Faith Comes by Hearing the Word of God
Faith Comes by Hearing the Word of God
When the Devil was given dominion and man
became a being of body and soul, what happened to
man’s relationship with God?
Ephesians 2:11, 12:
Wherefore remember, that ye being in time
past Gentiles in the flesh, who are called
Uncircumcision by that which is called the
Circumcision in the flesh made by hands;
That at that time ye were without Christ, being
aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and
strangers from the covenants of promise,
having no hope, and without God in the world.
They were without God because when man
sinned he lost his spirit, his innate relationship with
God. Man, being without spirit, was without God
and without hope in this world.
Ephesians 2:1:
And you hath he quickened, who were dead in
trespasses and sins.
What does dead mean? Man appeared to be
lively. He had body and soul, but was dead in
trespasses and sins because he had no spirit. Psalms
says that all men are conceived and born in sin.
This does not mean that the parents were sinful in
the way in which they had intercourse. Man is
conceived and born in sin because he has no spirit.
Having only a body and soul, how does a natural
man ever again have a connection with the spiritual
realm? Spiritual things can only be known by the
spirit, even as things in the natural realm can only
be known by the five senses. Since natural man
cannot know God, what is the bridge that spans the
chasm between the natural man and God? The
bridge is faith.
But natural man does not have faith because faith
is a spiritual element. How then does he get faith to
span that chasm?
Romans 10:17:
So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing
by the word of God.
Faith comes to the natural man by hearing. The
man of body and soul can hear. The man has
freedom of will and he has a mind so that he can
believe if he wants to.
“So then faith cometh by hearing....” By hearing
what? What John or Henry says, or what Reader’s
Digest, Life, Look and Time say? Faith does not
come that way. Faith comes by hearing one thing –
the Word of God.
Before going further, let us clarify the difference
between the two words “faith” and “believing.”
These two words are not synonymous though the
King James and other translations have used them
interchangeably. Faith is an inner spiritual development,
while believing is an action of the human
mind. The natural man of body and soul can
believe; but the natural man cannot have faith.
Galatians 3:22:
But the scripture hath concluded all under sin,
that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might
be given to them that believe.
The natural man of body and soul, the unsaved
man, does not have faith. Faith is spiritual and the
natural man cannot have it. But the man of body
and soul can believe.
Galatians 3 continues, “But before faith came....”
Then there must have been a time when faith did
not exist.
Galatians 3:23,24:
But before faith came, we were kept under the
law, shut up unto the faith which should
afterwards be revealed.
Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to
bring us unto [until] Christ, that we might be
justified by faith.
The law was the schoolmaster until Christ, that
we might be justified by faith. Whose faith? The
faith of Jesus Christ. We, natural men of body and
soul, are to be justified by faith.
Galatians 3:25:
But after that faith is come, we are no longer
under a schoolmaster.
Since faith came, I am no longer under the law
because Christ was the end of the law.
If faith came by Jesus Christ, was there faith in
the Old Testament? Was there then faith in the
Gospels? There must not have been because Jesus
Christ came to make it available, and the law was
not entirely fulfilled until Pentecost. Absolutely
nobody could have faith until Jesus Christ made
faith available.
Jesus did not bring it when He was born in
Bethlehem; He did not bring it when He died upon
the cross; He brought it when all was fulfilled on
the day of Pentecost. There is no faith in the
Gospels or in the Old Testament. When we read the
word “faith” before the book of Acts, we are simply
reading an error in translation. How many times do
you think the word “faith” appears in the Old
Testament in the King James Version? It appears
only twice, once in Habakkuk 2:4 and once in
Deuteronomy 32:20. Reading “faith” in context,
one will see that it means “faithfulness, steadfastness.”
There is a vast difference between being
faithful and having faith. Most people think there is
faith in the Old Testament because of Hebrews 11:
“By faith Noah,” “By faith Abraham,” “By faith
Isaac,” “By faith Jacob,” “By faith Sara.” Yet in the
Old Testament, it does not say that Abraham had
faith. It says that Abraham believed God, Isaac
believed God, Jacob believed God. These men had
body and soul; they could believe for they had a
mind; they could hear The Word; they could see the
Ten Commandments and believe what they saw.
Galatians 3:6 says of Abraham, “he believed God,
Faith Comes by Hearing the Word of God 231
and it was accounted to him for righteousness.”
Hebrews 11 should accurately read, “By believing
Noah,” “By believing Abraham,” “By believing
Isaac,” and so forth.
