Mark 10:15 “Assuredly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will by no means enter it.”
The truth that everyone is born with faith is clearly evidenced by every child’s unquestioning belief or faith in everything their parents teach them. In other words, they have what is often referred to as childlike faith. Our Lord Jesus confirmed that truth to us in the above quoted passage of scripture, when He taught us that in order to be saved we would have to display the same faith that all children have. Sadly however this world is programmed to destroy faith, and so as time progresses and children grow up, that unwavering faith increasingly gives way to doubt and unbelief. And so by the time many reach maturity they no longer exercise their gift of faith, and eventually get to the point where they become almost completely faithless. The Lord Jesus described people that reached the point of being faithless as being a perverse society (Matthew 17:17). There are however, a few who are taught to exercise their faith howbeit only in the natural, i.e. they are taught to believe in themselves and in their own abilities. God created faith and therefore faith works, and because faith works, when people exercise their faith in themselves their faith will bring out the best in themselves. For example, no sportsman can excel in their chosen field of sport unless they believe in their ability to do so. And so because faith is from God, it works on the principles that God put in place. We all know the popular scripture that says, “Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God” (Romans 10:17). That same principle applies to faith exercised in the natural as well. We can use the example of a sportsman again to illustrate this point. If a sportsman keeps hearing words of encouragement from his coach and others around him, that he can do it, that he can become the best in his sport, that he has the talent. His belief in himself and his natural talent will become stronger and he will respond to that by performing that much better. The problem with faith in the natural however, is that it is limited to what can be done in the natural.
Michael E.B. Maher
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