Objection: Mark 11:23 Is Just an Expansion of Mark 11:22 About Trusting IN GOD

The objector is upset about “word of faith” teaching that we can “use our faith” as oppose to “trust in God,” so he explains that when Jesus talked of speaking to a mountain, it was not your “force of faith” that would move the mountain independently of God, but rather God who would move the mountain in response to your faith.  Thus, you must have faith in God rather than faith in your faith.

And I actually agree completely with the above reasoning!

The objector does not agree with “word of faith” teaching that Mark 11:22 actually means “Have the God-kind of faith,” which doesn’t really imply any faith “in God.”  I discuss this issue extensively in the long article What Mark 11:22 Really Means.  My conclusion is that although the Greek literally says “Have faith of God,” the best translation still is the traditional “Have faith in God.”  So I am actually on the objector’s side as opposed to what SOME (but definitely not ALL) “word of faith” preachers say about Mark 11:22, and the main objection would really be directed at someone other than me.

In Scripture, blind men were not healed until they encountered Jesus, who told them that their faith had made them well.  But their faith in what?  Just their faith that it would happen?  If that were the case, they would already have been healed by their faith – they wouldn’t have needed Jesus!  But the context is that Jesus asked, “Do you believe that I am able to do this?”  Their faith was in Jesus’ ability, not in their ability to see themselves well independently of Jesus.  So this still lines up with the “have faith IN GOD” reasoning – you are still trusting God, not your faith’s ability to make something happen.  Rather, you believe that God keeps His Word and will do exactly what He said.

So a note to objectors to divine healing – the mere fact that a preacher may preach some doctrine that you identify as “word of faith” teaching does not necessarily mean that he preaches everything else you’ve heard a “word of faith” preacher say.