Ephesians 4:3-6
3. Endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
4. There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling;
5. One Lord, one faith, one baptism,
6. One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.
Faith in the Greek is pis’-tis which means persuasion, i.e. credence; moral conviction (of religious truth, or the truthfulness of God or a religious teacher), especially reliance upon Christ for salvation; abstractly, constancy in such profession; by extension, the system of religious (Gospel) truth itself and is translated in the English New Testament as assurance, belief, believe, faith, fidelity.
Paul here calls it “one faith”. Let us go to Acts where Luke calls it “the faith,” in order to explain what faith he is talking about.
First of all, we see that it is a gift of God.
In Acts 3, Peter and John come upon the man in the gate beautiful of the temple. Here a lame man is healed in the power of the name of Jesus. A crowd gathers because of the healing, and Peter starts to explain why he was healed. You can look at his whole teaching later, but we are going to zero in on one verse.
Acts:3:16: And his name through faith in his name hath made this man strong, whom ye see and know: yea, the faith which is by him hath given him this perfect soundness in the presence of you all.
Notice the statement he gives here says the man was healed by faith in the name of Jesus, and who gave the faith as well as the healing? Jesus. The faith which is by him. The faith produced the healing, but the faith was a gift of God. Now lets go to Romans where Paul explains this further.
Romans:12:3: For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith.
Every man is given the measure of faith. All people have a God given measure of faith in them. It is a gift of God. It is our responsibility what we do with that faith.
People can be either obedient to that faith or not obedient. If you are obedient, God can work in your life, but if you are not obedient, it ties God’s hands from helping you.
Let’s first study disobedience.
Ac:13:8: But Elymas the sorcerer (for so is his name by interpretation) withstood them, seeking to turn away the deputy from the faith.
This man wanted to turn the deputy from the faith. Satan will use people to turn you away from the faith. That is why it is so important what you hear.
Acts 24:24-27 24: And after certain days, when Felix came with his wife Drusilla, which was a Jewess, he sent for Paul, and heard him concerning the faith in Christ. 25: And as he reasoned of righteousness, temperance, and judgment to come, Felix trembled, and answered, Go thy way for this time; when I have a convenient season, I will call for thee. 26: He hoped also that money should have been given him of Paul, that he might loose him: wherefore he sent for him the oftener, and communed with him. 27: But after two years Porcius Festus came into Felix’ room: and Felix, willing to shew the Jews a pleasure, left Paul bound.
Notice that Felix heard about the faith from Paul, and he trembled. He listened over and over for two years, and never received Jesus, even though he was under conviction. So Felix was disobedient to the faith. That reminds me of what James says about the devil.
James 2:19: Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble.
We are told to examine ourselves that we are in faith.
2Co:13:5: Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates?
Here we see belief can be there, but what we do with the faith is important. We must bow to that belief, and confess Jesus as Lord. This is what Felix would not do, and is what the devils will never do. In fact, Jesus warned us of this.
John 8:24 I said therefore unto you, that ye shall die in your sins: for if ye believe not that I am he, ye shall die in your sins.
Now let us look to obedience to the faith.
Ac:6:7: And the word of God increased; and the number of the disciples multiplied in Jerusalem greatly; and a great company of the priests were obedient to the faith.
Romans:1:5: By whom we have received grace and apostleship, for obedience to the faith among all nations, for his name:
Romans 16:26 But now is made manifest, and by the scriptures of the prophets, according to the commandment of the everlasting God, made known to all nations for the obedience of faith:
All these verses show that people were ushered into the body of Christ, and received grace and a work to do in the body by obedience to faith. Now let us go a little further in Romans 1.
Romans 1:16-17 16: For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. 17: For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith.
Here Paul tells us that both our faith for salvation, and our faith for living for Jesus is the same faith. God has given us faith for salvation, and also for our living for God. It is important what we do with that faith. First of all we must be obedient to the faith in order for it to work for us.
