The statement “take it by faith” has echoed throughout Christianity for centuries, but it never occurs in the Bible and is not a biblical concept. Why not? Because we cannot make ourselves trust something that is untrustworthy or that we do not understand.

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Translating pistis as “faith” instead of “trust” has obscured the simple truth that we don’t trust what we don’t understand. Most people are not really sure of what “faith” is, so they accept the Church teaching that they can have faith in something they don’t understand. We can “accept” something and not argue about it even if we don’t understand it, but “accepting” something is not “trust.”

Once we realize that pistis means “trust,” we can see that the phrase “take it by faith” is equivalent to “just trust me.” When a salesperson says “Just trust me,” we become suspicious and are inclined not to trust them. Similarly, we should think twice when someone is talking about a biblical subject and says to “just take it by faith.” If we are ever told to “take it by faith,” that is a signal that the person teaching us cannot explain the doctrine he or she is teaching, and/or that the doctrine is untrustworthy.

-- Spirit & Truth

The meaning of faith

In the New Testament, “faith” is most often translated from the Greek noun pistis (#4102 πίστις), which, like many other Greek words, has several meanings, including “trust” (Romans 3:28; 1 Corinthians 15:14); “faithfulness, reliability” (Proverbs 12:22 LXX; Matthew 23:23; Romans 3:3; Galatians 5:22); “oath, troth” (3 Maccabees 3:10 LXX); and “proof, pledge” (Acts 17:31). Also, in the New Testament and later Christian writings, pistis was used as a designation for the entire scope of religious practices and beliefs of the followers of Jesus, as in “the Christian Faith” (Galatians 1:23). As it was used in the everyday Greek-speaking world, “faithfulness” and “trust” were both very common meaning of pistis. However, in the New Testament, pistis means “trust” much more than it does “faithfulness,” and when pistis is translated “faith” in phrases like “faith in God,” “faith in Christ,” or “have faith,” it means “trust,” “confidence,” or “assurance.”

The early Christians would have readily perceived the meaning of pistis as “trust” or “confidence,” and that meaning can be easily confirmed by checking any good biblical lexicon or Bible dictionary. For example, pistis has been defined as:

• “With the predominant idea of trust (or confidence)” (Thayer’s Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament);
• “Firm persuasion, a conviction based upon hearing” (Vine’s Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words).
• “Firm persuasion” (A Critical Lexicon and Concordance to the English and Greek New Testament by E.W. Bullinger).
• “State of believing on the basis of the reliability of the one trusted; trust, confidence” (A Greek English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, W. Arndt and Wilbur Gingrich, 2000; usually abbreviated “BDAG”).
• “It is the attitude of complete trust in Christ...” (The New Bible Dictionary).
• “In the New Testament, ‘faith’ is used in a number of ways, but primarily with the meaning ‘trust’ or ‘confidence’ in God” (Holman Bible Dictionary).

These few examples could be multiplied manyfold, but the point should be clear: the biblical meaning of pistis in phrases like “pistis in God” is “trust.”

-- Spirit & Truth

For example:

And when Jesus was entered into Capernaum, there came unto him a centurion, beseeching him, and saying, "Lord, my servant lieth at home sick of the palsy, grievously tormented".
And Jesus saith unto him, "I will come and heal him."
The centurion answered and said, "Lord, I am not worthy that thou shouldest come under my roof: but speak the word only, and my servant shall be healed. For I am a man under authority, having soldiers under me: and I say to this man, 'Go', and he goeth; and to another, 'Come', and he cometh; and to my servant, 'Do this', and he doeth it.
When Jesus heard it, he marvelled, and said to them that followed, 'Verily I say unto you, I have not found so great faith (pistis), no, not in Israel. And I say unto you, That many shall come from the east and west, and shall sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven. But the children of the kingdom shall be cast out into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.'
And Jesus said unto the centurion, 'Go thy way; and as thou hast believed (pisteuó), so be it done unto thee.'

And his servant was healed in the selfsame hour.

