THE SOUL

CONT., page 5

FAITH

In the early ‘80’s, Yahweh spoke to me and told me that He wanted to teach me about faith. My reply was, probably, not what you would expect. I responded – Why do you want to teach me about faith? There were already others out there teaching it; and frankly, I did not agree with what they were teaching, and did not participate in their teachings either. But of course, I yielded and began studying the Scriptures to see what He said about faith. Let us see what faith truly is.

If you were asked to define faith, what would be your answer? Most people you ask that question to would quote for you Hebrews 11:1 – “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” But that is not the definition of faith; but rather, it is a poor translation that describes the mechanics of faith. So what is the definition of faith?

The Scriptures best definition of faith is found in Romans 4:20-21 regarding Abraham – “yet, with respect to the promise of God, he did not waver in unbelief, but grew strong in faith, giving glory to God, and being fully assured that what He promised, He was able also to perform.” From this we find Scripture’s definition of faith.

Faith is the full assurance that what God has promised, He also is able to perform.

Or one could say:

Faith is knowing the will of God, and acting in harmony with it.

So where does this leave us with the famous verse, Hebrews 11:1? As has been noted, this passage gives us the mechanics of faith.

King James affords a poor translation of this passage, and is far better translated:

Faith substantiates things hoped for, it evidences things not seen.

Thus we see that the purpose of faith is to substantiate things hoped for, and at some point, it evidences things not seen at the time that faith is given. So in taking the first part of that mechanics of faith, “faith substantiates things,” it is faith that directs us in knowing what we are to do. In order to help understand this, please allow me to share the first experience that Yahweh used in order to teach me about the mechanics, or you could say the function, of faith.

I had a car in the mid ‘70’s that was dramatically loosing power. The cause could have been either the rings or the valves going bad, or both! A valve job would not have cost much, but a ring job would have been very expensive, and I had very little money. The choice I had before me was to either buy another car, or fix the one I had. I wanted to know the will of Yahweh, and knew that if He wanted me to buy another car, He would provide the money. The temptation was to make myself feel that I should have faith in God and go buy the car. That would be real faith, to trust in Him! Right? To believe God for a car! At least that’s what hyper-faith is.

When the day arrived that I had to decide whether I was going to buy a car or work on the one I had, I still did not know Yahweh’s will. That morning I went out to an office we had in the garage and prayed about this, and the Spirit spoke to me – What do you have the faith to do? Well, when it came down to that, I sure did not have the faith for car payments; but, I did have the faith to pick up a wrench and go work on the car, and at least pull the head and see what the problem was. And that was what I did; and very importantly, the results were that the problem was just the head, which was fixed very economically, and I found another weakness in the carburetor that would have created problems later, and once fixed drove that car for several more years.

The faith that Yahweh gave me, led me to His provision in my need. But today men have sought to place themselves in the position that they have to come up with the faith to believe God for something, and thereby COMPLETELY miss what faith truly is. Faith is not trying to believe God for something, but true faith is simply seeking Him and knowing what faith He has given him for a situation. That is what faith is, as well as its function and purpose – to guide you. Faith is knowing the will of God, and acting in harmony with it. Therefore, the presence of faith for something actually affirms what you must do, even when you may be afraid to do it, or there are risks that you face. Faith is to be your guide. The purpose of the presence of faith in you, is to substantiate that this is what you are to do – faith substantiates. So the question is not how to have faith, but to know what faith you indeed have.

This purpose of faith in directing and confirming your actions as you seek the will of Yahweh, is clearly evidenced in the next verse in Hebrews 11:2 where we read (per a more literal translation) – “For by (faith), the men of old had witness born to them.” It was the presence of faith in them, knowing that this was something they were supposed to do, that bore witness to their hope, even when they never received it (Hebrews 11:39). Twice in verse 4, once in verse 5, and again in verse 39 we see the identical phrase from the identical Greek word – “had witness born to them.” This is the witness of faith that guided them, despite apparent failures or loss.

By faith Abel offered to God a better sacrifice than Cain, through which he had witness born to him that he was righteous, God bearing witness to him about his gifts, and through faith, though he is dead, he still speaks (vs. 4).

By faith Enoch was taken up so that he should not see death; and he was not found because God took him up; for he had witness born to him that before his being taken up he was pleasing to God (vs. 5).

And all these, having had witness born to them through their faith, did not receive what was promised (vs. 39).

Thus, faith bears witness to what we are supposed to do. Walking by faith is simply obeying God, and leaving the results to Him. It is hearing God, and acting in harmony with Him. Faith assures you that what you are doing is His will. “The righteous man shall live by faith” (Galatians 3:11). Does this mean that everyone out there is actually hearing from God when they do some of the things they do? No. But that does not change what true faith really is, and should all the more urge us to seek Him for the faith He is giving us.

