Faith Is a Gift from God
God has given the measure of faith to every man, including YOU (Romans 12:3). This faith is something you have as a gift that God gave you; it is not something that you worked up yourself. If it were, you’d have something you could brag about, but because it is God’s gift and not the result of your efforts, you have no grounds for boasting. Paul put it this way:
Ephesians 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.
Most Christians take this passage to read that salvation is the gift of God rather than the result of human effort. While that IS a true statement, it is not the statement that Paul made in this passage. What he actually said was that you were saved through faith, and this faith was not “of yourself” (something you came up with) but was rather the gift of God. This faith that saved you was not the result of your works, lest you should boast. Most people read the pronoun “it” as referring to being saved through faith (a verb), but a pronoun replaces a noun, not a verb, and “faith” is the noun before the pronoun “it."
Why is this difference important? So many Christians have put the pressure on themselves to “work up” faith. Yet this verse is plain that faith is something that God has already given you, not something that you have to work up or work for. If you have the mindset that YOU have sole responsibility to “raise your faith level,” you will miss the glorious fact that JESUS is the “Author and Finisher of your faith” (Hebrews 12:2).
You still must hear the Word of God so that your God-given faith can latch onto specific things. If you don’t know what is yours, your God-given faith can’t receive it. But when you hear what God says about something specific, you can exercise your God-given faith for that particular blessing and walk in that blessing.
The devil likes to whisper, “Your faith is defective. You’ll never get anything.” But since when does God give out defective merchandise? What kind of faith do you think that Jesus is the Author of? Faith that doesn’t work? It would be totally out of line with God’s character to give you a defective gift. The faith that is yours as a gift from God DOES work! Others have used that faith to receive miracles, and so can you.
If you’re a Christian, you have ALREADY used the faith that God gave you to believe for the most important thing of all – the new birth. You can use that faith for other things now, including healing.
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