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The Light
Dr David Wood
THE LIGHT
EIGHT SPIRITUAL LAWS
FAITH – THE SECOND SPIRITUAL
LAW
Greetings in the
name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ! February is here, another month of
victory lies ahead. It is so wonderful that we do not need to look ahead with
fear but with the firm knowledge that He has already provided the victory over
whatever we may face. Every trial is an opportunity to show the goodness of our
God. That is why James said to count it all joy when we encounter trials and
temptations. Our adherence to the Word of God, our confidence in the Word of
God, being fully persuaded of the Word of God and fully reliant on the Word of
God (Gospel system of Truth) is faith which is our topic for this month.
1 Corinthians
15:57-58 (KJV)
57 But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through
our Lord Jesus Christ.
58 Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always
abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not
in vain in the Lord.
If we truly
believe that God has given us the victory over all adversity then we do not need
to pay it very much attention. The only attention it requires is for us to
confront the situation with the Word of God and then move back to the mission of
building our family name. As sons of God we are to build the family name.
Because we know we have the victory we are stedfast and unmoveable. What does
the curse have to do with us? Nothing! Forget the curse except to remove it
thoroughly from your life and then extricate it completely anywhere you find it
in your path. We are to bring the Garden of Eden into the earth to show our God
strong, to establish His covenant, to show that the children of God dwell in the
delightsome land. You will not be able to keep people out of the Church when
they see the real thing in operation.
The second
Spiritual Law of God to be established in the earth was faith.
Genesis 1:1 (KJV)
1
In the beginning God created the heaven and the
earth.
Genesis 1:3 (KJV)
3
And God said, Let there be light: and there was
light.
We know that God
(Elohiym) the all mighty, the all powerful Creator God created in faith because
Romans 14:23 tells us that what “is not of faith is of sin.” And we know there
is no sin in our God. There is an intimate connection between love and faith.
Love is what gives strength to our faith.
Galatians 5:6 (KJV)
6 For in Jesus Christ neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor
uncircumcision; but faith which worketh by love.
So, no love no
faith. Think of it this way. Gods love is without end, without exhaustion
therefore so is His faith. There is nothing God can not do as a result. If we
will only learn to perfect (mature) our love then there will be nothing beyond
our reach as well. Now this is not independent of God it is in Christ Jesus.
Remember this verse?
Matthew 19:26 (KJV)
26
But Jesus beheld them, and said unto them, With men this
is impossible; but with God all things are possible.
Notice the
little word, with. With God all things are possible. In other words when we
line our words and our motivations with His it is a done deal.
Hebrews 11:1 (KJV)
1 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of
things not seen.
Another word for
substance is assurance. So let us read Hebrews 11:1 again. Now faith is the
assurance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. Now let us take
some of our definition of faith and insert it. Now reliance upon the Gospel
system of Truth is the assurance of things hoped (the picture of what we want)
for, the evidence of things not seen. In Hebrews 11:3; it states, that through
faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God. Just as God
framed the worlds so do we frame our world. Whatever your world is today, you
have created by the words of your mouth. Faith was the substance that brought
the earth and the heavens into existence. They were framed by the word, by the
Wisdom of God. So out of the physically unseen, out of faith became the
substance that we do see, the heavens and the earth. Faith is the substance of
things hoped for and God had a hope and that was for an earth inhabited by His
children, a man (persons) created in His image and likeness (Genesis 1:26).
Hope in the Scripture is the earnest expectation of imminent manifestation of
the thing hoped for. The question with Biblical hope is not if it will happen
but when. The exercise of faith is to believe and act on the Word of God. When
we do the thing hoped for, that mental image, will become a present, physical
reality.
Before Isaac
every time Abraham introduced himself he was saying I am the father of many
nations and he had no children. This was the evidence of his faith. A son or
seed was his hope. Many times the evidence that we believe and are acting on
the Word of God is our words. Abrams tryst with Hagar was not faith but a
natural attempt (materialism) to satisfy what would require a supernatural
solution. Our words and actions demonstrate our faith or the absence of faith.
If we waver not (James 1:6-7) in faith powered by love, right motives will bring
the manifestation of the thing hoped for into our lives just as it did for God,
for Abraham and many others (read Hebrews Chapter 11). Faith is believe and act
on the word of God. You could also say it is to believe and act on the love of
God or the perfected love of our born again spirit. Remember agape (love) is a
deep and constant interest in a person, it is a function of the will, it is
right or righteous, it reflects covenant (blood), and it is not dependent on the
recipient in any way. It is solely dependent on the giver.
The opposite of
love is fear. Fear is not believing and not acting on the love of God.