Hebrews 11:6 But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him
Here again the twofold use of faith is given. We must believe that God is and he is a rewarder of them that seek him, or are obedient to him. It is impossible to please God without faith. So how do we get faith to work for us? Jesus tells us how.
Mark:11:13-14, 21-24 13 And seeing a fig tree afar off having leaves, he came, if haply he might find any thing thereon: and when he came to it, he found nothing but leaves; for the time of figs was not yet. 14 And Jesus answered and said unto it, No man eat fruit of thee hereafter for ever. And his disciples heard it. 21 And Peter calling to remembrance saith unto him, Master, behold, the fig tree which thou cursedst is withered away. 22 And Jesus answering saith unto them, Have faith in God. 23 For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith. 24 Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.
In the Greek, it says here in verse 22 Have the God Faith, or the God kind of faith. Jesus is telling his disciples that if they speak their faith, it will move mountains. Notice in verse 23 how many times Jesus says to speak your faith. Three times he says to speak. Speaking your faith is very important. Jesus told the disciples that if they wanted to move problems out of their lives, that they would have to speak their faith.
Now lets go over to Romans.
Romans10:8-10 8: But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach; 9: That 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. 10: For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
Notice that faith and speaking go hand in hand. It says the word of faith is in your mouth first and then in your heart. Most people get that mixed up. They think that God will make them believe something in their heart when the time comes and then they will speak. But it is up to us to speak. Salvation comes when the mouth confesses.
This reminds me of a story Kenneth Hagin tells about a man in his congregation. He would see the man week after week in the service. He knew he was under conviction because he cried and trembled. He asked him why he did not come and get saved at the altar. The man told him that he was waiting for God to save him. He guessed it was not his time yet. Kenneth Hagin said he tried to explain to him that he had to confess Jesus as Lord to be saved, but he would not. He died cursing God.
Sometimes we do the same thing with healing, and are looking to God to heal us in the future, instead of confessing what God’s word says about healing. In fact salvation is not only being rescued from hell, but also includes health.
Now let us explain what salvation is…
The Greek word for salvation, soteria, means rescue or safety (physically or morally) and is translated in the English New Testament as deliver, health, salvation, save, saving. So God promises here that if we believe and confess we can be saved or rescued from hell, death, and sickness. It promises health here. I have heard people say I don’t have faith for healing like you do…but God has given all of us the measure of faith. It is what we do with faith that either brings healing or not. Let’s read a little further in Romans 10.
Ro:10:17: So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
The more you hear the word, the greater your faith will become. The fastest way to increase your faith is to speak it out. The confession of faith is the work of faith. Let’s go back again to James 2 and read the entire passage we read one verse of before.
James:2:17-20: 17 Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone. 18: Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works. 19: Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble. 20: But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead?
Your confession is your work of faith. The devils will never confess Jesus is Lord, even though they may believe and know that he is. Let’s read a little further.
Jas:2:21-23 21 Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar? 22: Seest thou how faith wrought with his works, and by works was faith made perfect? 23: And the scripture was fulfilled which saith, Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness: and he was called the Friend of God.
James gives Abraham as an example of someone walking in faith. Let us now look at the story of the offering of Isaac in Genesis. Most of the time when we read the story, we dwell on the offering of Isaac, and not what Abraham said. But let us read exactly what Abraham said.
Gensis 22:5-8, 14 5: And Abraham said unto his young men, Abide ye here with the ass; and I and the lad will go yonder and worship, and come again to you, 6: And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering, and laid it upon Isaac his son; and he took the fire in his hand, and a knife; and they went both of them together. 7: And Isaac spake unto Abraham his father, and said, My father: and he said, Here am I, my son. And he said, Behold the fire and the wood: but where is the lamb for a burnt offering? 8: And Abraham said, My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering: so they went both of them together. 14: And Abraham called the name of that place Jehovah-jireh: as it is said to this day, In the mount of the LORD it shall be seen.
