The Dispositions Faith Takes

Heb 11:1 Now faith is the SUBSTANCE of things hoped for, the EVIDENCE of things not seen.

Your posture, body language, attitude, the steps you take, the sacrifices you make, even the quality of your praise shows just as much faith you are walking in.

Even the bunch you decide to hang around with reveals to a large extent your faith towards God and His Word.

I will dare say that our disposition regards to the Word reveals the depth of our faith.

Faith is a substance, and substance here talks about something concrete and tangible; an assurance if you will; an evidence. If it isn't firm on your inside it is not faith, it is just a mental assent or agreement in your head- it is head faith.

You see there is head faith, and also  heart faith(which is the Bible faith). I will talk extensively on this on another post.

It is only when we become fully persuaded about what we see, hear and believe from the Word that we will become faith-full and begin to assume a disposition that will position us to receiving from God what He had already accomplished for us in Christ Jesus.

If you take time to study the book of Hebrews chapter 11, the famous Bible chapter on faith(faith hall of fame), you will see the disposition this men and women as mentioned there assumed; obtaining for themselves a good report(Heb 11:2)

So lets see some of the dispositions faith assumes from these verses.

1. Faith speaks of things which do not appear(things that are not seen and brings them into the realm of the physical): Heb 11:3 Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed BY THE WORD OF GOD, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear.

Faith is seen in the kind of confessions we make. It is seen when we constantly speak God's mind(His Word) over everything, situation, and in every place. You are never in faith until you start confessing what you believe; until you start speaking the Word.

2. Faith offers sacrifices to God(sacrifice of praise, of substance, of time, of love, and so on): Heb 11:4 By faith ABEL OFFERED UNTO GOD a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts: and by it he being dead yet speaketh.

Faith is present when we give and continue to give as we have purposed in our heart. You see, we are not in faith each time we struggle in giving of any kind.

God's Word says honor Me with your substance and with the fruit of your increase. It also says, give to the poor and I will pay you back for it. He said in His Word that when we sow, it will come back to us in 30, 60 and an 100 fold.

Now, show me anyone that finds it hard to release anything and I will show you someone that is not walking by faith in God's Word. This is true because, if one really believe the Lord and believes in the integrity of His Word, he will give, considering all His promises towards our giving.

3. Faith walks with God in fellowship(this pleases the Father well ): Heb 11:5 By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death; and was not found, because God had translated him: for before his translation he had this testimony, that HE PLEASED GOD.  Gen 5:24 And ENOCH WALKED WITH GOD: and he was not; for God took him.

Whenever we shy away from a place of fellowship and intimacy with God, we show our faithlessness. God will never waste your time. Whatever time you invest in His presence both in cooperate fellowship with the brethren(fellow Christians)and in quite time between you and Him; it is a time well invested no matter what.

4. Faith Makes Moves( in reverend regard towards God's instructions): Heb 11:7 By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, MOVED with fear[reverent regard], prepared an ark to the saving of his house; by the which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith.

The steps we take in responds to God's Word and Instruction unveils the level of our trust in Him.

Have you been instructed in your heart by God to do anything? Well what are you waiting for, take steps. If you are not, you aren't in faith.

5. Faith Obeys and acts on the Word of God : Heb 11:8 By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, OBEYED; AND HE WENT OUT, not knowing whither he went.

The Law of Sowing and Reaping

Mark 4:26 And he said, SO IS THE KINGDOM OF GOD, as if a man should CAST SEED into the ground;
27 And should sleep, and rise night and day, and the seed should spring and grow up, he knoweth not how.
28 For the earth bringeth forth fruit of herself; first the blade, then the ear, after that the full corn in the ear.
29 But when the fruit is brought forth, immediately he putteth in the sickle, because THE HARVEST IS COME.

The Law of Sowing and Reaping said, give and it will be given back to you in multiplied proportion.

If then Grace had provided us with everything that pertains to life, were is the place of sowing and reaping, don't we already have everything in Christ?

Firstly, Grace cannot be taken out of the law of sowing and reaping any more than the law of sowing and reaping taken or wished away from Grace.

Grace available to mankind today is founded on this very law.

Christ sowed Himself in the grave and reaped for Himself the whole world when he rose from it; however only those who will come to Him in faith will receive it.

The Father to sowed His Only Begotten Son, Jesus Christ the Savior, that He might take up as a harvest countless begotten sons with Christ Jesus.

I will refrain from using this word "law", even though it is law, before we begin to associate it with the law of Moses. Sowing and reaping is a principle in God;a protocol around His very nature if you will. It predates the law of Moses.

This principle has been before time itself began.

Gen 1:3 And GOD SAID, Let there be light: and there was light.

According to Jesus Christ on His parable of the Sower, words are seeds in the kingdom of God, and if what He said is true(which it is because He is Truth,) then the phrase "and God said, let there be light" were seeds sown by God in the beginning, and the harvest  was "and there was light."

So you now see that this principle of sowing and reaping is a protocol around God, and it is on this principle that the whole world is sustained. He sowed His Word and He reaped the universe.

Gen 8:22 WHILE the earth remaineth, SEEDTIME and HARVEST, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night SHALL NOT CEASE.

Secondly, you aren't sowing anything that God in His Mercy and Grace had not sown in Christ already.

What you are doing each time you sow a seed, maybe in cash or kind to someone, you are actually giving a body to the seed God had already sown in Christ for that person.

You see, that person probably prayed earlier that day for provision, which is a seed of prayer, and then God in turn used your own seed of cash or kind as the harvest to that person.