-- Matthew 8:13 (KJV)

The origin of the word "faith"

According to the author of Hebrews:

Now faith (pistis) is assurance of things hoped for, a conviction of things not seen. -- Hebrews 11:1 (ASV)

It is easy to see why pistis, which means “trust” or “confidence,” came to be translated “faith” in our English Bibles. When the New Testament was translated into Latin, the Latin word fides (pronounced 'fee-dace), which means “trust,” was often used to translate the Greek word pistis. And fides was a good translation because just as the Greek word pistis meant “trust, confidence,” so did the Latin word fides. As the English language developed many centuries later, the Latin word fides became the root of the English word “faith” (also “fidelity,” “fiduciary,” etc.). In contrast to the Latin root fides, the English word “trust” has Indo-European roots and came into our language via the Old Norse. The English language was built over time from many different word roots, which is a major reason why modern English has so many different words that seem to mean the same thing.

-- Spirit & Truth

How the meaning of the word "faith" has changed

We have seen that the biblical meaning of the Greek word pistis is “trust,” but that is not its primary meaning “on the street” today. Many Christians, and most non-Christians, think “faith” means

“firm belief in something for which there is no proof” (Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary, 11th edition, 2004)

Often that definition has been used to ridicule Christians, and admittedly, “believing in something for which there is no proof” seems like a questionable practice. So how did that non-biblical definition of “faith” develop?

Over the centuries, doctrines were brought into Christianity that were not biblically sound, and some that were not even logical. When those doctrines were questioned, since there was no proper biblical answer, the answer often given by the church authorities was simply, “take it by faith.” Sadly, the history of the Christian Church is replete with examples of wonderful Christians who were pressured or tortured into taking things “by faith” that did not make sense to them. Thus, over time, “faith” changed meanings. It came to mean belief in something for which there is no proof. The average Christian is not enough of a linguist to know that the commonly accepted definition of faith is not the actual biblical definition of the Greek and Latin text, so they wrongly think that “belief in something for which there is no proof” is a biblical definition of “faith.”

In the twentieth century, the meaning of faith changed again for many Christians, although the meaning of “belief in something for which there is no proof” has remained alongside the newer meaning. In what is now called “the Word of Faith Movement,” the word “faith” has come to denote a power or force of the mind that can appropriate things; that can force God or “the universe” to bring things to pass. Although many denominations reject the teaching of the Word of Faith Movement, for millions of Christians, “faith” has come to refer to a power of the mind that can bring material things into one’s life, move mountains, produce healing, bring financial wealth, and more. But biblically, “faith” is not a force or a power of the mind.

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In the Word of Faith Movement, the wrong doctrine about “faith” has obscured the right doctrine about “trust.” The teaching of the Word of Faith Movement has infiltrated so much of Christian thinking that, for many Christians, “trust” is not a good translation of pistis. Many Christians think: “Faith is much bigger than trust.” But that’s a serious problem. Pistis is not “bigger than trust;” pistis is “trust.” No ancient Greek speaker would have thought pistis referred to a power or force of the mind, and they would not have thought that their own mind could tap into a spiritual “law” such that they could just have pistis and then the universe would have to respond to them. But to people who buy into the modern teaching on the great power of faith, the translation “trust” seems pretty anemic and impotent.

The reality is, however, that on our own we humans are quite impotent. We are mortal and weak. Without God, we would have no hope. But God stepped into our lives and helped us. He sent His Son to die for us so we could live forever and He even sometimes gives us revelation according to His purposes so we can bring His power to bear on earth and perform healings and miracles. And what’s our part in all this greatness? We trust Him. “Trust” is an honest and accurate translation of pistis. It magnifies God and it clarifies the part that we play in God’s plan.

-- Spirit & Truth

The meaning of trust

assured reliance on the character, ability, strength, or truth of someone or something -- Merriam-Webster Dictionary

“trust” is simple to understand. The lexical sources listed above defined it when they defined pistis: it is confidence, a firm persuasion, a conviction based on the reliability, or trustworthiness, of the person or thing that is trusted. Also, trust has to have an object; something that is trusted. The human mind cannot “just trust.” We have to trust something. It can be God, our spouse, our friend, or even that the sun will come up tomorrow, but trust requires an object; we have to trust some trustworthy thing. -- Spirit & Truth

The difference between "faith" and trust

Trusting your faith

One of the problems with the doctrine of the Word of Faith Movement and non-Christian groups that teach about the power of the mind is that it puts the emphasis on the individual — you. Since most of these groups teach that it is a “law” that if you have faith, you can bring into your life whatever you want, it is clear that the pressure is on “you.” Kenneth Hagin, a Word of Faith minister, writes: “That’s what you’ve got to learn to do to get things from God: Have faith in your faith” (Having Faith in Your Faith, p. 5). Hagin says Jesus appeared to him in a vision and told him: “If anybody, anywhere, will…put these four principles into operation, he will always receive whatever he wants from Me or from God the Father” (eBook: How to Write Your Own Ticket with God, Chapter 1).