Who is the source of faith? Are we the source of faith? Are we somehow supposed to come to some place where we can, out of ourselves, believe God for greater things? To attempt this is to totally violate what true faith is. Faith is to know His will, not to come up with our own agenda. It is – “not as I will, but as You will” (Matthew 26:39, 42, 44).

Some people erroneously think and teach that we are to come up with faith. Nowhere in the Scriptures does Yahweh command us to have more faith, for God is the source of all faith, and He gives it to us to direct us. As it is written – “God has allotted to each the measure of faith” (Romans 12:3). Who allots faith? Is it us? No, it is God who allots faith; that is how He directs us and gives us that which is from Him.

And if this is not clear enough, in Ephesians 2:8 we find it clearly stated – “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God.” Who gives us faith to believe in Him? Do we believe in Him because we are smarter? Do we believe the Remnant Bride truth because we are more discerning? No, we believe because God has given us the faith to do so. Faith is from God, and not of ourselves. (Also read 1 Corinthians 4:7; 2 Corinthians 3:5-6; John 1:12-13, 3:27; James 1:17; and 1 John 5:4.) Therefore, there is no such thing as blind faith. Faith is seeing Yahweh’s will, even before it is evidenced in the natural. Blind faith is presumption.

So do men always respond to faith? Can we then blame God if we do not do something? No, for God gives faith, but because of fear or unbelief, we can reject His gift that directs us. James says it quite emphatically – “faith, if it has no works, is dead” (2:17), “faith without works is useless” (2:20), and repeats, “faith without works is dead” (2:26). And he goes on to explain – “You see that faith was working with his works, and as a result of the works, faith was completed” (2:22).

If faith was completed by works, then what does this tell us about faith? Faith is not living, until it is a completed trinity. God can give faith to people, but there are two things to follow that determine whether that faith will become a living reality.

As has been noted in these writings on several occasions, the trinity of faith is:

hearing –> believing –> acting

Unless all three of these are fulfilled, there is no faith, or as Yahshua questioned – “when the Son of Man comes, will He find the faith on the earth?” (Luke 18:8). If one does not first hear from God, or one could equally use the word – to see, then any actions toward believing and acting are simply presumption. Let us repeat this – “faith” without hearing is presumption. Acting without hearing is to be self-willed, which is quite characteristic of Christianity’s “faith” movement, and leads to spiritual pride and egotism and failure. They emphasize the need to believe God for something, and totally miss what faith truly is – hearing from God first, and acting in harmony with it. This is not a generalized – “God has written;” but rather, what do I have the faith for? Per my own testimony, if I had “believed God” for a car out of my own will or pride, I would not have acted in true faith. Faith was to fix the car, not trying to stir something up in myself, to lift myself up by my own bootstraps. Many a man and woman have had to learn this the hard way.

But even worse than the faults of the “faith” movement, what about the occasions when Yahweh speaks something to us and we do not believe? It is easy to criticize the “faith” movement, but how are we doing in believing and acting? Like the sons of Israel who were led to the promised land and refused to enter in because of unbelief (Hebrews 3:16-19), so we too fail to enter into His provision when we do not believe and trust Him and act. We operate out of fear or doubt; or like the rich young ruler, the cares of this world prevent us from obeying. As it is written in Matthew 13:1-9 and 18-23 per Yahshua’s parable regarding the sower and the seeds, the seed of faith and understanding is placed in a man, but Satan snatches it out of his heart, or difficulties come and he is unwilling to go the distance and pay the price, or as the rich young ruler experienced, the cares of this world are greater than the value of following faith. Instead, that man goes to those who will tickle his ears with the Scriptures and give him words that will justify his own actions and satisfy his own flesh, even his spiritual pride – “wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires” (2 Timothy 4:3).

I have seen this over and over regarding the narrow way of the Remnant Bride. Some believe, but Satan gives doubts and Christian teachings that rob the truth. Some believe but cannot take the difficulties or the pressures from others, and lose sight of what they embraced as truth. Some believe, but the cares of this world choke out the time they should give to these truths, and their belief fades away. And of course the biggest test will come when Yahweh calls us to obey His Son’s clear instruction and sell everything and follow Him.

This latter point leads to the final part of faith – actions. James said something so clear and compelling that it even caused Martin Luther to reject this book as nothing more than a “book of straw,” and wanted it taken out of the Scriptures. James stated regarding faith and its trinity – “You see that a man is justified by works, and not by faith alone.” If one’s hearing and believing does not lead one to acting, then there is no faith. Faith requires actions! And any man who simply says that it is enough just to believe, is guilty of denying true faith. Faith must lead to actions! “Show me your faith without the works, and I will show you my faith by my works” (James 2:18).

Yahshua said – “Everyone who comes to Me, and hears My words, and acts upon them, I will show you what he is like.” He then went on to tell about the two houses which a man can build – one built on a deep foundation and will stand when the river rises, and one “who has heard, and has not acted,” and the ruin of that house is great (Luke 6:46-49)! One is completed faith, and one is to fall short of faith.

