SortingBeans

The following post is written by my request from a friend of mine, Pastor Don Dudley. It is an honor to have him guest post for SortingBeans.com. Feel free to leave your questions and comments below. Enjoy!

Faith, from where does it come?
Growing up I often heard the expression, “he/she was a pillar of faith.” When I would stop to think about it, it was a statement that was almost always double edged. It seemed to say two things; the first is that this person was an imbecile who would believe the sky was falling if they heard it from a little chicken. The second was that this person was more holy then anyone else in the room. I think many times it was taken to mean point one. If not, it also would mean the person was ignorant to the world around them.

In reality, it should have meant point two, they were holy (whether or not more or less holy than anyone else in the room would have been for God to decide). But, where do people get this faith that makes them into a pillar? Where does this faith come from which can make a person an amazing rock or solid structure even during the worst hurricanes life can throw at us?

Go to any Christian book store and look on the shelves for books about faith and how to increase it and you will see fasting, praying, meditating, fellowship, and more. It seems that faith comes with this crazy spiritual power that can raise the dead and make people walk on water. And those who have it get a license to walk around like Gandhi or some other new aged guru in a catatonic state spewing pithy statements which when tied together reveal the great meanings and mysteries of life.

Lame.

I have the answer. I know where faith comes from. I am not some great faith guru. I have never written a book. I do not have some crazy faith as evidenced by my lack of time spent re-arranging mountains.

It does not take “ten steps.”

It does not even take five steps. Faith is a gift. It’s free. When we look through the book of 1 Corinthians, we notice this large chunk devoted to spiritual gifts. One of these gifts is faith. 1 Corinthians 12 says ; “to another faith by the same Spirit…” among the list of gifts. So, let’s answer our question, “from where does it come?” We need to look no farther than the verse above. It comes “by the same Spirit.”

The gift of faith comes from God. Now, this gift is often thought of as a miraculous faith. It is easy (for most) to understand a miraculous gift coming from the Spirit which is the Holy Spirit of God the Father who with Jesus make up the Trinity.

So what about plain old faith? You know, the laymen faith for everyday people.

This “plain old faith” that leads one to Christ and saves them comes from (wait for it) THE SAME PLACE! The “plain old” or “saving” faith comes from God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. In Romans, Paul states “So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.” This is the Gospel of Jesus which is the story of His life, burial, and resurrection. Through hearing this story, one can have faith.

We can get into legalistic arguments that one must hear the story of Jesus read aloud from the Bible to come to faith, or we can understand the culture of the time was one more auditory as literacy rates were low and people often spread the Gospel (which was most likely not even written down yet) through oral means. Today, we can find free Bibles in hotel rooms or online and read for ourselves the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Regardless, faith, both “plain and saving” or miraculous comes from one place, the godhead. Faith is granted to those who hear the word and respond to its message with repentance and thanksgiving which lead to regeneration. But it is cyclical in that one cannot come to a faith in God without having first been given faith from God. That is why God inspired the writing of His words through men. The Bible is made available to men so they can read it, hear it, and respond to it.

God is not unfair.

God does not withhold the offer of faith from some while granting it to others. This is that fine line between free will and predestination. God gives one the chance to respond to the Gospel while already knowing what the response will be. Since God is omniscient or all-knowing, He knows the sad reality that many will reject the faith in Him which is offered to everyone. But that is another post some other time.

What is so amazing about this?

God gives us His words, His story, and the ability to come to Him freely. There is no cost. There are no ten steps, and most importantly, there are no hoops we have to jump through. All we simply have to do is read, listen, and pray to God. You can save your money by not having to buy a bunch of books on how to increase your faith. The Bible has already made it clear that faith is a gift from God, provided by God. There is no other place faith comes from. You cannot buy it or earn it. It is part of the package that comes from God’s free gift of salvation. Faith comes from God and God alone and it is priceless.

How can you charge for something if there is no price on it?

There is one surefire way to increase your faith, listen to or read the Gospel story. Read it with fresh eyes and understanding that this story is what will give you faith. Take a break from your hermeneutics and exegesis for a minute. Just read it and let the Spirit work in you toward regeneration and renewing. It’s not as hard as you think.

-Don Dudley-
www.YouSeeDryBones.com