E. W. Kenyon, one of the founders of the Faith Movement, wrote in his book, The Two Kinds of Faith, “Faith in your own faith is the law of success in the realm of the spirit” (p. 36). Kenneth Copeland wrote, “Faith is a power force. It is a tangible force. It is a conductive force. It will move things. …Faith is a spiritual force” (The Force of Faith p. 13). Victor Paul Wierwille called this “law” the “law of believing,” and wrote: “The law of believing is the greatest law in the Word of God. As a matter of fact, is it not only the greatest law in The Word, it is the greatest law in the whole world. Believing works for saint and sinner alike” (Power for Abundant Living, 1971, p. 32). So if this “law” is not working in your life, then Word of Faith ministers say that the problem is “you.”

We need to become clear that “having faith in your faith” is nothing more than having faith in yourself. But that is not what Jesus said to do to accomplish God’s will in your life. In Mark 11, Jesus cursed a fig tree that died overnight. When the apostles pointed the dead tree out to Jesus, he said to them: “Have faith in God” (Mark 11:22 NIV84); “Have trust in God” REV). If we want to do miracles like Jesus did, we have to do what Jesus said to do: trust God. When we look in the Bible, people who wanted miracles trusted God and His Son, Jesus. The centurion whose servant was healed trusted Jesus (Matthew 8:8-11). So did the woman who had been bleeding for 12 years (Matthew 9:21); the Synagogue ruler whose daughter was raised from the dead (Matthew 9:18); the blind men who were healed (Matthew 9:28); and Peter when he walked on water (Matthew 14:28-30).

-- Spirit & Truth

This begs the question, what if "faith" heals?

And a great crowd followed him and thronged about him. And there was a woman who had a discharge of blood for twelve years, and who had suffered much under many physicians, and had spent all that she had, and was no better but rather grew worse. She had heard the reports about Jesus and came up behind him in the crowd and touched his garment.

For she said, “If I touch even his garments, I will be made well.”

And immediately the flow of blood dried up, and she felt in her body that she was healed of her disease.

And Jesus, perceiving in himself that power had gone out from him, immediately turned about in the crowd and said, “Who touched my garments?”
And his disciples said to him, “You see the crowd pressing around you, and yet you say, ‘Who touched me?’”

And he looked around to see who had done it. But the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came in fear and trembling and fell down before him and told him the whole truth.

And he said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace, and be healed of your disease.”

-- Mark 5:24-34 (ESV)

This does not proof that some spiritual "law" of faith exist to make miracles happen by your own "faith" (power).

The woman’s faith (trust) in God did not force God to heal her, but in that situation, God made healing available to her, and she had to then trust God to receive it. Certainly, God can act without people trusting Him; Lazarus was dead but was healed and given life. But in many cases, God has chosen to work in concert with His people. He gives the “green light,” the revelation to act; then we trust and act; then God supplies the power and does what He said He would do. Our faith does not make things happen, but it is an important part of the process that God has set up so that things do happen.

Word of Faith ministers teach that you can make things happen in the physical world by your faith, so it is common to hear them use the phrase “have faith for” (or “believe for”). Many Christians are surprised to learn that no phrase like “have faith for” occurs in the Bible. The reason is simple: we don’t have the power to make things happen. God has the power. That is why the phrase that is in the Bible is “pray for.” We can’t “believe for” things and make them happen, but we can “pray for” things and let God make them happen.

The Bible instructs us to “believe in,” but not to “believe for.” The Bible says that we are to “believe in” God, Jesus, and the Gospel, but to “believe in” something is simply to have a firm conviction about it. But that’s the point. If we have a firm conviction about God (we believe in Him and trust Him), then we ask Him for things in prayer. However, we don’t have the power to get what we want on our own: we need Him to accomplish what we are praying for. That takes the pressure off of “us” to “believe for” what we want, and allows God, whom we “believe in,” to graciously answer our prayers.

