The Strand Study Bible

DEUTERONOMY “MINI” SERIES The Doctrine of Faith

I. The biblical definition of faith

Lesson #1. What is faith? (Deut 32:20)

Since faith alone pleases God (Heb 11:6), then we as God’s creation must be able to define it if we are to please our Creator. The following four statements accurately sum up the definition of faith: 1. Faith always deals directly with God’s Word (Rom 10:17) In other words, there is no faith apart from the Word of God. 2. Faith can only be measured by the yardstick of our obedience (Mt 9:27-29) According to the Bible, there’s:

* great faith (Mt 8:5-10) * little faith (Mt 14:22-31) * weak faith (Rom 14:1) * no faith (Deut 32:20)

Question - Where is the level of your faith? (Lk 8:22-25) 3. Faith is the result of giving God the “last say” (Heb 11:1-6) We may not always see the results of our faith, but God does (Mt 9:1-2). 4. Faith is not believing the Bible in spite of the circumstances; faith is obeying the Bible in spite of the consequences ( Dan 3: 16- 18 and Heb 11:32-34). Henry Ford once noted: Most people think faith means believing something; oftener it means trying something, giving it a chance to prove itself. 1 ( Psa 34:8 ) NOTE – There are two kinds of faith: (1) saving faith (Rom 10:8-13); and (2) serving faith ( Jms 2: 1-7, 14b -20), each with different stipulations. Although both kinds of faith require giving God the “last say,” only one ( serving faith ) of the two faiths has multiple types and requirements for it. For example: 1. Whereas there is only one type of saving faith – immediate (Eph 4:4-6 and Jn 3:3) and eternal (Jn 10:27-29), there are several types of serving faith – no faith, which is gradual and temporal (Deut 32:20); weak faith, which is gradual and temporal (Rom 14:1); little faith, which is gradual and temporal (Mt 6:30 & 8:26 & 14:31 & 16:8); and great faith, which is gradual, but eternal in rewards (Mt 8:10 & 15:28 and Lk 14:12-14). 2. Whereas there is only one requirement for saving faith –trust the SAVIOR ( Jn 3:16 & 6:44 & 12:32 and Rom 10:13/ Lk 23:42 -43), there are several requirements for serving faith –trust the Rewarder (Heb 11:5-6 and I Cor 3:13-15 and II Cor 5:10-11 ); avoid being a respecter of persons (Jms 2:1-9); and works (Jms 2:10-18). According to Luke 17:3-4, Jesus told his disciples that there were going to be times during their lives when it would seem difficult to obey the Scriptures. He taught that if they learn to obey even the simple commands of God on a daily basis, that they would increase their faith to the degree that they would obey the Word of God during the most difficult times (Lk 17:5-10). For example, if a Christian has a hard time tithing when things are going good, how is he going to tithe when things start going bad? According to II Timothy 4:6-8, Paul finished his course and kept the faith. Question is: How did he do it? How did he stay obedient to God all of his life? According to Paul’s own writings (Epistles), there are five realizations that, if practiced, will enable a believer to finish his/her course and thus keep the faith for a lifetime: 1. Realize doing well isn’t natural (Rom 3:10,23 & 5:12, Psa 51:5, Job 5:7 & 14:1 and Prov 20:9) Paul reminds us that in order to keep the faith we must realize that all of us wake up every morning with a sinful nature, and not wanting to obey God (Isa 1:16-17). Therefore, we must “learn” to do well. 2. Realize in order to do well you must “think” well (Rom 12:1-2 & 4:22-24, Colo 3:9-10 and II Cor 4:16) Whenever God wishes to work out a problem in our life, He first begins with our mind, for the mind is what controls the body (Prov 23:7, Mt 12:34 and Lk 24:38). 3. Realize thinking well is a command (Phil 2:5 & 4:8-9) God didn’t ask us to think right; He told us to think right. He knows what is best for us. 4. Realize thinking well must be scheduled (Deut 6:1,6-9). If it is true that the mind controls the body (and it does - Rom. 12:1-2), then what controls the

II. The biblical application of faith

Lesson #2. How to increase one’s faith (Lk 17:1-10)

Lesson #3. How to keep the faith for a lifetime (II Tim 4:6-8)

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