We have considered thus far the first part of the mechanics or function of faith – it substantiates. Obviously, this part of faith is critical. Let us now consider the second part – it evidences.

The Greek word here from which the word “evidences” is translated is “elegcho,” which refers to "testing, trying, proving, or demonstrating." The passage is – “evidences things not seen.” The Greek word for “things” is “pragma,” from which we get our English word “pragmatic.” The word describes things that are practical. Thus we see that the “evidencing of things” is as well the “demonstrating of the practical.”

While the first part of this passage speaks of the more immediate aspect of substantiating something hoped for, this second part speaks of that which is of ultimate importance – that faith creates, it evidences/demonstrates things in a practical fulfillment that have beforehand been unseen.

When Yahshua healed the sick or cast out demons or cursed the fig tree or raised the dead, the outcome of His faith was the practical, something that was manifested in the natural. This is the ultimate outcome of faith. By seeing something in faith, it brings it into reality. A simple example of this is that I had the faith to pick up a wrench and work on the car, providing my family transportation for several more years. That was real faith, and it was faith that led to the reality of the practical. Faith evidenced!

In Matthew 17:20 we read a most challenging statement from Yahshua. This applies specifically to the second Remnant, who have the faith to move the mount of transfiguration 1,000 years (The Love of Money, page 9). The question was asked by the disciples as to why they had not been able to cast out a demon.

And He said to them, "Because of the littleness of your faith; for truly I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it will move; and nothing will be impossible to you.”

It would be a wonderful thing alone to move the resurrection 1,000 years, but Yahshua added – “and nothing will be impossible to you.” What an incredible hope! Let us look some more at faith.

There is a matter in quantum theory physics that has been examined since the latter 1920’s. It is called the Copenhagen Interpretation and has to do with electrons that take on both the quality of a wave, as well as a particle. Basically it says that a trajectory has no objective physical reality unless observed, that the electron is an unreal, causeless "possibility" that only achieves actuality upon observation. I know this sounds strange, and I certainly do not fully understand it, but what they have found is that it is the observation of this electron that leads to the realization of the observed particle state.

It is uncannily interesting that this Copenhagen Interpretation that has to do with observation leading to realization, bears the names of the two main teachers of the “faith” movement – Copeland and Hagin. When you speak the two names but drop the “l” and the “d” in Copeland, you in fact say Copenhagen. I also must confess that there is a joke I have heard about this CopelandHagin. As you probably know, Copenhagen is also a well known chewing tobacco. I once heard that CopelandHagin is something you can chew on, but just don’t swallow it!

Strangely, I had my own taste of Copenhagen once. I was an ag-boy in high school, and one year I was grooming my lamb for the show and someone gave me a chew of tobacco. I had a practice of placing lamb’s feed in my mouth and chewing on it, enjoying the grain and the sweet molasses; so when I placed the tobacco in my mouth and got busy at work, I chewed and swallowed the Copenhagen just as I did the lamb’s feed, but with alarmingly different results! Rather quickly, I was getting sick as a dog, and spit the Copenhagen out! You can chew it; just don’t swallow it!

It was because of the teachings of CopelandHagin that when Yahweh told me that He wanted to teach me faith, I resisted at first. What makes the CopelandHagin interpretation wrong? Faith is a trinity, and they teach a faith that is void of the spirit, hearing, and emphasize a purely soulish work of merely believing and acting. Any teaching of that nature is presumption.

So what is it that the Copenhagen Interpretation is evidencing? It is extremely encouraging that faith is exactly what we see here. The mere fact of seeing truth, causes the product to become a reality! For 2,000 years no man has seen the things Yahweh is showing His Bride! Who has ever seen the incredible significance of the Nazirite vow in the redemption of the kingdom of God and man? Who before now has ever seen the two-part Remnant and the breach of Christianity? Who has ever seen before that Satan has been the head over Christianity for 2,000 years and that that office has to be given over to a latter rain twelfth apostle, and the remaining twelve apostles established? Who has ever seen that the Bible contradictions are actually riddles, and has had the insight to see incredibly prophetic riddles in today’s sci-fi movies? Who has seen that this last-days work is a completion of that which Yahshua began 2,000 years ago, and will come under the same covering of selling all? “If I do not wash (your feet), you have no part with Me.”

Why is the Bride seeing these incredible things today? Because by seeing them, the product of their fulfillment becomes a reality!

Christianity has never been allowed to see these things; for if they had, they would have been held accountable. But also, by seeing them they would have been birthed, or aborted, before their time. Yahshua said regarding the way He taught in parables – “I speak to them in parables; because while seeing they do not see, and while hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand” (Matthew 13:13). The Bride sees these things today because now is the time for their fulfillment. Faith “evidences things not seen.” The very fact we see these things, will cause them to become a reality. All we have to do is keep walking in faith, and the fourth dimension of time will unfold them. This is most encouraging! Faith evidences things not seen!

Continue to final page of The Soul for BELIEVING AND THE MATRIX

Return to home page