-- Spirit & Truth

Pressure to have faith

One of the consequences of believing that a person’s faith determines what happens to him is that it puts the pressure on the individual. That pressure tends to make people unpeaceful. One of the great blessings of the Bible is that we can trust God and rest in Him, and therefore have peace of mind (Psalm 119:165; John 14:27; Philippians 4:7-9; 2 Thessalonians 3:16). But people who feel their faith is responsible for what happens to them tend to spend a lot of time focusing on how much faith they have and what they can do to build more faith in order to get more of what they want. Despite the teaching of Word of Faith ministers, focusing on “faith” does not actually build more faith (trust); in fact, it can build more doubt because it fails so often. Once we realize there is no law of faith but that “faith” is trust, we can refocus our lives and spend time dwelling upon God’s goodness and willingness to help us, which is what helps our trust in God to increase.

Unscriptural expectations

A big problem with the “faith brings success” claim, also known as “prosperity theology” or the “Prosperity Gospel,” is that it gives sincere but inexperienced Christians an unscriptural and unrealistic expectation about the Christian life and God’s will for them. The “faith brings success” teaching encourages people to have ungodly desires for material things, including money and power, and this can be very harmful. Admittedly, the “Faith Movement” theology fits well with the modern, self-centered, “what’s-in-it-for-me,” “I want it now” culture, and thus brings some people to Christ who otherwise might not come. However, at some point, all of those people will find out that “faith” does not solve their problems, and then the reason they embraced Christ in the first place is no longer there.

People who believe their faith will bring them success in life eventually encounter circumstances that cause them to doubt their faith. They may get a sickness that does not easily heal; they may be afflicted by a natural disaster such as a tornado, flood, or drought; they may lose their job or have a huge financial loss, etc. Life is full of setbacks and tragedies that are not fixed by “faith,” and people who cannot fix the setbacks in their life by “faith” will eventually begin to doubt themselves. They lose their “faith in their faith,” and sadly, if they continue to hold to the “faith brings success” ideology, they become confused and feel helpless and hopeless. Some of those people mature into simply accepting that they can only seem to solve a few of their problems by faith, although they don’t understand why it is only a few and not all. But unfortunately, other people abandon Christianity, feel betrayed, and become hurt and bitter about their Christian experience. Those people who become so disillusioned that they stop walking with or believing in Christ are badly hurt in other ways...

[For a biblical and historical examination of the modern Faith Movement, see, D. R. McConnell, A Different Gospel.]

-- Spirit & Truth

The apostle actually expected hardship:

As it is written,

For your sake we are being put to death all day long, we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.

No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him Who loved us.

For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

-- Romans 8:36-39 (REV)

Often people measure God's love according to how "blessed" they are. Paul did not say there will be no suffering, but instead that these sufferings are no measurement of God's love for us.

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, Who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. For as we share abundantly in Christ’s sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too.

• If we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation; and
• if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which you experience when you patiently endure the same sufferings that we suffer.

Our hope for you is unshaken, for we know that as you share in our sufferings, you will also share in our comfort. -- 2 Corinthians 1:3-7 (ESV)

Suffering is part of the growth process we need to endure, so that we can be "comforted by God" Himself through His Spirit.

Misunderstanding the scriptures

There are many scriptures that Word of Faith ministers and Christians who subscribe to the teaching of “believe and receive” use to support their teaching. However, they wrongly understand and apply those scriptures. This does two things at once: it obscures the true meaning of the verses themselves, and also, people are led astray into false teaching based on the false interpretations of the verses.

A typical verse that is used to support the Word of Faith position is Mark 11:23, which says that if you tell a mountain to move, and do not doubt in your heart, it will move. That is true, but the context and scope of Scripture show us that it is the manifestation of faith that moves mountains, not regular “faith.” Although no one moved a mountain in Scripture, great miracles like splitting oceans, stopping rivers, and causing great city walls to fall down did happen—but all by the manifestation of faith.