Twice on the journey to the mountain, Abraham spoke his faith. The first time he told the young men that he and his son would worship and return to them. The second time, he told Isaac that God would provide a lamb for the burnt offering. Twice Abraham spoke his faith. He got results of that faith, and called the mountain Jehovah-jireh which means God will provide. That is the work of faith, that is also the way our faith is built up. Now let us go to another verse explaining Abraham’s faith in the New Testament.
Romans 4:16: 16: Therefore it is of faith, that it might be by grace; to the end the promise might be sure to all the seed; not to that only which is of the law, but to that also which is of the faith of Abraham; who is the father of us all, 17: (As it is written, I have made thee a father of many nations,) before him whom he believed, even God, who quickeneth the dead, and calleth those things which be not as though they were. 18: Who against hope believed in hope, that he might become the father of many nations, according to that which was spoken, So shall thy seed be. 19: And being not weak in faith, he considered not his own body now dead, when he was about an hundred years old, neither yet the deadness of Sara’s womb: 20: He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God; 21: And being fully persuaded that, what he had promised, he was able also to perform.
Now let us go further into this story. God came to Abraham when he was about 75 years old, and told him that he would have a son. He changed his name from Abram to Abraham. Abraham means father of many nations. Now it took Abraham 25 years of speaking the word of God, hearing the word of God to receive the promise. Remember what is says in Romans 10:17
Ro:10:17: So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
Every time Sarah called him Abraham, every time his servants called him Abraham, it reminded him that God said was he would be a father of many nations. At the age of 100, he was not staggering at the promise of God, but was fully persuaded that what he promised he would preform. This is standing in faith even if it takes your entire life to see the answer. This is speaking God’s word and not giving up. I have noticed in my own life. Sometimes I got the answer immediately when I prayed for healing, and sometimes it took months. But I never stopped hearing God’s word, or speaking it. I also notice that there comes a time that you know that you know you have the answer, or that you are fully persuaded. It is at that time you have the answer. It took Abraham 25 years to get to that point. But he does not have one advantage we have. If you are baptized in the Holy Spirit, and speak in tongues, you have a great advantage.
Jude:1:20: But ye, beloved, building up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost,
We can build ourselves up in faith by praying in tongues. This word in the Greek means to build up. It is the same thing we do when we charge up a battery, or build our muscles. We all have muscles, but some have stronger muscles than others because they have built them up. The same with our faith. We have all been given a measure of faith, but what we do with it either brings results or not.
Romans:12:3: For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith.
You have faith, but you must work that faith.
1Co:16:13: Watch ye, stand fast in the faith, quit you like men, be strong.
God has given us the faith, but we must work that faith in order to see it work in our lives, become established in the faith.
Col:2:7: Rooted and built up in him, and stablished in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving.
Remember it is very important what you speak and what you hear. Speaking and hearing God’s word will build your faith. Then we are also told here that we need to abound in thanksgiving. Thanksgiving is your faith talking. It is thanking God for already healing you, already providing for you. It will also bring the answer to your prayers, as Jesus taught us in Mark 11.
Paul even warns us that in the last days, which is what we are in, that men will leave the faith because of what they hear. So much of what is on TV today is seducing spirits, and teaching of devils.
1Timothy:4:1: Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils;
Our entire goal of our lives should be the same that Paul spoke at the end. We need to press toward the goal that we can say what Paul said at the end of his life.
2Timothy:4:7: I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith:
So in conclusion. Remember that God has given all the measure of faith, it is his gift to us. It is what we do with that faith that either brings results or not. First we must be obedient to the faith. Secondly we must work or speak our faith. Third, we must build our faith by praying in tongues. And if we do all this we can say that we have fought a good fight, we have finished our course, and we have kept the faith.
Goode Christian: learning how to be a good Christian in today's world. 