Big Healing Book - How Can My Faith GROW If I Already Have the Fixed Measure of Faith?

How Can My Faith GROW If I Already Have the Fixed Measure of Faith?

The “measure” of faith in Romans 12:3 is metron, a fixed measure. God does not play favorites by giving some people more faith than He gives others.

However, some people’s faith is greater than other people’s faith, and that has always been true. Some Old Testament saints walked in faith and many others did not. A Roman man and a Syrophoenician woman had “great faith” (Matthew 8:5-13, Matthew 15:22-28) while others had “little faith” (Matthew 14:31). Romans 12:3 cannot be interpreted to mean that your faith cannot grow, in light of 2 Thessalonians 1:3: “We are bound to thank God always for you, brethren, as it is meet, because that your faith groweth exceedingly, and the charity of every one of you all toward each other aboundeth.” Also, Paul anticipated that the Corinthians’ faith would increase: “Not boasting of things without our measure, that is, of other men's labours; but having hope, when your faith is increased, that we shall be enlarged by you according to our rule abundantly,” (2 Corinthians 10:15). We all start at the same level, but faith can grow, and even grow exceedingly. Therefore, you cannot say that faith has to remain at the same level. Given that Jesus is both the Author and the Finisher of our faith (Hebrews 12:2), it is illogical to think that once you’re given faith, that faith just stays the same for the rest of your life. If that were the case, it wouldn’t need to be “finished” once you had it, so Jesus would not be the Finisher of your faith.

One analogy is that God gives everyone the same number of muscles. Some people have built their muscles and are stronger than people who have not built their muscles. However, working out does not increase the number of muscles in your body! It only strengthens your existing muscles that God gave you. God gave you the muscles but how strong you are is up to you, not God. It depends on what you do with your God-given muscles. Movie “action heroes” (and their stunt doubles) did not INVENT muscles – they only used them.

However, that still leaves a technical question. Is “growing” in faith really exercising it more even though you have a fixed amount, as opposed to actually getting “more faith” on the inside to work with? This is actually quite a tricky issue. We’ve seen that faith can be small or great and that it can grow. What grows, your general ability to believe or the ease with which you exercise a fixed measure of faith that cannot grow?

I see “growing in faith” as being tied to Romans 10:17. The more you know the Word, the more you can believe for. Like everyone, you already have the general capacity to believe (Romans 12:3), but it lies dormant until you hear the Word and know specifically what to believe.

Thus, when the Bible talks about faith growing, it means your faith walk as opposed to your innate ability to believe. You get used to siding with the Word instead of siding against it, and the more you do that, the easier it gets.

Consider this: When Peter got out of the boat to walk on the water, he was exercising his faith in a way that the other 11 disciples did not. His “faith” was greater than theirs as far as his water walk went. It was only when he allowed fear to enter in by gazing at the circumstances that he began to sink, at which point Jesus called him someone of little faith. Did Peter’s ability to believe suddenly diminish in a matter of seconds? No, he just misplaced his focus and yielded to sense knowledge rather than Jesus’ command. He failed to continue USING the faith that had allowed him to walk on the water.

Then consider that when the disciples were in a boat during a storm, Jesus asked how it was that they had no faith (Mark 4:40)! This could not have meant that they had no capacity to exercise faith, which Romans 12:3 tells us they had. They simply did not exercise faith at that moment. If they truly had no capacity to believe, Jesus would have had no right to be frustrated with them for not exercising something they didn’t have! Thus, we have to conclude that great faith, small faith or no faith are descriptions of how someone exercises the faith that he already has.

One might cite this verse as “proof” that some people don’t have faith yet:

1 Thessalonians 3:2:
And that we may be delivered from unreasonable and wicked men: for all men have not faith.

However, that still must be seen in the context that not everyone exercises faith. If these men actually had no faith as opposed to having the measure of faith, it would be unreasonable for God to sentence them to eternity in hell because they did not believe a gospel that they had no faith to believe!

Trying to measure the current “size” of your faith is counterproductive anyway, given that the tiniest amount of faith could move a mountain or a tree. Thus, you do not have to try to do things to increase your capacity to believe in general. However, hearing the Word makes it easier to exercise faith for particular things. Looking at circumstances makes it harder.

When it comes to faith, everyone starts out the same but not everyone finishes the same. If you want be a person of “strong faith,” you need to keep “working” your faith. Keep acting on the Word and receiving the blessings Jesus died for you to have. Don’t put it off until you have some huge urgent need in the future. We all have areas where we can exercise our God-given faith in the present. The more you do it, the easier it gets. Something that might have thrown you for a loop in the past can become an easy matter in the future. Don’t say “I can live with it” when something is stealing, killing or destroying you – or even just annoying you. Exercise your faith and live without it!