There are many verses that tell us it is God’s desire for us to be successful and healthy. The Bible says, “Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health” (3 John 1:2 KJV). Jesus said, “I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly” (John 10:10 KJV). God does want us healthy, successful, and blessed. But that does not mean we acquire those things “by faith.” There are many biblical keys and principles, including trusting God and living wisely, that work together so that believers can be healthy and successful. For example, Proverbs tells us that some great keys for being successful are saving money over time instead of spending all you make, working hard, and not making risky business deals (cp. Proverbs 6:6-11; 10:4; 11:15; 12:27; 13:4; 19:15; 21:17). Similarly, staying healthy involves obeying God, being cheerful, and controlling our feelings and emotions (Proverbs 3:8; 14:30; 17:22). Every verse that Word of Faith ministers interpret in a way that supports the “law of faith” has other interpretations that do not endorse that doctrine.

It is God’s desire that His people be blessed and seek His wisdom (Proverbs 1:7; Psalms 115:13). His wisdom is personified as a woman in Proverbs. If we listen to Wisdom, we are blessed, but if we do not, we will be in trouble and may end up “eating the fruit of our way.”

Wisdom calls aloud in the street, ‘How long will fools hate knowledge? If you had responded to my rebuke, I would have poured out my heart to you, But since you rejected me when I called and since you ignored all my advice, I in turn will laugh at your disaster; when distress and trouble overwhelm you. Then they will call to me but I will not answer; Since they would not accept my advice and spurned my rebuke, they will eat the fruit of their ways. For the complacency of fools will destroy them; but whoever listens to me will live in safety and be at ease.’ -- Proverbs 1:20-33 (NIV84 Abridged by author)

In this section of Scripture, Wisdom is highlighting the principle of reaping and sowing, and pointing out that if a person sows foolishly throughout his life, when distress and trouble come, God may not simply undo the results of years of unwise decisions.

The “faith brings success” teaching has caused many Christians to miss the true message of Scripture: life is difficult, even for believers, and “faith” is not meant to change your circumstances but rather to help you persevere through them. This truth is supported by the examples of godly believers in both the Bible and history who experienced terrible difficulties. Could it really be true that the prophets and apostles—the most notable believers in the Bible—could have had such little faith that they seemed to face nothing but problems? This alone should tell us that the message of the Word of Faith Movement is false. The true doctrine is that life is difficult and we need to trust God and stay faithful to Him and He will give us strength to endure.

-- Spirit & Truth

Financial success

It is a standard teaching of the Word of Faith ministers that faith brings financial success, but verses such as James 2:5 directly contradict that teaching. James 2:5 (NASB) says, “Listen, my beloved brethren: did not God choose the poor of this world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom…?” What James says, we can see for ourselves if we take a look at Christians around the world: there are many who are very materially poor but are rich in faith. It is not hard to find people like that, but if the Word of Faith message is true, Christians who are “rich in faith” should also be rich in the world. Those Christians who are rich in faith but poor by the world’s standards should not condemn themselves for being poor, but rather commend themselves for trusting in God’s promises even though their life is difficult. They will be rewarded.

-- Spirit & Truth

Compassion

Another hurtful consequence of believing that what happens in life is based on a person’s faith is that it discourages having genuine compassion toward others who are experiencing problems. The Bible commands us to have compassion for others, but it can be hard to be compassionate when we think people are causing their own troubles. We see this in the book of Job: Job’s “friends” could not console him because they thought his problems were his own fault. Their misguided appeals to Job to repent of the sin that he had supposedly committed hurt them by damaging their friendship with Job, and hurt Job by compounding his grief. Similarly, when those in the Word of Faith Movement try to help someone who has suffered a tragedy by telling them to have more faith, it can hurt the friendship and cause frustration and despair in the person who is already suffering. The Bible says that “no temptation has taken hold of you that is not common to man” (1 Corinthians 10:13 REV). When we understand that “faith” is “trust,” and that what happens to us in life is not always our fault, then it becomes easier to have compassion for others who are having problems.

-- Spirit & Truth

Trusting God

Often new converts go through a period of doubt in their salvation because Christians taught them that "you need enough faith to be saved". If your understanding of faith refers to "your ability to hope for something without proof" then you have good reason to doubt your own "faith". Instead, we need trust

• that the gospel of Jesus is the truth
• that God's word, covenants and promises (prophecies) are the truth
• that God will provide everything we need (especially our salvation)

For example:

Abraham, without any reason for hope, believed in the hope of God’s promise, so that he became a father of many nations, according to what had been spoken:

So will your seed be.

