An emotional charismatic congregation meets in South Africa. It tends to be such groups which are taught an unbiblical view of faith, although we do not necessarily apply this to this particular group.
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"In their hands... faith becomes something which
allows us to manipulate God in order to get what we want! And
those things which the 'faith teachers' always imply that we
should want most appear to be almost entirely bound up with this
present life! Health, prosperity, a good career and fine living
seem to be of paramount importance in their reasoning!"
In the light of a false and unbiblical conception of faith
propounded by the Word-faith movement, it is time for a truly
biblical exposition of faith and a corresponding rebuttal of
Positive Confession and the Prosperity Teaching!
prominent
Word-faith (or, 'positive confession') teacher said this,
'Too many Christians have been denying themselves blessings
which they rightfully own, by simply not claiming them. It's time
for Christians everywhere to unlock the door to a successful and
prosperous life; just the life that God's people were always
intended to enjoy'
Another Word-faith teacher said this,
'YOU can take to yourself the power which Moses had! If Moses
could command a rock to give forth water, so can you! If Moses
could even part the waters of the Red Sea, so can you! What are
you waiting for?? If you command in full, believing faith...IT
WILL BE DONE!'
Statements such as these somehow sound so appealing to us. Have
we been missing something? Have we really been denying ourselves
greater blessings because we have never truly understood the
potentialities of faith? Some have come to think so!
But we need to define exactly what biblical faith is, and - just
as important - what it is not!!
Biblical faith is best described as a complete trust in the will
of God, even in opposition to all appearances which might suggest
that our faith might be misplaced.
Hebrews 11:1 (NKJV) says this,
'Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence
of things not seen'
The writer of the Book of Hebrews then gives quite a lengthy list
of examples of such faith, such as:
1. Our believing that the world was established and founded by
the word of God (verse 3).
2. Enoch's 'translation' straight into heaven at the end of his
life (rather than going through the experience of dying). We are
not told that Enoch necessarily believed that this would happen,
but that God caused it to happen because of an unusual life of
faith (verse 5).
3. Noah acting to build an ark even though all physical
appearances might have suggested that this was a ridiculous thing
to do (verse 7).
4. Abraham leaving his native land and people, to walk out into
the unknown, believing that God was leading him to do this (verse
8).
These are not the only examples of faith in this 'faith chapter'
of Hebrews, and the reader is encouraged to read the whole
chapter.
Verse 6 tells us something very important about faith:
'But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who
comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder
of those who dilligently seek Him'
So faith is the 'substance' (or, sense of current realisation,
or, current full confidence) concerning things 'hoped for' - but
why did Noah, for example, 'hope for' a worldwide flood?
Simply because God had divinely revealed to him that this
would happen!
Faith, then, is an utterly close walk with a God who has revealed
Himself to us; it will constantly tend to manifest itself in a
wholehearted trust that God means what He says, even when all
appearances might suggest otherwise.
Noah was expected to believe what God had revealed to him about a
coming flood. Likewise Abraham was expected to act in belief that
God would fulfil that which He had promised.
In our day, God has
revealed to Christians that Jesus of Nazareth was and is the
Saviour of the world, and He now expects us to go through our
lives on this earth in full trust, confidence and acceptance of
this fact! Faith, then, necessarily recognises the
sovereignty and jurisdiction of God in all areas of one's
life.
But the Bible reveals something else to us about such
faith:
It is, in itself, wholly a gift of God.
'For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not
of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone
should boast.'
(Ephesians 2:8-9)
So the faith which God takes such joy to see within His people
comes from Him. It is not humanly 'worked up'. This tells
us that whenever and wherever we hear a converted child of God
extolling the virtues of God, he or she is manifesting the gift
of faith which has been passed on through the Holy Spirit!
But one may raise an objection to this; one could ask, What of
those biblical occasions where Jesus appeared to be surprised by
the presence of faith (for instance, in Matthew 8:10; 'I have not
found such faith in Israel')? Was that a different sort of faith?
No. There is no indication of that. When the centurion revealed
such profound faith in Jesus' ability to heal, that in itself was
a gift which was granted to him, even if it was only a temporary
gift in that particular case! The gift of faith granted to a
Christian, though, is more permanent. There are two other things
we should note about this remarkable gift:
1. Though it is entirely a gift of God, we have a responsibility
to 'feed it' - we ourselves can apparently encourage it to build
or diminish, by whether or not we keep close to our Lord
Jesus.
