Faith, which comes through Him

Acts 3:16 “And His name, through faith in His name, has made this man strong, whom you see and know. Yes, the faith which comes through Him has given him this perfect soundness in the presence of you all.”

The faith explained in this verse is of Peter and John. They had good faith as a gift from Christ that it could perform miracles. The name of Jesus has the power to heal, the name works when there is faith in the name. This was the first time Peter attempts at a miracle but he had the faith to do that at the most offensive place, the gate of the temple. The method Jesus works is that he has given us liberty to use His name, but we need faith and the good news is that this faith comes from Him. We do not have to worry.

Faith is a gift as per 1 Cor 12:9.  It is required for every Christian to understand how faith comes from Christ and how we could receive that gift. The first verse we have in this context is Romans 10:17 which is faith comes by hearing and hearing from the word of Christ. Firstly hearing has to come only from the word of Christ.  The Word is Christ and so, the word of Christ is the book which completely manifests Christ and it is the scripture. True hearing originates only from the Bible. In John 20:31 we read how the Bible completely belongs to Jesus.

Now, reading the Bible should bring hearing to us and this means we hear Christ when we read with that intent. Eph 3:4 explains if we read we perceive insights Paul has about the mystery of Christ. It is possible that we can read without perceiving or even hearing. But if our intentions are truly that our faith would increase or we want to hear Jesus, we will perceive the mysteries God opens to us. All we have to do is have the right intentions. We have to spend lots of time with the Bible so that Jesus would speak with us and when He does, our faith increases to a level where calling His name performs miracles.

The true effect of hearing can be seen in Acts 4:20 where if we hear we cannot stop speaking His word. Seeing is something that only early apostles did. Paul as in Romans 10:17 and other verses and those after him mention as hearing only and that hearing of the word of Christ made them stand up and speak.

In Hebrews 12:2, we read after great examples (in the previous chapter of faith), that our faith is different than that of Abraham and others as this faith has been found by Jesus. The difference is not in direction or definition but it is in quantity. Jesus had authored a faith that saw the joy in future and so took shame and pain. Jesus has perfected this faith in us by asking us to follow Him completely taking up our cross. The following verses mention that God disciplines us by giving us the trouble we are enduring in this life. So, it is Jesus who perfects the faith by guiding us through the path that disciplines.

So, we receive faith by reading and hearing the Bible and the faith is perfected by tribulation. This perfected faith performs well. It receives trials without murmur as the eyes are on the joy set before us. We have to remember that there is a lot of encouragement in the word of Christ during this tribulation. In Colossians 3:16, we can see how this encouragement is shared in the fellowship. All members should ensure that the Bible dwells in everybody’s minds not just by reading but by singing from their hearts. Let us ensure that our songs encourage others so that the word dwells in everybody’s hearts.

1 Timothy 1:4 explains how the faith which is administered by God would contradict with different doctrines which promote how better their faith is. If we uphold doctrines and practices more than faith, we will promote knowledge more than God’s will.

When asked by disciples to increase faith, Jesus (Luke 17:5-10) gives two parables. One is on how powerful faith is even when if it is tiny. The authority we carry with Jesus’ name is so great that when combined with faith, supernatural events occur. But, the second parable explains how humble we should be in executing faith. We cannot ask for honor as soon as we could perform miracles using this faith. Jesus expects the right attitude and surrender like the servant has to. The parable clearly mentions that faith can do both plowing and keeping sheep which is evangelical and pastoral ministry where faith is mandatory. But these men should consider themselves as unworthy servants as they do what is their duty.

Amen.