And he did not become weak in his trust even though he considered his own body as already dead (because he was about 100 years old), and the deadness of Sarah’s womb, yet, in looking toward the promise of God, he did not doubt in unbelief, but he grew strong in his trust, giving glory to God, because he was fully convinced that what He had promised, He was also able to do. And therefore, “it was credited to him” as righteousness.

Now the words, “it was credited to him,” were not written for his sake alone, but for our sake also, since it will be credited as righteousness to us who believe in Him who raised Jesus our Lord from among the dead, who was handed over for our transgressions and was raised for our righteousness.

Therefore, since we have been declared righteous by trust, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have also obtained access by trust in this grace in which we stand, and so we boast in the hope of the glory of God. And not only that, but we also boast in our hardships, knowing that

1. hardship produces endurance; and
2. endurance, character; and
3. character, hope; and
4. hope does not disappoint us,

because the love of God has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that was given to us.

-- Romans 4:18-25, 5:1-5 (REV); Galatians 3:10-16

It is not possible to be righteous (in a good intimate personal relationship) with God, if you cannot even trust His covenant or promises. Like Paul wrote, when you trust God, you can endure hardship because then we know we will not be disappointed. In contras with the prosperity preachers, Paul encourage hardship because it produces endurance and character.

Hebrews 11:6 is a hugely important verse:

“And without faith it is impossible to please God…” (NIV84).

The REV says,

“And without trust it is impossible to please Him….”

Why is it impossible to please God if we don’t trust Him? God created us, loves us, and wants the best for us. If we doubt that, we will doubt Him and not act on His commands or live the life He desires for us. We see this occurring every day in the lives of Christians who believe in God but who do not trust Him enough to overcome the fear or hesitation they have concerning His commands, and who consequently stop short of obeying Him. For example, when it comes to prayer, many Christians know God commands us to pray, but they don’t pray. They don’t trust God enough to obey Him rather than their feelings. Although this can be due to negligence or selfishness, it is often a trust issue.

If we do not trust God, we will doubt salvation through Jesus Christ, and we will not be able to love Him with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength as He commands us to. It is not strange that God is not pleased with those who don’t trust Him. After all, He has proven Himself to be trustworthy. We should understand God’s point of view. He created us in His image, and we are not happy when people do not trust us — similarly, He is not happy when people don’t trust Him.

-- Spirit & Truth

What do you trust?

“Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock.

And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it.”

-- Matthew 7:24-27 (ESV)

You will only "do" according to "words" that you trust. If you "do" according to your own "faith" (or plans which changes when you discover new information), then your foundation is movable "sand".

God's Glory

Now trust is firm confidence in things hoped for, a conviction regarding things not seen. For by it the people of old obtained a good testimony from God. -- Hebrews 11:1-2 (REV)

You either trust your own "faith" (hoping for things without evidence) or you trust God. When you trust God, you have a testimony.

The flipside of making material success about “faith” and “you” is that it takes the glory away from the One who really deserves it: God. If our success is really due to us tapping into a “law” that works for believers and unbelievers, then God is almost irrelevant (unbelievers would say He is definitely irrelevant). God is squeezed out of the picture. His plans and purposes for us don’t really matter that much. God (or some Power) becomes a convenient vending machine who is at the beck and call of anyone who has faith, whether he is a saint or sinner. In general, ministers in the Word of Faith Movement get around that argument by saying God wants everyone healthy, wealthy, and happy, and those things are ours for the taking if we have faith. While we agree that it is a general principle that God wants people healthy and blessed, it is also true that there are important reasons that not all of God’s people have those things now.

...

The so-called “law” of faith is not a law at all, it is a false teaching. It is praiseworthy to trust God, but it should not be those who trust Him who get the glory, it should be God, because He is the One who is trustworthy. God knows when, where, and how to help, and He supplies the power that does the miracles and healings. The Hero is God, not us.

...

