Faith and Presumption

.... In our previous posting, we discussed how modern teachers on ‘faith’ have portrayed it, basically, as the ultimate power of the universe. God is not truly the focus of their version of faith, but (without their specifically saying so) He is regarded as merely an ‘example’ for the rest of us, that we should learn to wield the power of faith 'as He does'.
.

.... According to the same teachers, anyone can tap into the power of faith, even if they don’t believe in God at all and their intention is to use this power for evil purposes (Genesis 11:6, at the Tower of Babel, is usually quoted as ‘proof’ of this). Faith becomes the creative force that will ‘add substance to things hoped for’ (based on a misquotation of Hebrews 11:1). And in fact, they'll declare that "Jesus Himself told us this was so."

.... "For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, 'Be removed and be cast into the sea,' and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will come to pass, he will have whatever he says."

(Mark 11:23)

.... Thus, we need only speak the word and not doubt that it will be manifest, and we will harness the power of ‘faith’ for ourselves. The things we say can and must come to pass when we do this. If God is involved in this process at all (my observation), His role seems to be that He performs the miraculous as directed because our faith has forced His hand (see Isaiah 40:13). But is that really the whole story?

.... "Who is he who speaks and it comes to pass, when the Lord has not commanded it? Is it not from the mouth of the Most High that woe and well-being proceed?"

(Lamentations 3:37-38)

.... Genesis 11:6, at the Tower of Babel, is talking about ambition, agreement and teamwork, not a creative 'force' based on our faith. The misquotation from Hebrews 11:1 has already been explained. But let’s take a closer look at Mark 11:23 and include the context to obtain the real intention of this remark:

.... ‘So Jesus answered and said to them, "Have faith in God. For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, 'Be removed and be cast into the sea,' and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will come to pass, he will have whatever he says. Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them".’

(Mark 11:22-24)

.... Remember that true faith is a response to God. Therefore if God should tell you, "O son of man, speak to this mountain and say, ‘Be removed and be cast into the sea’." and you should obey God in telling it to do so, you would be exercising your faith in Him:
.

.... "O mountain, thus says the Lord: ‘Be removed, and cast into the sea’!" In this situation, your faith in God would bring to pass what He, Himself, had originally decreed, because it was from His own mouth that it proceeded (Lamentations 3:38). And your subordinate relationship to Him, in His own power, should be evident.

.
.... Or conversely, if you have a special request, Jesus has openly invited you to ask God about it. All of your ‘faith statements’ will get you nowhere unless and until your petition finds favor with Him. But if it does find favor, He will issue the decree that it shall come to pass as you have requested. At this point it would be proper to have faith in Him over the matter because you are now responding. But prior to that point, a confident ‘faith’ would merely be presuming.

.
.... Remember that the Greek word for ‘faith’ means ‘fidelity’, which speaks of an intimate relationship in which He leads, we believe and trust Him, and we follow. Thus we are pleasing to God and find favor in His sight, just as Abraham "believed in the Lord, and it was accounted to him for righteousness." (Genesis 15:6; Hebrews 11:6).

To proceed to the next lesson, click here

Daily Bible Reading: Romans 13