How to Have Great Faith

Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. (2 Timothy 2:15)

Unshakable faith in the promises of God comes from being able to “rightly divide” the word of truth as we study the Word. For that to happen we need to get hold of Paul’s revelation concerning the New Covenant of Grace and Truth vs. the Law. That means keeping in mind whenever we read or study the Bible that God accomplishes His will and purpose through specific covenants and ages or dispensations, the chief division being the Old and New Covenants.

So much confusion and doubt about God's word comes from not grasping this. For example, consider the following passage:

"For thus says the LORD: 'David shall never lack a man to sit on the throne of the house of Israel; nor shall the priests, the Levites, lack a man to offer burnt offerings before Me, to kindle grain offerings, and to sacrifice continually.'" (Jeremiah 33:17-18)

God is so emphatic here that He will never break His promise, yet taken at face value it would appear that God's promise has been broken. Currently, there is no Temple in Jerusalem, no sacrifices, no descendent of David reigning as King, and no throne.

But believers of the New Testament understand that by the death of Jesus, God has put an end to the law of Moses for righteousness, and because of Jesus’ resurrection He now reigns as a priest in a different order. We know that Israel has been set aside for a special time called "the Church Age,", or "Gentile Age." We know that David’s throne will return to Jerusalem when Jesus Messiah returns.

Without accepting the New Testament, the Jewish person cannot comprehend the scripture with faith. He holds on with a vague hope, and is plagued with doubts concerning integrity of God’s promise.

In a like manner, many Christians are plagued with doubt and fear as we see the nations in turmoil around us and the Church apparently floundering. They think that the Church is destined to fall away or barely survive through the great Tribulation because they are not rightly dividing the Scriptures. There is a constant weight of woe that burdens, keeping them from the joy and hope of positive expectancy that should be theirs.

These grim-faced believers do read the verses that speak of a triumphant church, but those are eclipsed by others that seem to indicate the very Church of Jesus Christ will fall into apostasy at the end of the age. This creates in them a double-mindedness. Using their senses to interpret what they see in the natural, it seems fantastic to them that the Church could ever arrive at maturity and unity of the faith (Ephesians 4:13) even though it is clearly stated in the Scripture. They cannot properly interpret the Scriptures because they are not rightly dividing the covenants.

Paul is explicit in Ephesians 3 that he was given a new revelation to unravel the mysteries of Scripture that others in times past did not possess. It has been God’s intent along to merge Jews and Gentiles as a new spiritual entity called "the Church," which will exist as a buffer against the evil in this world. This "Church" will come to maturity, and being filled with the fullness of God, will assume a place of prominence in the earth to bring glory to Him in front of all principalities and powers.

When we understand and believe this it creates an excitement and expectancy that cannot be quenched, in spite of how the world may be shaking around us, in spite of how far the Church may seem to be from that glorious goal.

Are we living in the generation that will see this triumphant Church? Whether or not, if we hold that it is not just a possibility, but a promise, we can stand stronger in adversity. We can have peace in the storm.

An Expensive Cup of Water

And David said with longing, "Oh, that someone would give me a drink of water from the well of Bethlehem, which is by the gate!" So the three broke through the camp of the Philistines, drew water from the well of Bethlehem that was by the gate, and took it and brought it to David. Nevertheless David would not drink it, but poured it out to the LORD. And he said, "Far be it from me, O my God, that I should do this! Shall I drink the blood of these men who have put their lives in jeopardy? For at the risk of their lives they brought it." Therefore he would not drink it. These things were done by the three mighty men.
(1 Chronicles 11:17-19)

In God’s economy value and exchange are not like the world's. Remember when the woman poured expensive ointment on Jesus’ feet? It puzzled and even angered certain people that something so expensive would be so blatantly “wasted.”

But Jesus commended her. She was being led by the Spirit of God to do what she did.

This woman was not conscious of her faith or of being led by the Spirit. She was only conscious of her love for Jesus. This was undoubtedly her most precious possession poured out as an act of worship, not waste.

When I read of the three men standing before David, tired, out of breath, wanting David to drink and quench his own thirst with the water from Bethlehem’s well that they had risked their lives to obtain, it is not hard to imagine the look of shock and dismay on their faces when it was purposely poured out on the ground right in front of them. “How can David place so little value on our gift to him?” they may have thought. They may have exchanged hurtful glances.

But David’s motive for dumping the cup was not sadistic. David was not a crazy man. This was a demonstration of total selflessness, trust in God, and worship. The scripture says David poured it out “to the Lord.” This was an act of faith, an offering.

Years before he had been anointed as king over all of the land in that area, including the well of Bethlehem.

David was accustomed to offering his best to God. He had been uprooted and running for years now and saw an opportunity to break the cycle of bondage. As he stared at the water in the cup in his hand, he knew that to satisfy his own thirst, belch and say “thank you” would demean the value of the gift. By pouring it out (to the Lord), he was actually increasing its value. In a similar way the Israelites bring the very best of their crops and flocks and “waste” them as burnt offerings unto God.