A terrible consequence of the Word of Faith teaching is that the plans and purposes of God lose their great importance. God’s plans and purposes are the most important reason for the great miracles and healings we see in the Bible. From Genesis to Revelation, we see many great miracles: Moses splitting the Sea, Joshua making the walls of Jericho fall, Elijah calling fire down from heaven, Shadrach and his two companions staying alive in a furnace of fire, Daniel being delivered from the lion’s den, and many more. Faith ministers say these miracles were done by “faith,” but is that true? Some of them were done by the manifestation of faith, which is dependent on specific revelation from God, which further depends on His plans and purposes. But also, some of the miracles were just God acting in power to fulfill His purposes without any human interaction. Shadrach and his companions staying alive in Nebuchadnezzar’s furnace seems to be one of those cases. According to what they said in Daniel 3:18, they were not sure God would rescue them.

The miracles and healings in the Bible are all part of God’s grand plan, and that explains why “regular faith” (trust) can’t reliably bring them to pass at our discretion or repeat them whenever we desire. If Joshua knocked the walls of Jericho down by his faith (Joshua 6:1-21), why didn’t he conquer all the cities in Canaan the same way? If Samuel could make it rain during the dry season in Israel (1 Sam. 12:17), why couldn’t other great believers, like Abraham and David, make it rain during famines? If Elisha could feed many prophets by multiplying food (2 Kings 4:42-44), why could he not do the same thing when there was a famine in Samaria (2 Kings 6:24-7:20)? If Peter could raise Dorcas from the dead (Acts 9:36-42), why couldn’t he raise others, such as Stephen? Those great miracles were done by the manifestation of faith and were according to God’s purposes and plans.

That God energizes miracles and healings according to His plans and purposes explains Jesus’ healings and miracles. God knew certain Messianic prophecies and foreshadowings had to be fulfilled. Thus, in some cases, like the time Jesus fed the 5,000, He also energized healing for everyone who needed healing (Matt. 14:14; Luke 9:11). But there were other times when Jesus healed only one person. For example, at the Pool of Bethesda there was a crowd of sick people, but Jesus only healed one man (John 5:1-9). It is unreasonable to think that at the feeding of the 5,000, every single person in that huge crowd had faith for healing, but at Bethesda, a pool where people went to be healed, only one person had faith. Like the other great miracles in the Bible, the miracles Jesus did were according to the purposes of God, and God gave the revelation for them to be done. Jesus said, “Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son is not able to do anything on his own, but only what he sees the Father doing” (John 5:19).

It is because God works healings and miracles in a way that fits His plans and glorifies Him that there is no “formula” for healing or miracles. Christians who pray for miracles and healings are well aware of the fact that there is no formula for success. The factors that are involved in a healing or miracle vary from case to case. We certainly see this in the life of Jesus. Sometimes Jesus just spoke and a miracle or healing happened. Sometimes he used something physical, like putting mud in a blind man’s eye. Sometimes he healed in front of a crowd, while at other times he took the person aside alone. Sometimes he asked if the person believed in him, sometimes he didn’t.

Since the Fall of Adam and Eve, it has been God’s plan and purpose to rescue mankind from sin and death. To do that, many things had to be accomplished, such as the Exodus from Egypt; the conquest of Canaan; the establishment of the kingdom of Israel; the return from Babylon; and the birth, death, and resurrection of the Christ. In order to accomplish His great purposes, God had to energize many specific miracles and healings. God chose to work many of those miracles in concert with people who operated the manifestation of faith, but it was because of God’s plans and purposes that He gave the revelation to do the miracles in the first place; they did not happen just because someone had “faith.” If, when we read the Bible, we look for how a miracle or healing fits into the plan of God, we will see the glory of God in a way we may never have seen it before.

-- Spirit & Truth

Belief in God

It is possible to "belief" or trust that God exist, without trusting that God is a trustworthy God.

James 2:19 (REV) shows the difference: “You believe that there is one God. You do well. The demons also believe — and shudder.” Demons know God exists, but they don’t trust Him. That can happen to Christians too, so we should do what it takes so that our belief in God becomes trust in God. Trust develops because we come to believe the person is trustworthy and are convinced that they are reliable. This almost always comes from having a personal relationship.

