How do We Increase in Faith?

March 6, 2008 |

Author Theophilos

Christian faith is not our intellectual resolve and commitment to something, this is just religious belief.

Faith is not our hope in a promise.

Faith has to do with our experiencing the object of our faith in our heart.

God has never spoken to me, or anyone I’ve ever known, verbally, or through any means of direct revelation. He has spoken to us in His written Word. But, I know Him through a “spiritual” communication in my heart. (It is not our conscience; I will cover that in a later topic.) I believe God speaks to us spiritually with a still small voice deep in our inner being which is also sometimes called our “heart”, when we come to understand the “Truth” of His scripture for all areas of our life.

If this is true, then I understand faith to be “responding to what God puts into my heart“.

This understanding of faith is consistent with scripture and clarifies how faith should work in our life. It is consistent with Eph 2:8-9 “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.”, so our faith has to be responding to God’s grace which He puts into our heart. It also explains Romans 14:23b “for whatsoever is not of faith is sin.”, so no matter how good we think it is if we are not responding to what God put into our heart, then it is not of faith and it is sin. So, not only is faith without works dead, but works without faith are sin.

⁴ By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous, Heb 11:4 (KJV)

¹ And it came to pass after these things, that God did tempt Abraham, and said unto him, Abraham: and he said, Behold, here I am Gen 22:1 (KJV)

¹¹ And the angel of God spake unto me in a dream, saying, Jacob: And I said, Here am I. Gen 31:11 (KJV)

² And God spake unto Israel in the visions of the night, and said, Jacob, Jacob. And he said, Here am I. Gen 46:2 (KJV)

⁴And when the LORD saw that he turned aside to see, God called unto him out of the midst of the bush, and said, Moses, Moses. And he said, Here am I. Ex 3:4 (KJV)

We are not only “saved” by faith, but we are to walk by faith.

Galatians 3:1-5

1 ¶ O foolish Galatians, who hath bewitched you, that ye should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ hath been evidently set forth, crucified among you? 2 This only would I learn of you, Received ye the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith? 3 Are ye so foolish? having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh? 4 Have ye suffered so many things in vain? if it be yet in vain. 5 He therefore that ministereth to you the Spirit, and worketh miracles among you, doeth he it by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith? (KJV)

Think about this. If faith is responding to what God puts into my heart, can I increase my faith by my resolve and commitment? Do I increase my faith by doing more for others? The answer is no.

We increase our faith by knowing and responding to what God puts into our heart. And there is a big difference between what God puts into our heart and what someone else puts into our mind.

How do we know what God puts into our heart? I believe it takes time. We must learn to ignore our own thoughts and imaginations, and the thoughts and imaginations of others, and this is not easy. Our tendency is to get on with it. We have a hard time waiting and seeking. We “hear” God by reading and contemplating on His Word, I believe when we hear God we will feel enlightened and it will be about something that will make a difference in our life. It is not just reading and memorizing scripture. That is knowledge.

Knowing what God puts into our heart, will have to do with understanding the fullness of God’s grace in our life as revealed to us in the Scriptures.

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