Faith in biblical context: part 2

The previous post provided a word study of the various words in the original languages of the Bible for faith, noting in particular how the Hebrew scriptures generally speak of faithfulness rather than faith.

The Word of Faith movement "emphasizes speaking, stating, or confessing verses found in the Bible, called the Word of God. The belief is that if one believes the Word of God and confesses it then the believer shall receive what they confess" [1]. This appears to be strongly supported by Mark 11:22-24, but I think the Word of Faith folk are missing some important points. Firstly, this is not meant to be a formula used as a magic wand to get what you want. We are to yield our desires to God, and then ask and trust (πιστις, pistis) God to fulfill them in our lives. If we really believe, we can rest in him, in "trusting faith" that he will provide. We don't have to wind ourselves up to believe, cranking up our levels of faith to some high, often elusive, level. We don't have to repeat certain words over and over to persuade our spirits to believe; that's brainwashing and it's based on a wrong interpretation of Romans 10:17. This verse does not state that faith comes "by hearing the word," but that "faith comes by hearing, and hearing by (or through) the word." It's not about hearing the word spoken again and again; it's about our ability to "hear" coming through the Word. Hearing, in this case, suggests perceiving something spiritually, not simply hearing an audible message. That is, receiving the Word enables us to perceive God's revelation. (Nevertheless, to hear spiritually does require one to hear the Gospel audibly -- or to read it.)

The ESV says, "faith comes from hearing" (emphasis added), not "by hearing" because the Greek is εξ (ex, meaning out of, or from). Moreover, the text says "the word of Christ", though the King James Bible used a manuscript that said "God," not "Christ". Textual criticism suggests "Christ" was the original word. So, thus far, we have, "faith comes from hearing, and hearing by/through the word of Christ." What word of Christ is the text talking about? All his words? One of his commandments in particular? No, "the word of Christ" is not Christ's word, but rather "the word about Christ" -- that is, the Gospel. If you are not convinced, try reading the verse in context: verse 14 speaks of someone preaching the Gospel to unbelievers; verse 15 speaks of sending people who proclaim the Gospel; verse 16 indicates that not everyone believes the Gospel. Verse 18, following our verse, says that the Gospel has been proclaimed abroad. So taking the word of Christ to mean the Gospel makes perfect sense. Thus we have come from: "faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God" (often wrongly shortened to "faith comes by hearing the word of God"), to "faith comes from hearing, and hearing [comes] through the word about Christ [i.e. the Gospel]."

Finally, the word in this case is not λόγος (logos) in the Greek manuscripts, but ῥῆμα (rhema). It's not just talking about a single word, but rather a statement. I believe the statement it refers to is the Gospel -- the good news about Jesus' life, death and resurrection, making a way for the forgiveness of sin for all who believe (and go on believing) in Him. Putting it all together, my understanding of Romans 10:17 is that faith comes from spiritually perceiving [a divine revelation], and spiritually perceiving [this revelation] comes through the proclamation of the good news about Christ.

This has nothing to do with picking a verse from the Bible that contains a promise we have to meditate on in order to get God to deliver it! It's about hearing "the word of Christ" (Gospel). The Word of Faith people often claim the promises of blessing for themselves, not acknowledging that they are usually assuming they can take the conditional blessings of God's covenant with Israel and apply them unconditionally to themselves -- without any of the curses, of course! They argue that "all promises of God are yes and amen in him [Christ]" (2 Corinthians 1:20). However, this is not a licence Christians to adopt every blessing in the Mosaic Covenant. Rather, it means that every time God fulfills a promise, he does so through Christ.

That said, if we receive a genuine prophetic word (perhaps even through reading the Bible) about a specific response God will make to our prayers, we can rest in that. We don't need to wind ourselves up to a certain level of faith; the revelation itself brings a "knowing" that God will do it, and this allows us to rest (not strive to believe) in that word. This is a far cry from speaking a promise to oneself again and again like a mantra in order to generate sufficient faith to receive it.

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[1] Word of Faith. (2011, October 13). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 07:13, October 29, 2011, from http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Word_of_Faith&oldid=455301677