Bible Study on Faith

For our homework we are doing a word search study on faith for our Prayer Meeting & Bible Study that will be held next Wednesday evening.

I thought we would also do it here in preparation of doing it then.

Anybody wishing to participate, please be my guest.

The purpose of this study is to find out what faith really is.

In other words, is faith spontaneous, is faith easy to come by, is it hard to come by, is it lacking, etc.???

Let's begin from the beginning.

What is faith?

Hebrews 11:1 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

Does everybody have faith?

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.

I wonder how much is a measure of faith. Is it the same measure of faith for every person, or does every person have a different measure of faith, or what?

Apparently the Rom 12:3 does not apply to all men. Perhaps it applies only to those who are responding to the influence of God.

2 Thessalonians 3:2
And that we may be delivered from unreasonable and wicked men: for all men have not faith.

Also these two texts are key:

Romans 10:17
So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.

Romans 14:23
And he that doubteth is damned if he eat, because he eateth not of faith: for whatsoever is not of faith is sin.

That doesn't really tell me what faith is though! All it tells me is that faith is a byproduct of my worship of God and my study of His Word. What is true, living faith?

Daryl, you asked if all men have faith - to be contrary to Thessalonians, I must answer "yes" - the question remains only what it is that we have faith in... Every person has faith - we all have confidence to hope in something - even if it is as simple as knowing the person coming our way is going to stop at the red light. It is all relative. What does it mean to have Faith in God? How is faith in God different from the faith the rest of the world has - and even we have in the rest of the world?

Why do we seem to cling more to our faith in others than to our Faith in God?

It may be of assistance to check out the topic "Visible Faith" under "Christian Living" as a discussion of this sorts was carried on there as well.

[ April 11, 2002: Message edited by: Mrs Sarah Moss ]

God speaks of those who have "no faith."

Deuteronomy 32:20
And he said, I will hide my face from them, I will see what their end shall be: for they are a very froward generation, children in whom is no faith.

Mark 4:40
And he said unto them, Why are ye so fearful? how is it that ye have no faith?

Luke 8:25
And he said unto them, Where is your faith? And they being afraid wondered, saying one to another, What manner of man is this! for he commandeth even the winds and water, and they obey him.

Luke 18:8
I tell you that he will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?

And there are those who have "little faith."

Luke 12:28
If then God so clothe the grass, which is to day in the field, and to morrow is cast into the oven; how much more will he clothe you, O ye of little faith?

And those who have "great faith."

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.

Acts 6:8
And Stephen, full of faith and power, did great wonders and miracles among the people.

Those who wanted more faith.

Luke 17:5
And the apostles said unto the Lord, Increase our faith.

But a small amount of genuine faith goes a long way.

Luke 17:6
And the Lord said, If ye had faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye might say unto this sycamine tree, Be thou plucked up by the root, and be thou planted in the sea; and it should obey you.

Mark 11:22
And Jesus answering saith unto them, Have faith in God.

Matthew 21:21
Jesus answered and said unto them, Verily I say unto you, If ye have faith, and doubt not, ye shall not only do this which is done to the fig tree, but also if ye shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; it shall be done.

Righeousness comes by faith.

Romans 1:17
For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith.

Romans 3:22
Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference:

Romans 3:27
Where is boasting then? It is excluded. By what law? of works? Nay: but by the law of faith.

Romans 3:28
Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law.

Romans 3:31
Do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid: yea, we establish the law.

Romans 12:6
Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, whether prophecy, let us prophesy according to the proportion of faith;

2 Corinthians 5:7
(For we walk by faith, not by sight

Galatians 2:20
I am crucified with Christ: neverthless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.

Galatians 5:6
For in Jesus Christ neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision; but faith which worketh by love.

Galatians 5:22
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,

Ephesians 2:8
For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:

Ephesians 6:16
Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.

1 Thessalonians 5:8
But let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for an helmet, the hope of salvation.

2 Thessalonians 1:3
We are bound to thank God always for you, brethren, as it is meet, because that your faith groweth exceedingly, and the charity of every one of you all toward each other aboundeth;

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.

Hebrews 4:2
For unto us was the gospel preached, as well as unto them: but the word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it.

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.

Hebrews 12:2
Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.

James 2:24
Ye see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only.

James 2:26
For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.

1 John 5:4
For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.

Revelation 14:12
Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.

Faith and Works, page 70, paragraph 1
What kind of faith is that? Is it to believe simply, or is it a faith of admission? There are many here who have that kind of faith. You believe that Jesus was the Son of God; but do you have a personal faith in regard to your own salvation? Do you believe that Jesus is your Saviour? that He died on Calvary's cross to redeem you? that He has offered you the gift of everlasting life if you believe on Him?

The Faith I Live By, page 93, paragraph 2
Faith is not an opiate, but a stimulant. Looking to Calvary will not quiet your soul into nonperformance of duty, but will create faith that will work, purifying the soul from all selfishness.

