There is a lot of talk about faith today--in fact probably more talk than anything else.
Man has been long convinced that one of his greatest needs is faith. As a result of this philosophy, man has become “need” conscious instead of God-conscious. The irony is that for a Christian there is no need for faith because faith has no need. What I mean is that every believer already has Christ living within Him and Christ does not lack faith. The fullness of the Godhead dwells in Christ, and we are complete in Him (Col. 2:9-10).
How then can a believer lack faith or anything else if Christ lives within his heart? Doesn’t Christ have enough faith for Himself? If according to the scriptures, the believer lives his LIFE by the faith of the Son of God, how can he lack faith? Answer: Only if he looks to himself and not to Christ. Personally, I think the only time a Christian feels that he lacks faith is when he looks at physical things. We are told not to look at physical things because they are temporal, but to look at Spiritual things because they are eternal.
Faith has nothing whatsoever to do with physical things. How can you look to something you can see to prove that you have something you cannot see? The trouble with Spiritual things, of course, is that you can’t perceive them with your senses--they are invisible. Well, that’s why we are born again and made a new creature. Christ gave us His own faith so we could perceive invisible things--Spiritual realities. That’s because God himself is Spirit and we couldn’t please Him without faith.
When the Bible says that faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen, the substance it’s speaking of is not an object, but a life--a Spiritual life--a reality in the heart of the believer.
Paul said, “The just shall live by faith.” The literal meaning of this is, “The righteous are having their life because of His faithfulness.” What he means by that is the believer actually lives by the faith of the Son of God, not his own faith. My faith is not enough to keep me living. My faith peters out--only God’s faith is eternal and perpetual.
If my own faith were sufficient, then it would not be necessary to have Christ live within me. He could have remained on earth physically and not bothered to send us the Comforter. But, it was He Himself that said it is expedient for you that I go away, for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come to you.
Why do we need a comforter? That’s easy, because there is a lot of trouble on the outside, and man needs comfort on the inside. That’s exactly where Christ lives today--in you!
Again, about this thing called faith, Hebrews says that it is a substance. What kind of substance? Is it a tangible substance? Of course not. We know that faith deals with the Spiritual realm--the unseen; that’s why it is called faith. Substance in this case means reality or facts. But you can’t see this substance nor feel its reality nor touch its facts. That’s because you can’t see Spirit and that’s exactly what Christ in you is--Spirit, the Spirit of Truth. Just because you can’t see Him, doesn’t mean He isn’t there. You can’t see gravity either, but it’s present at all times.
Paul said that Christ dwells in the heart of the believer by faith. But whose faith is this, mine or His? If it were my faith, I assure you that sometimes He would be there and sometimes He would not--but He said that He would never leave us or forsake us. He actually believes this! Aren’t you glad that He has faith and knows what to believe? He says, “Though we believe not, yet He abides faithful for He cannot deny Himself.”--ll Tim 2:13
Another thing: This business about having to believe God for “things.” I dare say that it is of the devil. That’s his trick to get our mind off of Christ and on the problem. As soon as I focus on “things,” I have taken my mind off of Christ, the author and finisher of my faith. The reason here it is called my faith is because He gave His faith to be mine.
I don’t have to believe God for things. I am just told to believe (rest in) God. He has already promised that He would supply all my needs according to His riches in glory and He also tells me how--by Christ Jesus.
It sounds like all my needs are already met in Him. If I have Christ Jesus, then that’s how my needs are met. What are my real needs--my basic Spiritual needs? I need to know that I am loved and cared for--I need security. Well, Christ is all of that to me because Christ is secure.
My responsibility is just to look to Him in all things!
Aren’t you glad that God, the Father, has made Christ in you to be the substance of all the faith you need. There is no such thing as a faithless Christ.
So now you can put the word Christ in place of the word “faith” and say, “Christ is the substance, the reality of faith living within me right now.” Aren’t you glad you have enough faith for today and every day that will come your way?
Warren D. Rogers