In the Old Testament, God covered their sins.
Members of the Church of Grace do not have their
sins covered; they are completely washed away. He
cleanses us. God can cleanse us because one thing
has come into being and that is faith.
Romans 10:4:
For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness
to every one that believeth.
When the man of body and soul hears the Word
of God and believes what he hears, Romans 10:9,
he receives the “faith of Jesus Christ” and
righteousness.
Romans 3:22:
Even the righteousness of God which is by
faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them
that believe....
How much faith is the faith of Jesus Christ; All
one is ever going to receive. How can a person get
more faith when The Word says that the “faith of
Jesus Christ [is] unto all and upon all them that
believe.”?
Romans 12:3:
For I say, through the grace given unto me, to
every man that is among you, not to think of
himself more highly than he ought to think; but
to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to
every man the measure of faith.
What is that measure of faith which God deals to
every man when he believes? The Word says that it
is the faith of Jesus Christ.
Galatians 2:16:
Knowing that a man is not justified by the
works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus
Christ....
We are not justified by the works of the law; we
are justified by the faith of Jesus Christ.
Galatians 2:20:
I am crucified with Christ [The original text is:
I was crucified with Christ.]: nevertheless I
live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the
life which I now live in the flesh I live by the
faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and
gave himself for me.
When Christ was crucified, I was crucified with
Him; nevertheless, I am still living – body and soul.
Not only do I have body and soul, but I have spirit
when I am born again. And now I live not by my
senses, but by the faith of Jesus Christ which is
spiritually given to me. I simply utilize my senses
to put that faith in operation.
Look at Ephesians 2:8. “For by grace [divine
favor] are ye saved through faith....” Whose faith?
Not my own, but the faith of Jesus Christ which is
the bridge that spans the chasm between the natural
man of body and soul and God who is Spirit.
Ephesians 2:8–10:
For by grace are ye saved through faith [The
faith of Jesus Christ is God’s gift to every man
Faith Comes by Hearing the Word of God 233
when he believes on the Lord Jesus Christ.];
and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of
[from] God:
Not of works [If salvation is of grace, it cannot
be of works.], lest any man should boast.
For we are his [God’s] workmanship, created
in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God
hath before ordained that we should walk in
them.
When this natural man of body and soul hears the
Word of Truth and believes, he receives the faith of
Jesus Christ. A person can never receive or attain
more faith than that. When a person receives this
faith, he joins a family. God is the Father and we
are His sons.
Galatians 6:10:
As we have therefore opportunity, let us do
good unto all men, especially unto them who
are of the household of faith.
Who makes up the household of faith? Those
who have been given the faith of Jesus Christ
because they believed.
Let us say that I am unsaved – a natural man of
body and soul. I hear The Word; I believe what I
hear. And, when I believe, God implants in me the
faith of Jesus Christ, which is “unto all and upon all
them that believe.” Since He has put this faith in
me, I am now of the household of faith. God is my
Father; I am His son.
How are we to treat the other members of the
household of faith? The Word of God says that we
are to be especially good to the household of faith.
Often in our earthly domain we are good to
everyone outside the household; within the household,
we act unkindly toward each other. Christians,
too, cannot seem to get along with each other. We
are always fighting over whether or not Adam had a
navel, or whether or not six angels could sit on the
head of a pin, or whether we ought to march on
Washington or away from Washington. Christians
are not at all good to each other. And yet The Word
says that we are to be especially good to the
household of faith. Why? Because it is God’s
household and we therefore share so much in
common.
Titus 1:4:
To Titus, mine own son after the common
faith....
The “common faith” is that faith which is
common to every born-again believer. It is the
household faith.
Titus 1:13:
...Wherefore rebuke them sharply, that they
may be sound in the faith.
Make sure that the sons of God are acting
properly as a part of the household of faith.
There are other kinds of faith in the Bible besides
household or family faith. Once we have become
members of the household of faith, we then can
operate the manifestation of faith (believing) so that
we can live with the power of God. The manifestation
of faith (believing) is special renewed mind
believing according to the revelation manifes-
tations. Renewing one’s mind consists of putting
God’s Word in the mind and then living it.
The manifestation of faith (believing) is often
called one of the “gifts” of the Spirit. They are not
gifts of the Spirit; they are manifestations of the
spirit, as recorded in I Corinthians 12. The manifestation
of faith is the manifestation of believing.