The Faith I Live By, page 122, paragraph 4
Faith is not feeling. . . . True faith is in no sense allied to presumption. Only he who has true faith is secure against presumption, for presumption is Satan's counterfeit of faith.

God's Amazing Grace, page 207, paragraph 2
Many do not exercise that faith which it is their privilege and duty to exercise, often waiting for that feeling which faith alone can bring. Feeling is not faith; the two are distinct. Faith is ours to exercise, but joyful feeling and the blessing are God's to give. The grace of God comes to us through the channel of living faith, and that faith it is in our power to exercise.

In Heavenly Places, page 109, paragraph 5
We have been taken as rough stones out of the quarry of the world by the cleaver of truth and placed in the workshop of God. He who has genuine faith in Christ as his personal Saviour will find that the truth accomplishes a definite work for him. His faith is a working faith. . . . We cannot create our faith, but we can be colaborers with Christ in promoting the growth and triumph of faith.

Our High Calling, page 67, paragraph 3
"Like precious faith" . . . is a genuine faith. It is not a fruitless faith. True, saving faith is a precious treasure of inestimable value. It is not superficial. The just lives by faith a truly spiritual, Christlike life. It is through faith that the steps are taken one at a time up the ladder of progress. Faith must be cultivated. It unites the human with the divine nature.

Testimonies for the Church Volume One, page 167, paragraph 2
Confound not faith and feeling together. They are distinct. Faith is ours to exercise. This faith we must keep in exercise. Believe, believe. Let your faith take hold of the blessing, and it is yours. Your feelings have nothing to do with this faith. When faith brings the blessing to your heart, and you rejoice in the blessing, it is no more faith, but feeling.

Advent Review and Sabbath Herald, July 6, 1905, paragraph 4
"And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue." Your faith is worthless without the virtue. Faith of the right kind brings virtue that is more valuable than gold or silver or precious stones.

Christian faith is trusting God and believe Him that He will lead your life to all righteousness and holy life without any law for you to obey and keep.

In His love

James S.

Thank you everybody for responding.

With all these texts and more that will be provided by those attending tomorrow, I expect this study on faith will be continued into the following Wednedday, therefore, let us keep this word study going.

Thank you Sarah. I will also check out that other topic on faith.

We had an excellent discussion on faith last Wednesday evening.

We decided to continue by talking tomorrow evening about what the barriers to faith are.

Any thoughts on this?

Too often our greatest barrier to faith is ourselves. Faith requires stepping out and doing things that you are afraid to do, acting on a believe that you cannot yet prove until you act.

Like the little girl who was the only one who took her umbrella to church when the church was planning to pray for rain, or the little girl who prayed with her daddy that it would stop raining and then asked why it didn't and daddy said, "maybe we have to step out in faith" so they walked out from under their shelter to discover that it was not raining on them, only all around them - they stayed dry until they reached the car.

We allow our fears, prejudices and misconceptions about God to keep us from exercising our faith. We must trust in Him as little children do. We dishonour and insult God when we do not believe that He will keep His promises - in essence we call Him a liar because we don't believe He means what He says.

What is the biggest barrier to faith? We allow ourselves God's enemy, satan, to deceive us into thinking that we don't need God, that we can do it on our own - because God won't help us anyway.

We had another good discussion last evening at our weekly Prayer & Bible Study meeting.

Here are some of the barriers to faith that we discussed:

1 - Guilt - Genesis 3:9.

2 - Doubt - John 20:24 and James 1:6.

3 - Pride - Does anybody know an appropriate reference for this one?

4 - Greed (Love of Money) - I Ti. 6:10.

5 - Knowledge - I Ti. 6:20,21.

6 - Fear - James 5:16-18 and John 7:13.

7 - Spiritualism - I Ti. 4:1.

8 - Idol Babellings (False Doctrine) - II Ti. 1:7.

9 - Judgmental - Matthew 7:1-5.

10 - Worry - Can anybody find an appropriate reference or two for this one?

That about summarizes what we discussed.

Next Wednesday we will be discussing how to overcome the barriers to faith.

Does anybody know how to overcome these barriers to faith?

I don't have my Bible with me - I put it in a different bag and it hasn't found it's way back to my work bag, yet. However, Proverbs says that "Pride goeth before a fall", not sure how that helps in overcoming though... Jesus tells us in the Beatitudes that "the meek shall inherit the earth". Meekness/humility being the opposite of pride.

We are also told in Matthew (6?)(and the other gospels) that if we cannot do such a small thing as add one second to our life by worrying, why do we worry about anything else? The birds don't worry, yet they are fed and clothed. The flowers don't work or worry and they are more beautiful than Solomon in all his glory. There is much in the Bible that relates to worrying and the fact that it will not only NOT increase your life, but can, in fact, decrease your life.