Chapter 5 - You Are Responsible
Let us look at one more verse where this concept is explained. Notice what he says in verse 26 of James chapter2: “For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.” Now get what he is saying. Faith is likened to the body, which can do nothing without the spirit because your spirit is what gives life to your body. The body without the spirit is dead. It is inoperative. It takes a spirit to give animation, life, and physicality. It takes a spirit to cause the body to do anything. So, now notice what James says. He says that you belief (or your conviction or your persuasion without corresponding action) is dead. It will produce nothing.
Now that you understand this working definition of faith, let us look at Romans 10:17 again. A working definition mean that any place where yo see the word faith in the New Testament, you can insert that working definition and read it with clarity. So, in Romans 10:17 (KJV) where Paul says, “So then, faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the word of God,” we can insert the James 2:14 working definition – conviction or persuasion plus corresponding action. Therefore, conviction or persuasion plus corresponding action cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” This is mind-blowing! This proves beyond a shadow of doubt that your believing is not faith and your faith is not believing. Until your believing becomes faith, nothing is going to happen.
What this verse is telling you is that you will not act upon what you say you believe unless you are hearing what you say you believe. (Read that sentence again!) Now, you believe it before you act on this, but believing is not faith, and faith is not believing. Remember, it is never faith on the inside of you. ON the inside of you, it is a conviction or a persuasion. On the inside of you, it is something you believe, but that is not faith. It is not faith until it has a corresponding action. So, it is not faith until it can be heard or see. Because of that, nobody else can ever give you faith. Preachers cannot give you faith. A preacher can help you to believe or to become persuaded and convinced, but that is not faith.
I know I am being very methodical, but I must make sure you understand this completely. Once you get this, you will know how to get faith for whatever you are believing for. You will stop waiting for angels to drop by in the night with little “faith packages.” You will stop waiting to get faith until you can get to church, the next miracle meeting, the next crusade, or the next conference. You will start getting faith the way you are suppose to get it – by yourself through the authority that Jesus has given you as one who is blood-bought and full of His Spirit, with access to His Word!
But faith is not believing. Now get it, you cannot believe until you have heard, but the Bible says “you do believe what you have heard.” See, hearing causes me to believe. Notice the tense of what he says.
You can believe what you have heard, but believing only becomes faith by what you are hearing. I am going to say it one more time. Get it! You can believe what you have heard – past tense. In other words, I have heard it and I believe it, but that is not faith. You can believe what you have heard, but believing becomes faith only by what you are hearing – present tense. Notice what he says, “So then faith cometh.” Faith is not present when you get the Word; it cometh. What happened is when you heard, you believed. Faith, however, does not come until you keep hearing what it is you have heard that you believed. That is why I am telling you that no other individual can give you faith. I submit to you that when the Bible says “faith comet by hearing,” it tells us that the only way faith is going to come is if you start speaking the Word to you, not if somebody else speaks the Word to you. This is the only way for you the gain faith because nobody else is going to be around you all the time speaking the Word to you.
