What is this Gift of Faith?© by Gary W. Crisp
Faith Is Substance,
but So Much MoreWhat, then, is faith? Let’s review some of what we
have seen in the New Testament, and then we’ll move on.
What is this Gift of Faith?© by Gary W. Crisp
Faith Is Substance,
but So Much MoreWhat, then, is faith? Let’s review some of what we
have seen in the New Testament, and then we’ll move on.
All of these verses are true and apply to each and every one of us, and yet...none of these verses really tell us what this Gift of Faith is. And the question begs an answer: What is this Gift of Faith?
The simple answer would be: As with any Gift from the Lord, He chooses when, where and to whom He gives it, and it is always a gift, free and clear. That is the “simple” answer. Also, as with any gift which we have already looked at, this Gift of Faith, when given by the Spirit of God, is only a portion of that Faith that is “owned” or “possessed” by God. If you have already read through the study on Wisdom and Knowledge, you’ll recall that we said the Gift of Knowledge differed from knowing God in His completeness or fullness. What is the difference?
The Gift of Knowledge was just a portion of knowing Him in His fullness. As Paul wrote, “Unto me, who am less than the least of all saints, is this GRACE given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ” (Ephesians 3:8), and I purposely capitalized Grace, because I wanted us to recognize how interwoven it is with Faith. They are inseparable.
Paul is speaking here, in Ephesians, of “mysteries” and things of God not known before. In Eph. 3:9 he tells us it is his desire that: “all men (might) see what is the fellowship of the mystery...”, and the word “fellowship” can be translated as “partnership”. And this is what we have with our God -- a partnership. How “involved” we are in this partnership is up to us. In this partnership, Paul says there are unsearchable riches of Christ. We might call these riches “unfathomable riches”, or things hard to grasp or difficult to understand. I don’t want to get too confusing here, but there are some things we just cannot understand or grasp (or even accept), until we have developed or matured in our relationship with Him. It is the same as with any child, who must both grow and learn. The child must learn to sit before he can stand, stand before he can walk, and he must learn to walk before he can run.
However, many Christians get into some kind of frenzied hurry to “get all”, “know all” and “achieve all” that they can in the Lord, behaving as if they are in competition against other Christians, and -- in fact -- many are in competition. Others act as if they are doing things to please or impress God. But this could not be any further from the Truth of what God wants (or expects) of us. All gifts, all giftings and all callings of the Lord are to build, strengthen and unify the Body of Christ, and competiveness and striving against a brother or sister does not fit into God’s Perfect, Holy Plan...not even a little bit. I have said this many times before, and I will say it many times again -- there is no room for, there is no need for, and we must never, ever strive against the Body of Christ, for -- in doing so -- we are actually fighting against Jesus Christ Himself. It is, let’s not forget, His Body.
[I have, I believe, covered that area pretty thoroughly in the study on Zadok, the righteous minister (for Zadok means “righteous”). (If you’d like to view that specific teaching, you may go here: The First Problem Area - Striving for Excellence. The page title says: “Music Can Be a Big Problem”, but you’re at the correct place).]
Godly, Righteous Striving
If there is to be any striving in the Body of Jesus Christ, let it be “righteous” striving. Let it be for the faith of the gospel, “that you stand fast in one spirit, with one mind, striving together for the faith of the gospel (Philippians 1:27)”. No division, no competing, no envy or jealousy is called for here. Paul even said he was striving, in Colossians 1:25-29...
“I am made a minister, according to the dispensation of God which is given to me for you, to fulfill the Word of God. Even the Mystery which has been hidden from ages and from generations, but is now made manifest to (all) His saints. And God has made known what is the riches of the glory of this Mystery among the Gentiles. (This Mystery is) Christ in you, the Hope of Glory. This is what we preach, warning every man, and teaching every man in all wisdom, that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus. This is why I also labour, striving according to His Working, which works in me mightily.”
Concerning gifts, and following this thought, Paul says, in 1st Corinthians 14:12 : “Even so you, seeing that you are zealous (or desirous) of spiritual gifts, seek that you may excel to the edifying of the church.” Or, we might rightly conclude that Paul was saying: “see that your edification of the Body exceeds any and all desires you may have to possess a spiritual gift or to spiritually ‘be’ somebody.” There is no room in the Kingdom of God for debutantes, dilettantes, self-made men (or women), nor is there a need for self-seekers or self-promoters of any kind. All Paul did, all he desired and all he taught was founded on this one goal: That the Body of Christ be edified, and every member be strengthened and matured. This should be our goal as well.
If we possess the gift of faith, our hearts, our minds and our one sincere goal would be to build up, to strengthen, to edify and to encourage the Body of Jesus Christ. Too many, who claim they have this gift, do not accomplish this goal; they, instead, have other goals, other agendas, other desires...and most of these desires end up hurting, bruising and dividing the Body of Christ. This kind of action...this kind of attitude...this kind of division is not the purpose of the Gift of Faith. To illustrate this point, here is a quote from David Wilkerson’s April Message, titled The Costliness of Possessing Jesus Christ.