2. The second point follows logically from all that we have seen
about faith thus far in our study, but still needs to be clearly
pointed out:
Faith is not a work of ours, neither is it a reward for
any 'good works' by us! It is a gift of God. God has determined
that the faith of the righteous shall save them rather than
works, so this alone shows that faith is not some work of ours
which we can 'work up', but Ephesians 2: 8-9 makes this
abundantly clear when it says this of faith,
'...it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should
boast'
So, the grace (unmerited free favour) of God equips us with the
faith which saves! Romans 3 tells us a little more about the
faith which justifies:
'Being justified freely by His grace through the redemption
that is in Christ Jesus, whom God set forth to be a propitiation
by His blood ('propitiation': to satisfy just anger by means
of a sacrifice), through faith, to demonstrate His
righteousness...that He might be just and the justifier of the
one who has faith in Jesus'
(Romans 3:24-26, my insert)
So - effectively - God has said, 'Where I see real faith in Me
among people, I will grant eternal life'
This reveals the great Protestant doctrine of Justification by
Faith Alone!And it is the faith which God Himself
imparts!
So, having reminded ourselves of the clear New Testament doctrine
of Faith, let us start to make some comparisons between this
faith and the 'faith' which is taught by the 'positive
confession', or, 'prosperity teachers'!
It is no exaggeration to say that the prosperity teachers take
the faith which is taught in the Bible and substantially cut it
loose from its biblical anchoring within the sovereignty of God.
They take certain Scriptures which mention faith in a somewhat
hyperbolic or colourful way (such as Matthew 17:20-21, which I
will tackle later) and concentrate and focus upon those. But more
mundane 'faith Scriptures' (such as those which we have been
considering), are usually ignored, even though it is those
Scriptures which outline the biblical doctrine of faith in some
detail!
In their hands, then, faith becomes something which allows us to
manipulate God in order to get what we want! And those
things which the 'faith teachers' always imply that we should
want most appear to be almost entirely bound up with this
present life! Health, prosperity, a good career and fine living
seem to be of paramount importance in their reasoning!
They seem to teach that words themselves can have some sort of
magical properties to them, so that if we say, 'I say that it
will rain on Tuesday', or, 'I say that I will make $5,000
on Tuesday and give half of it to God', then we can make
those things happen.....BUT ONLY IF WE REALLY BELIEVE!
But where is the biblical authority for taking such an odd - and
frankly mystical - approach to faith??
Again, the prosperity teachers cut faith loose from its biblical
moorings within the choice, decision and sovereignty of
God!
WHY did Noah have faith in a coming flood?? Because God had
revealed to him that there would be a coming flood!
WHY was Abraham expected to believe that God would make a great
nation from him?? Because God had clearly revealed this to
him!! Look it up!!
WHY did Moses have faith that the waters of the Red Sea would
part?? Because the LORD had clearly told him that this would
happen!!
WHY are we Christians expected to believe (or, have faith in) the
fact that Jesus of Nazareth is the Saviour of the world who will
grant us eternal life?? Because God has revealed this to
us!!
We see, then, a process:
a. God reveals Himself to us.
b. Thereafter God expects us to believe that 'He is, and is a
rewarder of those who dillgently seek Him'.
That process should not surprise us for Hebrews 11:6 (as we have seen), spells this out as the correct recipe:
'But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who dilligently seek Him'
Please note that these components for real, living faith from man to God do not include:
'You must believe that God will give you exactly what you ask for, exactly when you want it.'
In fact, there is no biblical precedent for God expecting us to 'have
faith' in unrevealed/extra-biblical schemes. (Though on some
occasions God might still reveal a specific plan for individuals,
such as for George Muller to build the Muller Orphanages, or for
some of the great missionaries to go to specific parts of the
world).
If we take the example of Gideon, the Lord revealed Himself to
Gideon in Judges 6:12; thereafter Gideon was expected to walk
with the Lord in faith and obedience, but the Lord always told
Gideon what He planned to do! If one considers the entire Gideon
narrative starting from Judges 6, it is quite obvious that Gideon
occasionally had real trouble believing that the Lord would
fulfil all of His promises to him, yet Gideon is clearly listed
as an example of faith in the 'faith chapter' of Hebrews 11. It
is obvious, therefore, that these occasional doubts were not
deemed as any lack of faith.
But ALL the great biblical examples of faith looked to the
promises of God based on clear divine revelations!. One can't
help comparing this approach with what is found in the
'Word-faith' movement where sincere, though often naive, people
are encouraged to look to various dynamic leaders and to the
wholly unbiblical principle of 'positive confession' as the basis
of their confidence!
HAS GOD REVEALED TO ANY OF US THAT WE CAN MAKE A HUGE AMOUNT OF
MONEY NEXT TUESDAY, AND THEN GIVE HALF OF IT TO HIS WORK?? OF
COURSE NOT!!