There is nothing magical about trust. Trust is built over time. Personal relationships can start with a certain level of trust, but eventually, the trust will have to grow from more and more personal interactions or understanding. Every relationship comes to the point where further trust is built by personal experience. God knows that we need to trust Him to please Him, and thus, He does things that help build our trust in Him. God acts to draw us near to Him. He is trustworthy and faithful in all His ways, and as we study His Word and obey it and enter into a personal relationship with Him, our trust in Him naturally grows.

Trust is Easily Destroyed

Although trust is typically built slowly over time, it can be destroyed very quickly. Someone can lie to us or hurt us in some way, or even just be unreliable or do things that do not make sense to us, and our trust in them is weakened or destroyed. That is why in most ancient religions the people were not required to trust their gods. For example, the Greek and Roman gods were not trustworthy and did not demand that people trust them; they were deceitful, jealous, unpredictable, cruel, and even rapists and murderers. They were powerful and lived by the rule of “might makes right,” so they demanded worship — including cruel things like human sacrifice — and if they did not get it, they sought vengeance against those who spurned them.

The God of the Bible is totally different from the gods of other religions. One of His great attributes is that He is trustworthy, so there are many verses that tell us to trust God. Psalm 4:5 (KJV) says, “Put your trust in the LORD.” Furthermore, since God is trustworthy, He keeps His promises. In fact, our God is unique among other gods because He makes specific promises and then is faithful to keep them.

Satan’s Attack on Trusting God

Satan knows how important it is that believers trust God and how harmful it is when they do not. God is a “team player” and desires for us to partner with Him in laboring for His kingdom. He has decided to do much of what He accomplishes on earth by working with people who trust Him. Satan knows that, so he uses many different strategies and wages a continual war to make God seem untrustworthy. Satan knows that if he can get a person to think God is untrustworthy, then the battle is won. If a person believes God is evil or unreliable, then he will not trust God.

God is loving and good, and any so-called doctrine that makes Him seem otherwise is misrepresenting the biblical depiction of the Almighty God and should be closely examined.

-- Spirit & Truth

Pleasing God

Material success should not be the goal of our lives — finding the will of God for our lives must be of supreme importance. One of the reasons it is vital that Christians learn the Bible well is that we have to be careful what we ask for. If we set our hearts on getting things that are against the will of God for us, we may end up in frustration and doubt, or sometimes a demon will bring us what God will not, but it will bring lots of other consequences and baggage as well.

God wants us to have our needs met, but that is different from having wealth and power. God knows if we persistently ask wrongly it can leave us disillusioned or even allow a demon into our lives, so He warns us over and over against setting our hearts on material things.

“Do not wear yourself out to become rich; be wise enough to restrain yourself.” -- Proverbs 23:4 (NIV84)

“A faithful man will be richly blessed, but one eager to get rich will not go unpunished.” -- Proverbs 28:20 (NIV84)

“…be on guard against every form of greediness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of the things that he possesses.” -- Luke 12:15 (REV)

“…if we have food and covering, we will be content with that. But those who are determined to be rich fall into temptation and a snare and many foolish and hurtful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, which some, reaching out for it, have been led astray from the Faith and have pierced themselves through with many sorrows.” -- 1 Timothy 6:8-10 (REV)

“Keep your life free from the love of money, and be content with what you have.” -- Hebrews 13:5 (REV)

Certainly there will be wealthy Christians, just as Abraham, Joseph, David, and Solomon were wealthy. God has no problem with wealth. In fact, God helps some people get wealth just so they can help others (Romans 12:8). But God does have a problem with people who ignore the real plan of God for their lives and instead set their heart on material things. God promises to give crown-rewards in the future, and He specifically mentions five in His Word. There is the incorruptible crown for exercising self-control and doing our best for God (1 Corinthians 9:25 KJV). The crown of rejoicing is for winning others to Christ (1 Thessalonians 2:19 KJV). The crown of righteousness is to those who love his appearing (2 Timothy 4:8 KJV). God will give the crown of life to those who endure under trial (James 1:12). Lastly, the crown of glory is for those who faithfully shepherd His flock (1 Peter 5:4 KJV). Sometimes the people who engage in these activities will be wealthy, but often focusing on the call of God in your life means you will not gain great wealth. But standing in the Everlasting Future with a gold crown on your head will far surpass the value of any earthly wealth. We should never labor to be wealthy, we labor to live wisely and do the will of God.

-- Spirit & Truth