I must say, that quote above pretty well sums up what we’re discussing here. Now, for the sake of clarification and as a point of reference, let’s take a look at a true man of faith.
Apostles of Faith
I have never personally known an “apostle of faith”; at least not as far as my understanding goes, although there was one man who came close to the definition. Had I had the time to get to know him better, I think I might be able to confirm that belief. However, I did know of a man who many called an apostle of faith, and that would be one Mr. Smith Wigglesworth. I have also known of some men who claimed to “know” Mr. Wigglesworth, “riding his coat-tails”, as it were. These same men tried to declare themselves “apostles of faith”, but at the Bible Institute I attended, they were only referred to as faith “teachers”. There is a difference (though apparently not recognizable by many Christians). The bottom line is: “Association” with some minister does not make you that minister. Nor are you able to possess their gifts or callings, simply because you “were around them” for some period of time. As we have stated countless times: Jesus Christ gives Gifts and Callings, and the Holy Spirit gives Gifts; men, however, do not, for they cannot.
No matter how hard we plead, beg or try...if God has no intention of imparting to us a gift, we simply shall not “get it”. And, conversely, if God has decided to lay upon us a gift, no matter how hard we may try to dodge it or deny it, that gift will stay with us till we see Him in heaven. Why do I say that? As we have already stated (and if we haven’t, then we will here), Romans 11:29 tells us: “The gifts and callings of God are without repentance”. In other words, God will not take them away from us, and man cannot take them away from us. Do I fully understand all of the ramifications of this principle? No, I do not, but I accept it anyway. What I do not understand, I know I can faithfully leave in the Hands of the Lord.
There are, however, repercussions as to what we “do” with our Gifts, or Talents, as Jesus called them. Here is the “other side” to this thing of Gifts and Callings. While God will not “take them away from us”, and man cannot “take them away from us”, we may certainly attempt to “hide” or “deny” our gifts. But even if we do, they are still ours until the Day we stand before the Lord. If you’ll read Luke 19:12-26, you’ll notice the story of the “slothful and unprofitable servant” (as referred to by Jesus in Matthew 25:26-30). In this story, we can see that he had his single “talent” taken from him (Matthew 25:26-29 & Luke 19:24-26). I only mention this, because this story strongly implies that in spite of the servant being “slothful and unprofitable”, he still had a talent in his possession when he stood before the Lord. Yes, he had to relinquish it, but the Lord did not “take it away from him” until Judgment Day.
Back to Bible school for a moment. My two most favorite teachers at Christ for the Nations were Gordon Lindsay and Charles Duncombe. Brother Lindsay was a man that many, including myself, loved and admired greatly. He taught things concerning the end-times, writing many books on the Revelations of John, the Book of Daniel and the entire end-time scenario. Brother Duncombe was an excellent Bible scholar who had come from England. As I said, these two were my favorites, but admiring them, or even being close to them, had no effect beyond what my heart and spirit learned and “absorbed” while under their ministry. What I mean is: As greatly as I admired Brother Lindsay, I am not an “end-time teacher”, and as greatly as I admired Brother Duncombe, I still do not speak with a British accent!
It was not my calling to study and teach on end-time things, and I was not born an Englishman with a proper British accent. But, had I wanted to, I could have forced myself to study and teach the end-times. And if I had truly wanted to be foolish, I could have “picked up” an English accent. But foolishness like this is not faith, nor is it even remotely resembling the gift of faith. Now...on the other hand, I did learn a very great deal from these two men of God: I learned how to love the Body of Christ, and I learned to love and respect the Word of God. Oh, I learned other things as well, such as how to enjoy life, but I think I’ve made my point.
Now, regarding Smith Wigglesworth, I have read from five or six different books about the man’s life and ministry (plus, I have heard intimate things from those who knew him), and from all that I can gather, one of the things this man possessed -- beyond any great faith he may have had -- was something even more valuable and much more unique: He had a genuine love and concern for the welfare of the Body of the Lord Jesus. And that, dear saints, is something that marks the true man or woman of faith. That is also something greatly lacking in most (if not all) of the “faith” ministries I have seen over the past thirty-three years. You can say (and even shout!) that you “have faith” all day long, or you can even “demand” that everyone refers to you as a “faith person”, but if you don’t have real, Godly “evidence” (i.e. “fruit”) of your faith in building up, edifying and unifying the Body of Christ, then... well, let’s take a moment to listen to what James had to say about faith:
As I said, from all that I gathered, this man of God, Smith Wigglesworth, had a real Godly Love for the people of the Lord, moved by compassion time and again, thereby “showing” his faith by his works: Loving and caring for the Body. And that is how we all should be, especially if we claim we have been given the gift of faith. Paul tells us in 1st Corinthians 12:25-26...
