Chapter 5 - Faith Cometh
We have become too dependent on preachers. We want them to stay around us all the time and preach the Word or give as a word. God has given you thousands of “words” in the Bible, so how is it that you have not faith? Let me break it down to you.
The preacher preaches something to you from the Word of God, and you see it in the Word. When the preacher preaches it to you, you believe it because you can see it in your own Bible. You also believe it because the Hoy Spirit witnesses to your re-created, born-again spirit that it is truth. At that point, you believe what has been preached to you, but you do not have faith for what has been preached to you because faith cometh.
Look at verse 14 again: “How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard?” This tells me that the objective of my believing is so I can say something, not just so I can be convinced. He says, “How shall they call?” The objective of getting the Word is so you can “call.” The objective of getting persuaded, or the objective of believing something, is so that you can call. It is not so that you can walk around saying, “I believe, I believe, I believe.” There are a lot of people who believe in prosperity; they believe the Bible says they should righteous. However they do not have faith for it because they have not been calling Christ their Righteousness – “But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption:” (emphasis added 1 Corinthians 1:30).They believe it but do not have faith for it because they have not been saying it.
The objective of my getting convinced or persuaded is so I can say something. So when the preacher tells me and gives evidence from the Word that Jesus is my faithful High Priest – “Wherefore in all things it behoved him to be made like unto his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people.” (Hebrews 2:17). The objective is to persuade me and cause me to believe it. Then I can use that belief and persuasion to begin telling myself that the Lord is my faithful High Priest, therefore I come boldly to the throne of grace that I may obtain mercy, and find grace in the time of need.(Hebrews 4:16). Once I do this, I have faith – it is up to me.
It is not faith when I say it to you, it is faith when you say it to you. When I say it to you, it is only assistance in getting you to believe. I am trying to make a believer out of you. God has called you a believer, so I use my faith, my energy, and my prayer to make sure that you are what He says you are. The believing is to get you to call, and you can believe what you have heard, but you can only have faith when what you have heard becomes what you are hearing.
