Big Healing Book - Is Faith a Force?

Is Faith a Force?

The basic definition of a force is something that pushes or pulls an object. 1 Corinthians 13:2 talks about faith that could move mountains. So based on that, faith would not only qualify as a force, but it would be greater than any natural force known to man.

Jesus told people who weren’t even saved that their faith had made them well. Faith can lead to physical changes in your body when you exercise it in the area of healing, believing what Jesus did to purchase your healing as a New Testament saint. So to that extent, it again could be considered a force.

However, faith is not a force like gravity, electricity or magnetism. While God set up the laws that concern these, He does not have to get specifically involved with their exercise. If you jump off a building, you will be accelerated toward the earth, speeding up 32 feet per second every second until your abrupt deceleration once you hit the ground. It doesn’t matter what your relationship with God is; it’s just a physical law. Faith, on the other hand, depends on knowing what God has said about a subject because faith acts on what God says.

Faith is definitely not an impersonal “force” like “The Force” in a popular sci-fi movie franchise. Jesus never preached, “Use the Force” (not even in Luke), but He did urge people to use their faith.

However, there is a kind of faith that is NOT a force according to Scripture – dead faith, which is faith without works (James 2:14-26). The works here are not good works that earn you merit points, but rather actions that correspond to faith. So dead faith is faith without corresponding actions. Another way to put it is that dead faith is merely mental assent that the Word is true. You do not receive anything from God by merely mentally assenting that the Word is true. Real faith always ACTS.

Here is where the “God’s sovereignty” crowd gets it wrong. They will tell you that faith is simply trust in a God who can make sovereign exceptions to His own rules. After all, Jesus superseded the law of gravity when He was NOT accelerated toward the bottom of the Sea of Galilee when He walked on water. But God doesn’t break His Word. When you know what He says about something, you can act on that fact. For example, once hear the good news about Jesus, you can receive Him as Lord and be forgiven for all your sins and be made worthy to go to heaven. Once you hear the good news about healing, you can receive the healing that Jesus paid for you to have. Your faith is in what God has said and in His willingness to ALWAYS back His Word no matter what.

One frequent complaint about faith teachers is that they make it seem like you have to muster up enough “faith force” in and of yourself. Maybe some present it that way, but I don’t. God has GIVEN you the measure of faith that you can exercise (Romans 12:3) – your faith is God’s gift to you (Ephesians 2:8-9), not something that you have to whip up on your own. The devil wants you to get introspective, always asking yourself if you have enough faith for something. His answer will always be “No!” He wants you to look at YOUR FAITH rather than looking to JESUS, the Author and Finisher of your faith (Hebrews 12:2)!