Faith
SIX COROLLARIES OF FAITH
1. NEGATIVE FAITH IS CALLED UNBELIEF
Greek scholars say that the word for faith is "pistis" and the word for unbelief is "apistis". The prefix "a" means "not" or "un." Placed before a word the prefix "a", negates the meaning of the word. .The following verses use this word unbelief. Mat 13:58, Mat 17:20, Mark 6:6, Mark 9:24, Mark 16:14, Rom 3:3, Rom 4:20, Rom 11:20, Rom 11:23, 1 Tim 1:13, Heb 3:12, Heb 3:19,
Rom 3:3 (KJV) "For what if some did not believe? shall their unbelief(apistia or negative faith) make the faith (pistis or positive faith) of God without effect?"
The same rules hold for negative faith as does for positive faith.. Negative faith does not create or destroy truth.
2. FAITH REQUIRES ACTION
Belief that a grocery store or a restaurant is dependable does you little good if you only believe and do nothing. The store or the restaurant and their goods will still be there whether you believe in it or not.
3. FAITH DOES NOT CREATE OR DESTROY TRUTH
We have all read in the newspapers where mentally unstable people decided that they had supernatural powers to fly or were invincible. Their belief did not CREATE their powers. Their belief usually ended in disaster. Others believed that they were outside of the law of gravity. Their belief did not DESTROY the law of gravity my skepticism about the prize I won did not validate or invalidate its existence. If I did not believe, it would still be there. Faith does not create or destroy TRUTH OR the veracity of its object. A skeptic's belief that the Bible is hogwash does not invalidate the veracity of the Bible. A Christian's belief in the Bible does not verify or validate it. Truth is truth irrespective of whether a person believes in it or not. It always amazes me when someone gets angry at me because I tell them that they need to receive Jesus and the forgiveness of sins. My faith does not create Heaven or Hell. Nor does the unbeliever's faith destroy the reality of Heaven and Hell. I am just trying to warn him to there is a way to avoid Hell. If he does not believe there is no reason to get angry at me. Just ignore me, I am not creating truth by my belief. Mat 13:58, Mat 17:20, Mark 6:6, Mark 9:24, Mark 16:14, Rom 3:3, Rom 4:20, Rom 11:20, Rom 11:23, 1 Tim 1:13, Heb 3:12, Heb 3:19
4. FAITH IS ONLY AS GOOD AS THE OBJECT UPON WHICH IT IS PLACED
My faith in the car salesman and the car he is selling is dependent on the character of the salesman. If the car salesman is a liar and dishonest then he is untrustworthy. He is not worthy of my faith . An object such as the Bible or the Lord Jesus Christ can be proven trustworthy but never proven beyond a shadow of a doubt to be true. There will always be an element of uncertainty. Only after death will faith become sight. Faith will become reality or .... After death, both Christians and non Christians will know whether their object is trustworthy.
Heb 10:22-23 (NIV) "let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water. {23} Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful."
5. FAITH HAS ITS REWARD
By believing in the grocery store or by believing in my Physics and Chemistry teachers and the books from which they teach, I've saved myself time and energy that I can devote myself to other important things. I profit or receive a reward for my faith. Faith in Jesus pleases God and gives us our salvation.. Belief in witchcraft also has its reward.
Heb 11: 6 (NIV) And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him."
6. FAITH IS NOT FOOLISHNESS
The more certain you are, the less faith you need to exercise. The brand new car has a three-year warranty. Buying a brand new car requires less faith then buying a second hand car that has an "as is warranty." You must trust the seller of the second hand car. If the salesperson or the car is not worthy of your trust, you do not act in faith and buy the car. You are not a fool. A thin line separates faith and foolishness.
One day I arrived at work and received a phone call. The person calling said that I was the winner of a drawing. In the background, I heard laughter. I was very sleepy and said "Uh Huh. That is wonderful. But I'll believe it when I see it." I was skeptical yet I went down to the radio station to claim my prize. To my surprise, I won four prizes valued at over a thousand dollars. If I persisted in my skepticism I am sure that the prize would been left for someone else to claim. Nevertheless, happily I believed and moved with action to claim my prize.
Claiming my four prizes is similar with believing in Jesus for salvation. If you remain a skeptic, your salvation will remain unclaimed. If you die before you claim your salvation it will be too late. Faith requires action to claim its reward.. I am just like a passer-by who sees a fire and yells get out of the building it is on fire. You can believe what I tell you or ignore what I say. Of course my belief does not create or destroy a Heaven and Hell. It is up to you to act on what I say.
Now that we understand what faith is and what faith is not we can study what is involved in believing the various things God has said IE the various objects of our fatih. These objects of the Christian's belief will be discussed further in 'Faith 102'
SIX COROLLARIES OF FAITH
1. FAITH CAN BE POSITIVE OR NEGATIVE faith is called unbelief
2, FAITH REQUIRES ACTION
3. FAITH DOES NOT CREATE OR DESTROY TRUTH
4. FAITH IS ONLY AS GOOD AS THE OBJECT UPON WHICH IT IS PLACED
5. FAITH HAS ITS REWARD
6. FAITH IS NOT FOOLISHNESS
PLEASE ENCOURAGE AUTHOR BELOW LEAVE COMMENT ON ARTICLE
This article has been read 431 times < Previous | Next >
Free Reprints
Main Site Articles
Most Read Articles
Highly Acclaimed Challenge Articles.
New Release Christian Books for Free for a Simple Review.
NEW - Surprise Me With an Article - Click here for a random URL
God is Not Against You - He Came on an All Out Rescue Mission to Save You
...in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them... 2 Cor 5:19
Therefore, my friends, I want you to know that through Jesus the forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you. Acts 13:38
LEARN & TRUST JESUS HERE
FaithWriters offers Christian reading material for Christian readers. We offer Christian articles, Christian fiction, Christian non-fiction, Christian Bible studies, Christian poems, Christian articles for sale, free use Christian articles, Christian living articles, New Covenant Christian Bible Studies, Christian magazine articles and new Christian articles. We write for Jesus about God, the Bible, salvation, prayer and the word of God.