Galatians 5:6 tells us that faith worketh by love. The other side of that coin
is that unbelief worketh by fear. God is a faith God. Faith is one of the
fruit of the spirit as you may remember from Galatians 5:22. Some versions or
translations of the Bible use faithfulness there. I do not believe that is
correct, although faithfulness would be a consequence of our love for God which
powers our faith which is a consequence of our believing Gods love. God has
also dealt every man a measure of faith (Romans 12:3). This measure of faith is
a part of our spirit man. When we are saved we receive the spiritual organ of
faith. As we exercise the spiritual organ of faith it grows and becomes
stronger. We increase our faith by the word of God.
“Romans 10:17
So then
faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.”
This could read;
Faith comes by hearing the divine utterance of God.
Hearing the word
of God is the only formula for developing our faith, for increasing our faith.
It is by the word of God. Remember, without faith it is impossible to please
God.
“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.”
Scripture is
clear that we must live by our faith.
“Habakkuk 2:4
Behold, his
soul which is lifted up is not upright in him: but the just shall live by his
faith.”
“Galatians 3:11
But that no
man is justified by the law in the sight of God, it is evident: for, The just
shall live by faith.”
“Hebrews 10:38
Now the just
shall live by faith: but if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in
him.”
From these
verses it should be abundantly clear that we must live by our faith. We must
believe God and act on what He has said. This is the only thing that is
pleasing to Him (Hebrews 11:6, Hebrews 10:38).
We must walk in
love and by faith to walk in and exercise the power of God, effectively utilize
the gifts of the Spirit and ooze the fruit of the spirit. Love is the
foundational fruit of the spirit and spiritual law. If you are not exercising
love you will not exhibit the other fruits of the spirit. When you are not
walking in love you are walking in sin. Why is that? The opposite of love is
fear.
Revelation 21:8
(KJV)
8 But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and
murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall
have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the
second death.
Rather sobering
isn’t it? If you are not walking by faith you are walking in sin (Romans
14:23). Just as God (Love) framed this physical universe by faith filled words,
so we frame our universe by our words. All that surrounds us is the result of
our words and the milieu surrounding them. Is it love or fear, faith or
unbelief? If our lives are motivated by love (agape) and we speak words of
faith than our universe will be like His. That does not mean that attacks will
not come they just will not stick. Remember how I started this letter, we have
the victory! (1Corinthians 15:57)
Remember love is
the power and the motivation. Faith is the substance for physical change or
spiritual change. Faith is the substance (assurance) of all things. Faith is
to believe and act on Gods word. Faith is calling things that, be not as though
they were already in existence, just as God did when he spoke in the creation.
“Genesis 1:3
And God
said, Let there be light: and there was light.”
When He spoke
there was no physical substance for light but following the words of faith
powered by love physical matter of light appeared.
God speaks to
Abram in Genesis 17 and changes his name.
Genesis 17:4-6 (KJV)
4 As for me, behold, my covenant is with thee, and thou shalt
be a father of many nations.
5 Neither shall thy name any more be called Abram, but thy name shall
be Abraham; for a father of many nations have I made thee.
6 And I will make thee exceeding fruitful, and I will make nations of
thee, and kings shall come out of thee.
Genesis 17:16-20
(KJV)
16 And I will bless her, and give thee a son also of her: yea, I will
bless her, and she shall be a mother of nations; kings of people shall be
of her.
17 Then Abraham fell upon his face, and laughed, and said in his
heart, Shall a child be born unto him that is an hundred years old? and
shall Sarah, that is ninety years old, bear?
18 And Abraham said unto God, O that Ishmael might live before thee!
19 And God said, Sarah thy wife shall bear thee a son indeed; and
thou shalt call his name Isaac: and I will establish my covenant with him for an
everlasting covenant, and with his seed after him.
20 And as for Ishmael, I have heard thee: Behold, I have blessed him,
and will make him fruitful, and will multiply him exceedingly; twelve princes
shall he beget, and I will make him a great nation.
I want you to
pay particular attention to verse seventeen. The punctuation is not properly
done by the translators. Notice that “Abraham fell upon his face,” this is a
position of worship or submission not as was interpreted a position of glee or
unbelief. Abraham’s laughter is laughter of victory then he makes his faith
statement which brought Isaac to pass. Also remember that in the King James
Version of the Bible word in italics are inserted by the translators. “Shall be
born unto him that is an hundred years old and shall Sarah that is ninety years
old bear.” The same as with Jesus the word became flesh.
He believed the
love and spoke and acted upon the word of God and Isaac became.
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