Take a look around you today, in whatever group of believers you associate with, and ask yourself this question: Do we care for, love and nurture the Body of Christ? Are we one? Are we unified and undivided? Or...are there divisions, rifts and schisms in our Body, in our church? And if we claim there are none, then how do we fare with other churches, and other members of the Body? And what about the Gift of Faith? Is it present? Or, as with many (or most) of the other Gifts, is it also absent?
Okay - So What Is This Gift of Faith?
Two things, in closing: First, take a look once
again at (1st Corinthians 12:8-9 & 11)...
The Spirit of God chooses to give His Gifts to whomever He desires, for the express purpose of edifying, strengthening and blessing the Body. Nowhere in scripture will you find that any Gift is to be used for the furtherance of any man or woman, and certainly not for the furtherance of their ministry.
Secondly, now scroll back up to the top of this page, viewing once more some of those verses we looked at earlier. Or, if you prefer, I’ve condensed that thought here, sans the verse locations...
- Faith is the “substance of things hoped for and
the evidence of things not seen”
- The “just shall live by faith”
- Our faith can “make us whole”
- With faith we can “move mountains”
- And finally, “without faith it is impossible to please God...for he that comes to God must believe that He Is, and that He is a Rewarder of them that diligently seek him.”
All of these verses depict or explain faith. They also describe how a man or woman will live their lives, and what they will be able to do, should the Lord place into their lives the Gift of Faith. It will not cause them to create some sort of exclusive “bless me club”, where only a select group of believers can “benefit” from their ministry; nor will they go about, showing themselves as some kind of “super Christian”. Neither will they divide or cause strife in the Body. What they will do is build, build, build and continue to gladly build, until Jesus comes, or until He calls them home. And by “build”, I do not mean some man’s own personal ministry. I mean “build”, as used in Romans 14:19, & 1st Thessalonians 5:11, but especially in Ephesians 4:12: “...perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ”. That word “edify” means to “build, construct, strengthen and to embolden” (and, to “embolden” means to impart courage or to encourage.) So, in light of that, we can safely conclude that any so-called “faith minister” who chides, ridicules or belittles the Body of Christ is NOT, N-O-T, “edifying the Body of Christ”, no matter how influential, no matter how popular they are.
More than anything else, as I read of the life of Mr. Wigglesworth, I came away with this understanding implanted firmly in my heart: Anyone with any Gift will strive to bless the Body of Christ with peace, rest, encouragement and strength -- and edification will always, always, always be the primary thrust of their lives and the ultimate goal. And anyone with the Gift of Faith will even be more careful to fulfill that goal, letting nothing hinder from blessing the wonderful Body of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
Finally -- Those who have been given the Gift of Faith will be able, at times, to do the unthinkable...
But above all and every wonderful miracle or exciting evidence of faith, there will be this one true evidence: Everything that is accomplished by the Gift of Faith will bless, encourage, edify and strengthen the Body of Christ. And... the Gift of Faith will also draw all hearts to the Lord Jesus Christ. As we have repeated over and over, the Spirit of God gives these nine gifts as He desires -- not as man might desire. He gives them to whomever He wants, whenever He wants and wherever He wants. As hard as he may try, man cannot just decide he wants a certain gift and grab it! And I like that. I like how God protects us by protecting His Gifts. Oh, we may be fooled, at times, by man’s tricky and deceitful ways, and man might convince us that he has some “valuable” gift, but if he and the gift do not match up to the strict criteria of building and edifying the Body of Christ -- or if all the praise and glory seems to go to that person claiming to have the gift -- then you can rest assured that God did not give them the gift.
The only exception (and there are always exceptions to any principle) would be where some wayward soul, who had once possessed a pure relationship with the Lord, has now departed from the True Path of the Lord and His Gifts. I am reminded of a minister (and, sadly, the history of the church is filled with men and women like this) who once had a wonderful healing ministry, only to lose the blessing of it after he had succumbed to alcoholism and debauchery. I recently heard a saintly man of God sadly recounting the last days of this once-great minister, as he was finally found dead in a motel room he shared with his mistress. He was surrounded by empty bottles of alcohol. How sad and how tragic. And yet, even as he neared death -- which no one argues came as the result of sin in his life -- the Lord still honored His Word and the Gift in this back-slidden man’s life. He continued to heal people in this man’s ministry.
I realize this sort of thing is extremely hard to understand, but I could cite you many such cases, where the Lord continues to bless His people through the now-disgraceful ministry of wayward and back-slidden souls. And why does this happen? Because, as we said, any gift and calling is given for life. What we do with it is what will determine how we either glorify Him or disgrace Him. May we, with any gift and any calling, always be careful to glorify and exalt Him, bringing grace and blessing to His dear Body.
The teaching on the “Gifts of Healing” will come next, though it is not finished... when it is, you will be able to link to it from here. I will also place a link at the top of my Home Page, where all our New Teachings are listed. It may be a while before I get to it, so please do check back. If you have a real interest in the Gift of Healing, please email me... it might help get me “jump-started”!
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