Faith Anchored in Power

Matthew 22:29 “Jesus answered and said to them, "You are mistaken, not knowing the Scriptures nor the power of God.”

We have seen thus far that God requires us to live by faith, and that He has given each one of us more than enough faith to do just that. It cannot be stressed enough just how important it is for believers to understand the truth that every saint already has all the faith they will ever need. So why is this biblical truth so important to understand? The reason is because when believers understand this particular truth, their focus no longer becomes distracted by the fictitious goal of constantly trying to get more faith, but rather they can focus their attention on the real issue, which is knowing the power of God. In the above quoted passage of scripture our Lord Jesus, in speaking to the Jewish sect called the Sadducees, made the comment that the reason they were mistaken in their thinking was because firstly, they did not know the scriptures. In other words they did not know how to rightly divide the word of truth. And secondly, our Lord said that they also did not know the power of God. And so we see a principle revealed to us by the Lord Jesus, which is that there are two components to correct biblical thinking i.e. rightly dividing the word of truth and knowing the power of God. With regards to the subject of faith toward God, we have been addressing the first part by learning to rightly divide the word of truth on the subject, but it is the second part that we want to address in this section, i.e. knowing the power of God. In order to do that we firstly need to remind ourselves that the doctrine is called faith toward God and not just the doctrine of faith. So why is that terminology important? The answer is because as believers, our faith must be placed in God and in His power, for as we have already mentioned, because people already have faith it is entirely possible for them to exercise their faith in their own natural abilities, but that is not the biblical concept of faith. The biblical concept of faith is that the believers’ faith must be placed in God and His power, for it is God’s tangible and transformative power that is released through our faith. The reality of God’s power is a stumbling block for many Christians, because although they acknowledge God’s power intellectually, they do not believe in God’s power being manifested in reality in this life.

1 Corinthians 2:4-5 “And my speech and my preaching were not with persuasive words of human wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power,  (5)  that your faith should not be in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.”

In the above quoted passage of scripture the apostle Paul highlights the necessity for the saints to be exposed to the tangible power of God. So why did Paul consider that to be important? The reason is because Paul understood that although the saints already had faith, he needed to teach them to focus their faith on God’s power, and so in order to do that, he demonstrated the reality of God’s power to them. In other words when Paul preached the gospel, he would also demonstrate God’s power by performing various miracles and healings among the people. That is the same formula that Jesus prescribed when He sent the disciples out to preach the gospel, for He also instructed them to heal the sick and cast out demons in every town they entered (Luke 10:9-17). Clearly the New Testament pattern of preaching the gospel is to proclaim it while at the same time demonstrating the power of God by performing various miracles and healing the sick. And so we see that the reason for demonstrating God’s power is to educate believers to focus their faith on the very real power of God, for it becomes far easier for saints to exercise their faith in God’s power when they personally witness miracles and healings taking place among them. On the other hand it is much harder for saints to exercise their faith in God’s power when they have never witnessed a miracle or seen someone being healed by the supernatural power of God.

Acts 1:4-8 “And being assembled together with them, He commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the Promise of the Father, "which," He said, "you have heard from Me;  (5)  for John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now."  … (8) But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”

There are many differences between the Old and New Testament saints. One of the more significant differences is that God the Father has allowed the New Testament saints to be baptised with the Holy Spirit. So why did God deem it necessary for His New Testament saints to be baptised with the Holy Spirit? Our Lord Jesus answers that question in the above quoted passage of scripture when He tells us that we receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon us. And so because the baptism of the Holy Spirit is for all saints, it is clear that God wants all His saints to experience His power. So why is it important for the saints to experience the power of God? It is important because by experiencing the very real power of God through the baptism of the Holy Spirit, the saints become acquainted with that power and are then more easily able to exercise their faith in His power. That is one of the reasons why the early church placed such an emphasis on believers being baptised with the Holy Spirit as soon as possible after salvation, because they recognised the truth that experiencing God’s supernatural power is essential in educating the saints to exercise their faith in God and in His power. On the other hand saints that have not been baptised with the Holy Spirit and have not therefore experienced the tangible power of God, find it far more difficult to exercise their faith in God and in His power, some even to the point of denying that God’s power is available to the church today.

Michael E.B. Maher

Faith Toward God

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