BUT CAN WE MAKE THAT HAPPEN IF WE KEEP ATTEMPTING TO CONVINCE
OURSELVES THAT IT WILL HAPPEN? NO! MOREOVER ANY SUCH
SELF-DELUSION HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH THE BIBLICAL CONCEPT OF
FAITH.
We cannot manipulate God to hand a little of His power and
sovereignty over to us in such a manner. We are, after all, to
have faith in God and in His revelation....NOT FAITH IN OURSELVES
AND OUR "WORD"!
Do we begin to see how the 'name it and claim it' teaching
cuts faith loose from the sovereignty of God, turning it into
something which - if God allowed it - would surely turn us all
into spiritual spoilt brats?
Let us now start to consider some 'Faith Scriptures' a little
more closely:
I think that most of us would agree that one of the most
inspiring stories of faith in the Old Testament is the story of
Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego in the Book of Daniel.
In the interests of space I am not going to rehearse the story in
great detail here, but would direct the reader to Daniel 3:8-30
for the full story.
These three Jews had outstanding faith in God. Of course, as we
already seen, their faith was a gift from God, nothing which
could have been humanly 'worked up'. Because Shadrach, Meshach
and Abednego refused to bow down and worship the image of gold,
they were cast into the 'fiery furnace' where God spared them
from all the effects of the flames. Not only that, but one like
'The Son of God' was seen to be walking with them through the
flames. What a truly inspiring story this is! But let's notice
something. When Nebuchadnezar challenged them about not
worshipping the image which he had set up, this was their
reaction:
'If that is the case, our God whom we serve is able to deliver
us from the burning fiery furnace, and He will deliver us from
your hand, O king.(NOW NOTICE THIS!) BUT IF NOT, let it be
known to you, O king, that we do not serve your gods, nor will we
worship the gold image which you have set up'
(Daniel 3:17-18, my insert and emphasis)
Notice here that these young men were wholeheartedly walking with
God, but God had NOT apparently revealed to them how this
incident would turn out! The young men DID NOT say,
'If we have enough faith, God will deliver us - they were
not seeking to 'test' or, 'try' God! They already had the
necessary faith, but their faith DID NOT MEAN that God HAD
to act dramatically to save them from death there and then! This
is why, after stating that it was within God's power to
dramatically intervene should it be His will, they state - at the
beginning of verse 18 - 'But if not'- So they did not know
whether or not God planned to dramatically intervene, but made it
plain that they were going to obey God no matter what!! Here is
outstanding faith which recognises God's sovereignty as all the
biblical examples do!
These brave young men DID NOT say, 'If we have enough faith,
the Lord will deliver us, but otherwise we will die' They did
not set up that particular dichotomy. They already had the
faith they needed, but fully understood that they remained
subject to God's sovereignty and decision.
What if God had allowed them to die? Would that have been because
they lacked faith?? ABSOLUTELY NOT!! And the three young men
themselves clearly understood this.
Compare such wisdom
with the modern-day "healing evangelist" who says, 'Everybody
in this hall tonight can be healed, but only if you have enough
faith!!' Such a (so-called) healing evangelist has no
authority before God to make such a statement! God may have no
intention of healing certain people in that hall, no matter how
much faith they may have!! Just as God chose not to heal Paul of
his 'thorn in the flesh' despite Paul's great faith!!
Do we then begin to see that the faith which is taught in the
Bible is not some kind of mystical 'charm' by which we can
manipulate God to give us what we want! Faith is only
meaningful within the decision, choice, plan and sovereignty of
God!
Now lets look at a few Scriptures which the 'positive confession'
people use:
Some misunderstand Jesus' comment about the disciples being
unable to cast out a demon in Matthew 17. To the disciple's
question,
'...Why could we not cast him out?'(Verse 19), Jesus
replied, '...Because of your unbelief'(Verse 20). Why
'unbelief'?? Because it had already been revealed to the
disciples that they had been granted the power to heal the sick
and drive out demons in Matthew 10:1; these were two primary
'signs of the apostles' - the disciples were now expected to
believe this, but they wavered. Jesus goes on to a give an
example of the kind of faith needed for miracles, but many have
misunderstood this:
'...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 for you. However, this kind does not go out
except by prayer and fasting'
(Matthew 17:20-21)
I am not going to cover the faith moving mountains question here because I have felt the need to write a separate article on the faith that moves mountains. It is HERE.
But what is somewhat similar to 'moving a mountain'? How about
parting the waters of the Red Sea?? It is on a similar sort of
scale isn't it? But did Moses HIMSELF part those waters because
of his outstanding faith? Or did the LORD tell Moses that He
intended to part those waters? The answer is to be found in
Exodus 14! But, before you turn there to look, I can tell you
that while Moses 'stretched forth his hand', God told him the
miracle He was about to do!