Galatians discloses another type of faith and that
is faith as a fruit of the spirit. Good fruit comes
from good cultivation. To cultivate, one uses good
fertilizer or natural plant food. Galatians 5 tells
about our personal, spiritual gardens.
Galatians 5:22, 23:
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace,
longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,
Meekness, temperance: against such there is no
law.
This is the fruit of the spirit. Notice that the word
“fruit” is in the singular. It is stated that way
because they are all in a group or on one cluster like
grapes. Galatians 5:22 does not say, as do many
commentaries, that love is a fruit of good works.
When it says, “fruit of the Spirit,” it means fruit of
the spirit. If it had meant fruit of good works, it
would have said fruit of good works.
One produces the fruit of the spirit by operating
the manifestations of the spirit. The person who has
the faith of Jesus Christ has the ability to operate
the nine manifestations. He can speak in tongues, he
can interpret, he can prophesy, he can operate the
word of knowledge, the word of wisdom, discerning
of spirits, faith (believing), miracles and
healing.
The various types of faith are: (1) believing,
(2) faith of Jesus Christ, (3) household faith,
(4) manifestation of faith (believing), (5) fruit of the
Spirit faith. We must be alert to the various usages
of this word if we are going to rightly divide the
Word of Truth.
It was a great revelation to me when I discovered
that never in the Word of God is the Church told to
have faith. Why? Because to be born again of God’s
spirit is to have the faith of Jesus Christ. We are
born again of God’s Spirit, we are His workmanship,
we have the faith of Jesus Christ. We
cannot get any more faith than that. Every born-again
believer has equally-measured faith. If God
had given you more faith when you were saved than
I received, then God is a respecter of person, which,
of course, is a contradiction to the Word of God.
The youngest child in the family of God has the
same amount of faith as the oldest saint. All have
the faith of Jesus Christ. Since most people who are
born again of God’s Spirit do not know that they
have the faith of Jesus Christ, they cannot use it.
This explains the apparent difference in Christian
people: why one believer is, so to speak, an anemic
Christian while another believer becomes a very
healthy or robust Christian. They both have the
same faith but one reaches a higher plateau of
Christian living than the other one because he
knows more, he believes more, and therefore, he
operates more. Christian anemia comes from being
taught little, believing less, and operating even less.
The person who believes more receives abundantly;
the other who believes little receives in proportion.
Nobody ever receives until he first believes.
The Old Testament and the Gospels are about
men who existed solely by their five senses. They
could only understand and believe what they could
see for faith had not yet come.
John 6:30:
They said therefore unto him [Jesus], What
sign shewest thou then, that we may see, and
believe thee? what dost thou work?
In the Gospels, faith had not yet come so men
had to see first and then they would believe. They
could understand nothing except that which was in
the senses realm. Another example of this is given
in John 20:8 when two disciples saw Jesus’ empty
tomb.
Then went in also that other disciple, which
came first to the sepulchre, and he saw, and
[he] believed.
He was a sense-knowledge man who saw the
empty tomb. He saw and then he believed. Another
familiar example is found in John 20.
John 20:24–29:
But Thomas, one of the twelve, called Didymus,
was not with them when Jesus came.
The other disciples therefore said unto him
[Thomas], We have seen the Lord. But he said
unto them, Except I shall see in his hands the
print of the nails, and put my finger into the
print of the nails, and thrust my hand into his
side, I will not believe.
And after eight days again his disciples were
within, and Thomas with them: then came
Jesus, the doors being shut, and stood in the
midst, and said, Peace be unto you.
Then saith he to Thomas, Reach hither thy
finger, and behold my hands; and reach hither
thy hand, and thrust it into my side: and be not
faithless, but believing.
And Thomas answered and said unto him, My
Lord and my God.
Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because thou
hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are
they that have not seen, and yet have believed.
Until the day of Pentecost, people saw and then
believed. Today we believe first and then we see.
To those living on and after Pentecost during the
Church Administration Romans 10 gives the steps
for salvation.
Romans 10:9, 10:
That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the
Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that
God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt
be saved.
For with the heart man believeth unto
righteousness; and with the mouth confession
is made unto salvation.
The man who confesses Jesus as Lord and believes
that God raised Jesus from the dead receives
salvation. He believes first and then he receives.
II Corinthians 4:18:
...we look not at the things which are seen, but
at the things which are not seen: for the things
which are seen are temporal; but the things
which are not seen are eternal.
