Faith is Based on
Knowledge
"Grace
and peace be multiplied unto you through
the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord,
According as his divine power hath given
unto us all things that pertain unto life
and godliness, through the knowledge of
him that hath called us to glory and virtue:
Whereby are given unto us exceeding great
and precious promises: that by these ye
might be partakers of the divine nature,
having escaped the corruption that is in
the world through lust."
(2 Peter 1:2-4)
These verses say that all things that pertain
unto life and godliness are given unto us
through the knowledge of God. Certainly,
faith must be one of those things because
without faith it is impossible to please
God (Heb. 11:6). So faith must come through
the knowledge of God. That's the reason
Romans 10:17 says faith comes by hearing
the Word of God. The amount of faith that
you operate in is directly proportional
to the revelation knowledge that you have
of God through His Word.
Many people have found it very difficult
to operate in faith. That is because they
either don't have the real knowledge of
God's Word in them, or they have let the
Word slip and be choked by the knowledge
of the world. Fear comes through carnal
knowledge, just as faith and all things
that pertain unto life come through godly
knowledge. Most Christians today (even Spirit-filled
Christians) are full of the knowledge about
how to operate in Satan's system but are
really deficient in the knowledge it takes
to prosper in God's system. So, it is not
really a faith problem that exists, but
it is rather a Word problem.
Galatians 5:22 states that faith is a part
of the fruit of the Spirit. Have you ever
seen a plant struggle to bring forth fruit?
Have you ever heard a vine moan and groan
and complain about how hard it is to produce
grapes? Of course not! It's the nature of
a vine to produce grapes. If the vine is
protected and given nourishment, it will
automatically produce fruit, unless it's
starved or attacked by some outside force.
So it is with the Christian. Faith will
automatically be the product of our abiding
in the Word, which is Jesus (John 1:1, 15:1-7).
The problem has been that the knowledge
of God's Word has not been abiding in us,
or the carnal knowledge of the world has
choked the Word of God that was there. You
cannot serve two masters (Matt. 6:24). A
double-minded man is unstable in all his
ways. He cannot receive anything from the
Lord (James 1:7-8).
Matthew 6:22 gives us the promise that if
the eye is single, we will be full of light.
That means that if all your attention is
focused on God through His Word, then the
only thing that you will be full of is God
and what His Word produces. This is a Bible
law that is repeated in Romans 8:6, which
says, "For to be carnally minded is death;
but to be spiritually minded is life and
peace." If we are experiencing anything
but life and peace, it is because we are
carnally minded. You cannot have life and
peace without the knowledge of God. On the
other hand, you cannot experience any form
of death without the knowledge of the devil
and his system.
The carnal knowledge that we dwell upon
in our thought lives is Satan's in-road
to us. I am convinced that one of the main
reasons that the first men that walked upon
this earth lived to be as old as 969 years
is because they didn't know how to die.
They didn't even have a family until they
were over 300 years old! They didn't know
that there was supposed to be a flu season
every year. It took many years for Satan
to pervert the knowledge that was in man
so that he would accept defeat. Most of
our battles could be avoided if we would
just be wise concerning that which is good
and simple concerning that which is evil
(Rom. 16:19).
Hebrews 11:15 says that if Abraham had been
mindful of the country that he came out
of, he might have had opportunity, or might
have been tempted, to have returned. But,
since he refused to think on Satan's knowledge,
he could not be tempted to turn back. Praise
God! If Abraham could do it, we can do it
too. Second Corinthians 10:4-5 says we can
bring every thought into captivity and under
the obedience of the Lord Jesus Christ.
But, since our minds have already been grounded
in the knowledge of this world, it is impossible
to just cast that carnal mind out. You have
to be thinking on something. Romans 12:2
says, "And be not conformed to this world:
but be ye transformed by the renewing of
your mind, that ye may prove what is that
good, and acceptable, and perfect, will
of God." Our minds have to be renewed, and
that is done by meditating on the knowledge
of God as revealed in His Word.
Your mind is similar to a computer. It simply
acts upon the knowledge put into it. If
all you have is carnal knowledge, then all
you can be is carnal. But praise God, you
can reprogram yourself with the Word of
God.
You are not incapable of living a life of
faith. Quite the contrary, if you have been
born again, you have already been given
faith as a part of the fruit of the Spirit.
But, you can't function in it if you don't
know that it's there or if you don't have
knowledge of the laws that govern it. The
laws of aerodynamics have been in existence
since creation, but man didn't have knowledge
of them until recently. Many people scoffed
at the idea of flying, just as many people
ridicule the faith message today. They used
to say, "If God meant for man to fly, He
would have given man wings." We've seen
that assumption proven false. It wasn't
God who was keeping us from flying, it was
our ignorance of the laws that govern flight.
It hasn't been God who failed to give us
faith, we have all been given the measure
of faith (Rom. 12:3), but God's people have
been perishing because of a lack of knowledge
of how that faith works.
Mankind didn't learn how to fly overnight.
There have been many failures, but now no
one doubts that the laws of aerodynamics
work. You won't learn all the laws of faith
instantly either, and you may fall flat
on your face a few times before you start
seeing faith produce as it should. But,
the law of faith, which created everything,
is a thousand times more sure than the laws
of aerodynamics. The knowledge of God and
how faith works is hidden for you, not from
you, in the Word of God. Pray Ephesians
1:15-23 with me, as a prayer to receive
the knowledge of God. Believe that you receive,
and watch faith begin to be produced in
your life.
"Wherefore I also, after I heard of your
faith in the Lord Jesus, and love unto all
the saints, Cease not to give thanks for
you, making mention of you in my prayers;
That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the
Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit
of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge
of him: The eyes of your understanding being
enlightened; that ye may know what is the
hope of his calling, and what the riches
of the glory of his inheritance in the saints,
And what is the exceeding greatness of his
power to us-ward who believe, according
to the working of his mighty power, Which
he wrought in Christ, when he raised him
from the dead, and set him at his own right
hand in the heavenly places, Far above all
principality, and power, and might, and
dominion, and every name that is named,
not only in this world, but also in that
which is to come: And hath put all things
under his feet, and gave him to be the head
over all things to the church, Which is
his body, the fullness of him that filleth
all in all." (Eph. 1:15-23).
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