Only God can part a Red Sea or move a mountain! Jesus took it as
a 'given' that His listeners understood that! So, in other words,
the sense is that if one had enough faith, one could 'move a
mountain' - but only in a figurative sense, no literal mountain
will be moved unless the sovereign God elects to do so.
|
An emotional charismatic congregation meets in South Africa. It tends to be such groups which are taught an unbiblical view of faith, although we do not necessarily apply this to this particular group. |
So when Word-faith
teachers tell us that we too can 'tap into' the 'faith power' of
Moses which could even part a Red Sea, I would suggest that they
are not only misinterpreting what faith is, but being very
careless in their scriptural exposition! Of course, once God told
Moses what He (God) would do, Moses was expected to have faith
that God would carry out His promise! But God never asks us to
'have faith' in any unrevealed scheme, proposition or
so-called "design for our healthy and prosperous
lives".
Another Scripture used by the faith teachers is Mark 9:23:
'Jesus said to him, "If you can believe, all things are
possible to him who believes'
Jesus was here referring to the faith which saves; eventually the
faith which only God can grant to us will lead to eternal life!
'All things' are indeed possible to those who have this faith -
but does 'all things' include things like that car, or job or
financial income you have always wanted?? Of course not! Jesus is
talking about spiritual matters here and where the faith that
saves will eventually lead!
Matthew 21:22 is somewhat similar. It says:
'And all things, whatever you ask in prayer, believing, you
will receive'
Of course, God expects us to pray to Him believingly! Don't
forget, just as Noah was expected to believe that God would
indeed cause a worldwide flood - after God had revealed it to
him - God expects Christians to believe that God will indeed
equip us for eternal life in His kingdom through the Lord Jesus
Christ! We must never approach God in prayer waveringly. We
should believe that He is a God who abundantly rewards His
people!
However, here again, some think that the 'whatever you ask in
prayer' can include things which - if God granted them -
would hardly keep us on course for God's kingdom! It should not
take too much spiritual acumen to see that the 'whatever you ask
in prayer' will not run to things like praying that God would
allow a young man to marry some desirable and beautiful Hollywood
actress, or praying that one will become wealthy, or even praying
that one will become a famous preacher! The 'name it and claim
it' teaching has no biblical foundation but only survives where
it can twist, pervert and pull Scriptures totally out of
context.
We should always realise and remember that ALL OF OUR PRAYERS are
subject to God's choice, plan, decision and sovereignty! God, for
instance, sometimes does not heal and we must respect His
jurisdiction in this area. Perhaps the sick person is developing
the godly character he or she will need, through that illness.
Perhaps others are developing patience, love and compassion
through dealing with that sick person! These are areas which God
will consider. However, we should certainly pray for the sick to
be healed and I myself have witnessed several dramatic healings.
But does that mean that we have to somehow 'work up' the belief
that that sick person will always be healed? Hardly, neither is
that possible; but we should certainly joyfully and hopefully
petition the Lord to heal that person should it be His will. We
can also take confidence that every sick person will
eventually know healing in the resurrection. I have noticed that
on several occasions when I have started to pray for sick people,
the Lord shows me whether He will heal that person! If such a
person dies, should anyone be reproached for a lack of faith?
ABSOLUTELY NOT! It may simply have been God's will - again, we
cannot manipulate God's sovereignty.
On one occasion I sat down and prayed with the father of a young
man who was very, very sick. As soon as I started to pray, the
knowledge appeared to be placed directly into my mind that the
young man would die and that I should be careful what I said. I
simply asked God for this family to be given the strength and
courage for the trial which lie ahead. The young man died 3 days
later.
On another occasion I prayed for three old ladies to be healed,
and the Lord did not grant me any particular knowledge as to
whether He would allow healing. In fact, all three were healed,
the sickest of the three being healed dramatically!
I can recommend both a book and some articles on healing here.
The book is Miraculous Healing by Henry Frost which a good
Christian book shop should be able to order for you. The articles
are my article called IS
PHYSICAL HEALING INCLUDED IN THE ATONEMENT? and WHEN CHRISTIANS
BECOME SICK. A further article called UNDERSTANDING THE
VULNERABILITY OF GODLY PRAYER will also prove helpful.
I cover two other Scriptures which the Word-faith people use (3
John 2 and John 10:10) in my article, 3 JOHN
2; WHAT IS THE MEANING?
It is my earnest wish that many 'positive confession' and
prosperity people will read this article and come to a much
deeper understanding of what biblical faith really is and (just
as importantly), what it is not!!
Robin A. Brace
2003