Anything that can be seen is in the category of
the senses; and the things of the senses are always
temporal. But that which you cannot see – the spirit
of God, the faith of Jesus Christ, the righteousness
of God, justification, sanctification – all these are
the things which are eternal.
How can a man of body and soul get the faith of
Jesus Christ? How can he get the justification of
God, redemption and sanctification? The answer is
simple. To receive all this from God we must do
one thing – believe. The next question is: what are
we to believe?
To answer this, we must first see what God
wrought in Christ, which in turn Christ works
within us as we of body and soul believe.
Jesus Christ was God’s plan from the beginning
to manifest God who is Spirit on the level of the
senses so that sense–knowledge man might be
redeemed. God in His foreknowledge knew that
Adam and Eve would sin and that He would have to
send His Son to redeem mankind. God, being
consistent and law–abiding, had to work within a
legal framework to redeem man. Since by man
came sin and death, by man also would have to
come the redemption from sin and death. Jesus
Christ was a human being who physically had all
the fundamental life processes and endured all
things. Hebrews 4:15 says that He “...was in all
points [things] tempted like as we are, yet without
sin.” Jesus Christ was God’s plan for manifestation
in the senses world. John 14:9 records, “...he that
[who] hath seen me hath seen the Father.” Jesus
Christ manifested God in the world which understood
only what it saw, heard, smelled, tasted or
touched.
To understand God’s manifesting Himself in the
flesh through His Son, let us first see how God,
Who is Spirit, could have a Son in the flesh. First of
all, most people do not understand The Word, nor
do they understand God and how He operates. They
do not differentiate between the words “formed,”
“made,” and “created,” or “body,” soul,” and
“spirit.” If we do not understand these truths, it is
impossible to understand how a woman could
conceive by the power of God and bring forth the
Lord Jesus Christ. The most enlightening verse on
the conception and the bringing forth of the Lord
Jesus Christ is in Hebrews.
Hebrews 2:14:
Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of
flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took
part of the same; that through death he [Jesus
Christ] might destroy him that had the power of
death, that is, the devil.
Every child who is born in this world is a
partaker of the flesh and the blood* from his
mother and father. Hebrews 2:14 says, “...He likewise
took part.” It does not say that Jesus Christ
partook; He took part of the same.
Children partake of both flesh and blood, but
Jesus Christ did not partake of flesh and blood; He
only took part. According to the flesh, He was born
of Mary; but according to the soul life that was in
His blood, He was by divine conception. Thus
Judas spoke a truth when he said, “I have betrayed
the innocent blood.”
God’s Word says that Jesus was conceived by
the Holy Spirit and born of Mary. He was
conceived by God. That does not mean that God
had intercourse with Mary. That is impossible
because spirit is spirit; natural realm is natural
realm. God created life within Mary’s reproductive
organs. God once again had to create – He had to
create life in order to bridge the gap between His
being Spirit and Mary’s being flesh.
If He had wanted, God could have created soul
life in any woman after Genesis 3:15. The question
then is, why did God wait thousands of years after
the fall to create life within a woman so that Christ
could be born? Every woman from Eve to Mary
was physically capable of bringing forth the Christ.
The reason Mary was the one who brought forth the
Messiah after thousands of years is that she was the
first woman who ever literally and unreservedly
believed what God said. It was she who said, “...be
it unto me according to thy word....” This is why
Mary conceived and brought forth the Lord Jesus
Christ. Jesus did not partake of the soul life of man,
however; He only took part, the flesh. He was born
of Mary, but the seed in Him was created by God.
The word “partake” in Hebrews 2:14 is koinoneō
which means “to share fully.” Children share fully
in the flesh and blood of their mother and father.
But where it says, “He also himself likewise took
part of the same,” the words “took part” in the
Greek are the word metechō which means “to take
only a portion.” The part that He took was of the
flesh; but the soul life in His blood was of God.
In the Christ Administration, it was Christ’s flesh
which manifested God to the senses man; but it is
the blood of Jesus Christ that purifies, redeems and
makes possible the abundant life for mankind. By
His stripes we were healed and by His shed blood
we have the remission of sins. According to the
Word of God, when Jesus Christ was circumcised,
we were circumcised** with Him; when He died on
Calvary’s cross, the Word of God says that we died
with Him; when He arose, we arose with Him; and
when He ascended into heaven, we ascended with
Him. The Word of God says in Ephesians 2:6, we
are seated with Him in heavenly places while we
are still here upon earth. What a tremendous
testimony.