Now, that provision had already been provided by Christ on the cross, but it only came to that person as a harvest when you decided to act in faith in giving to that person; so in effect, your giving gave body(as harvest) to what Christ had already provided(as seed).

The Law of Faith

Rom 3:27 Where is boasting then? It is excluded. By what law? of works? Nay: but by THE LAW OF FAITH.

Faith takes a disposition to what it believes. Bible faith is simply aligning, with corresponding action to what one has believed from the Word.

Faith is according to the Word, is, the fulfillment(or enforcing) of what had already been said or spoken concerning a matter by acting on it.

So if the promise of God as seen from scripture says you shall live and not die, faith then comes in a situation that would have warranted death and preserve the life, fulfilling that scripture.

So it is also with receiving the person of Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior and what His finished works has provided after His sufferings, death, burial and resurrection. Every in the Word can only be received by faith.

This is a Word of promise from scripture for example,

Gen 22:18 And IN THY SEED shall ALL the nations of the earth be BLESSED; because thou hast obeyed my voice.

and this is how the law of faith concerning that promise after it fulfillment in Christ would respond:

Rom 10:9 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.


In a nut shell this is what the "Law of Faith" is: it is seeing or hearing about the goodness of God in His promises towards us and the blessings and power supplied by the works of Christ(Grace), believing or trusting in Him in that light and then, taking a disposition to that effect to appropriate it to your circumstances.

In fact for the new testament believer, there is only a few promises left(to be received or revealed on the Lord's day), every other thing has been given to us in Christ already. This a whole other teaching, so look out for it. For now see Eph 1:3,11; 2Pet 1:3-4.

From all these you will see that believing is just a part; but taking a disposition in alignment to what we claim to believe makes it perfect; Rom 10:9 reveals this. It said, "... if thou shalt confess with thy mouth..., and shall believe". The passage is saying you don't believe alone(talking about "position"), but to confess also(talking about disposition).

Believing without corresponding action is lifeless faith as seen in James 2:20, "... faith[believing] without works[corresponding action] is dead". Believing in the other hand, with corresponding action, that is taking a disposition with it, is living faith. Perfect faith, as also seen in James 2:22, "seest thou how faith[believing] wrought with his works, and by works[corresponding action] was faith made perfect?".

THE LAW OF WORKS

Rom 3:27 Where is BOASTING then? It is excluded. By what law? OF WORKS? Nay: but by the law of faith.

For one to fully understand and tap into the fullness of what Grace is, and provides, we must or should at least understand what "The law of works" is.

The first and foremost thing one should know about "The law of works" is that it is a contract or covenant entered into based on a reward system in which the rewards could be accessed only when the full term of work is met.

Here is the contracts of the law of works according to scripture:

Deut 28:1 And it shall come to pass, if thou shalt hearken diligently unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to observe and to do ALL HIS COMMANDMENTS which I command thee this day, that the LORD thy God will set thee on high above all nations of the earth:

Deut 27:26 Cursed be he that confirmeth not ALL the words of this law to do them. And all the people shall say, Amen.

Gal 3:10 For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse: for it is written, Cursed is every one that continueth not in ALL THINGS which are written in the book of the law to do them.

See, it is all or nothing in this system. If you can't meet up with all, you are cursed(no reward), it doesn't matter how nearly you came close. If your neighbor met 10% and you 99.999%, you both are still on the same boat as much as this system is concerned. It is difficult to imagine right? Well look at it here in the Word,

Jas 2:10 For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in ONE point, he is guilty of ALL.

So if you are a 1 or a 99 in this system you are intrinsically the same, Fallen Short!

I have always wondered why some people are so full of themselves that they actually believe there can qualify or attain to the demands of the law on their own, without Christ, knowing fully well that the Word says in James 4:17 that, " Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin."

In Christ - prt 10

Col 2:9 For IN HIM dwelleth ALL the fulness of the Godhead bodily.
10 And YE ARE COMPLETE IN HIM, which is the HEAD OF ALL principality[ruler] and power[authority]:

Some say that being born again is the first step after which you will need to follow some other stringent rules in other to guarantee your place in heaven or to find favor with God. They say you will have to do a set of other things to stay in the good books of God.

Have you ever heard this, "you will have to Pay price to work in this or that anointing"? Let  me just tell you this, Christ has paid all the price for you there is to pay. Any other price you think your are paying or should pay is fruitless. Please don't stop reading, continue on.

Any thing or process you are going through now by the help of the Holy Ghost for spiritual growth-what you may be tempted to call paying price, is nothing but applying yourself to grow in the knowledge of the depth and benefits of the price Christ had already paid. Please understand this, You are not the one paying anything. Imagine your father spending 10 years of his life savings for a car he wants to get you for your sixteenth birthday and you, after getting this car go around telling your friends of the price you payed learning to actually drive the car. Isn't that what you were suppose to do after such a gift? It is no price - your dad did the price paying.

So also is your journey to spiritual maturity in Christ, it is a duty not a price. You see, you actually owe it to yourself to study and pray so as to getting a revelation about such great a love displayed by God your Father in sending His Son to die on the cross for you, then sending the Holy Spirit in your heart to teach about the very same love.

The Word of God from the above verses is presenting to us that the believer is Completed, perfected and filled in Christ(that is, in his or her Spirit) Who is the Head of all principality and power.

Heb 10:14 For by one offering he[CHRIST JESUS] HATH PERFECTED FOR EVER them[THE BELIEVER] that are SANCTIFIED.

Notice the term "hath" as stated in the above verse, notice that it is in the past tense. This signifies that the perfection is a done deal for anyone that will receive Christ, that is become sactified in Him.

The perfection is both forever! So there should be no addendum whatsoever.