can see faith as a fight.
KJG 1 Timothy 6:12 Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, whereunto thou art also called, and hast professed a good profession before many witnesses.
Faith can be little.
Matthew 6:30 Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith?
Faith can be great.
Matthew 8:10 When Jesus heard it, he marvelled, and said to them that followed, Verily I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel.
Faith can be visible.
Matthew 9:2 And, behold, they brought to him a man sick of the palsy, lying on a bed: and Jesus seeing their faith said unto the sick of the palsy; Son, be of good cheer; thy sins be forgiven thee.
Faith as one's own or personal, has confused many people throughout the years.
Matthew 9:22 But 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.
This kind of faith is individual or better understood as faith you are in possession of.
When the context involves a manifestation of super natural power it's always referring to the God kind of faith or faith as human trust which in turn receives the God kind of faith.
There are only two spiritual powers in the world. One is the true God and the other is the devil.
Whenever and wherever spiritual power is manifested it's always a result of one of these two sources. On rare occasions it may be a combination of both however this spiritual power NEVER has its source from any man or woman.
If someone is operating spiritual power the source, the home, the spring, foundation, birthplace well and supply of that power is from God or god (Satan).