A person who does not understand the power of sacrificial offerings to break spiritual bondages would see that this was poor leadership on the part of David, that it was probably demoralizing to his troops. But in reality David was honoring and memorializing the lives of those brave soldiers for all time. David’s act of faith and devotion to God and his bold leadership soon won him the unbending loyalty of those men, and the promised kingdom, that included that same well in the city that became known as the “City of David.”

Windows of Opportunity

“The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me …to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” (Luke 4:18-19, NIV)

In God’s scheme of things, He operates in dispensations of time, or ages, in order to fulfill His purposes. God speaks a word, and then patiently allows that word time to take root and bear fruit. Eventually, He moves on into another dispensation or age and speaks another word, etc.

All of these dispensations will culminate in one grand purpose called the “end of the ages.” (see Ephesians 1:10) It seems that on the other side of that is another age that we now refer to as eternity, and that there was another age, or perhaps ages, that transpired before the current age. There is evidence, biblical and paleontological, to suggest that another civilization or civilizations existed on this planet, possibly before Adam and Eve. However, the Bible says little about the previous ages and the one(s) to come.

Our current dispensation, the age of the Gentiles, is an extension of a time that Jesus Himself christened as “the year of the Lord’s favor” in which the Gospel of the Kingdom was preached first to the Jews. During this time, God is primarily working His purpose in allowing the nations to hear and respond to the Gospel. This indefinite period culminates in the Church coming to preeminence (Ephesians 4:13) and then being “caught away,” resulting in a time of judgment on all “who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.” (2 Thessalonians 2:12).

In the lives of individuals, God operates in much the same way as nations.

“For He says: ‘IN AN ACCEPTABLE TIME I HAVE HEARD YOU, AND IN THE DAY OF SALVATION I HAVE HELPED YOU.’ Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.”(2 Corinthians 6:1-2).


The “day” here does not necessarily mean a literal 24 hours, but a season for a person to respond to the urging of his own conscience in response to truth. In my own life, there was a period in which I sensed the urging of the Holy Spirit to make a decision to follow Christ beginning when I first heard and understood the Gospel. This became stronger and stronger until God in His mercy set me up with a clear opportunity to make a choice for or against Him. If I had hardened my heart I don’t know that I would have ever had such chance again. The opportunity may have been lost.

Don’t think that your opportunity has passed. The fact that you are reading this demonstrates the mercy of God giving you an opportunity to respond to the urging of the Holy Spirit on your own conscience. With your heart believe the Gospel and with your mouth confess that you are a child of God. Then thank God for His amazing love and ask Him to fill you with His very own Holy Spirit, Who will guide you in all His paths..

The life of looking for God’s opportunities is an exciting adventure in being led by the "inward witness." Learning to know His voice, to see His hand, and to respond in maintaining a life in harmony with Him should be your goal. If you mess up, admit it to God and look for the next open door or window of opportunity. God is full of mercy!

Righteous By Faith! Receive Forgiveness of Sins

‘I will deliver you from the Jewish people, as well as from the Gentiles, to whom I now send you, to open their eyes, in order to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who are sanctified by faith in Me.' (Acts 26:17-18)

Notice how this is worded: “that they may receive….” Traditional religion with an emphasis on man’s effort says that we must confess the sin, then God will forgive. But Jesus did not say to St. Paul, ”if they confess their sin I will forgive them.” The revelation to the Apostle is that all men have been forgiven for all time because of the atoning work of Christ on the Cross. One only needs to receive the GIFT by faith to be considered righteous (in right standing with God).

…having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross. (Colossians 2:14)

One segment of Christianity has as a doctrine that Christ died for a few “elect” and “predestined,” and that those who were not covered by the sacrifice on the Cross cannot be saved. But I read that God is “not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.” (2 Peter 3:9)

The idea of confession of sin as a stipulation for forgiveness is put forth only once in the New Testament, never in the writings of Paul. “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:9) But this comes right on the tail of a solid emphasis on the fact that our forgiveness is continual because of Jesus’ sacrifice; “But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin." (1 John 1:7)

The only time a Christian ever needs to confess his sin to God is when the Holy Spirit brings it to mind. We need not trudge through the past or go over our lives with a fine toothed comb to search our hearts for sin. Paul: “In fact, I do not even judge myself.” (1 Corinthians 4:3) The writer of Hebrews makes it clear that because believers have been purified by Christ’s finished work, His once for all sacrifice, we should have “no more consciousness of sins.” (Heb 10:2) Hallelujah!

If we believe that confession of sin is necessary for God’s forgiveness in our lives then we will live under a sense of dread and condemnation constantly because our lives are always subject to presumptuous and unintentional sins. We will be too ashamed to abide in our Father’s presence. The confession of sins to receive forgiveness has become, for many, a work of the flesh that only gives temporary relief of a guilty conscience.

Receive forgiveness of sins today! It is only necessary for you to believe Christ died for your sins and confess Him as your Lord. God is not angry with you any more for any reason. Jesus has already been judged for every shortcoming of yours, yesterday’s and tomorrow’s. The only sin that stands between a man and God is rejection of Christ's finished work!

Say, "Jesus, thank you that you have already forgiven my sins. I accept the free gift of eternal life. Make me a child of God, the Father. Amen.