Romans 12:3 For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith.
The measure of faith. Interesting term. If I read this correctly, God deals out, or measures out a specific amount of faith to each person. And by that I mean that each person may not receive the same amount of faith.
That faith is a gift of God is shown several places is scripture. For instance:
1 Corinthians 12:8-9 For to one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom; to another the word of knowledge by the same Spirit; To another faith by the same Spirit; to another the gifts of healing by the same Spirit;
Ephesians 2:8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
We tend to look at faith as something that is ours in that it comes from within us. Sometimes this has the potential of being a source of false pride. In fact, if we add Ephesians 2: 9 to verse 8 it reads "For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: not of works, lest any man should boast." It is true. If your faith came from somewhere inside yourself, then you would have something to boast of.
But that God gives this gift of faith in differing amounts is a thought that may be even more foreign to many of us but is made quite clear in the Bible. Have you ever noticed how often Jesus used the phrase "Oh ye of little faith"? Often he was speaking to his apostles and he said it many times.
Luke 17:6 And the Lord said, If ye had faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye might say unto this sycamine tree, Be thou plucked up by the root, and be thou planted in the sea; and it should obey you.
We read that verse and see great faith, though Jesus calls it as small as a mustard seed. Then there is the story of the centurion:
Luke 7:9 When Jesus heard these things, he marvelled at him, and turned him about, and said unto the people that followed him, I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel.
Have you ever looked upon another Christian (perhaps a pastor or a missionary) in awe, thinking they have such great faith? That may explain why we tend to assume that faith is something we generate; seeing someone with more faith shows us our own lack. But maybe the truth is we were not dealt the the same measure of faith.
So if God deals out the faith to us and he gives each person a differing amount does that mean we are "off the hook" so to speak? After all, if God only gave us so much faith, then isn't it natural for us to only act in accordance with that faith. Maybe.... But on the other hand we also see from scripture that the amount of faith we have is not a constant, unchanging amount.
Luke 17:5 And the apostles said unto the Lord, Increase our faith.
The apostles obviously knew where the faith came from, and who to ask for more. And that it is possible to get more is also shown in scriptures.
2 Thessalonians 1:3 We are bound to thank God always for you, brethren, as it is meet, because that your faith groweth exceedingly, and the charity of every one of you all toward each other aboundeth;
"Faith that groweth exceedingly". Wow, I want some of that!
It is pretty clear that faith is extremely important.
1 Peter 1:3-5 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you, who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.
1 Peter 1:9 Receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls.
Yes, that makes faith extremely important. Scary important in fact. But there is one more verse that gives me a lot of comfort when I contemplate these things.
Romans 11:29 For the gifts and calling of God are without repentance.
That means God will not change his mind or take his gifts back. Some Bible versions use the word irrevocable in place of "without repentance". That means that this faith that Romans 12: 3 tells us is a gift, this faith which 1 Peter 1: 5 says God will use to keep you unto salvation, is something he will not change his mind about. Whatever the measure he has dealt you.
However, with that said, shouldn't we all, as the apostles did, ask the LORD to increase our faith?
Saturday, February 5, 2011
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8 comments:
Romans Chap. 10 is a very interesting study with verse 17 being the pivotal one in this particular study. "So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God." Faith is like muscles..the more you exercise them, the bigger they get. Likewise, God will increase your faith as He sees your faithfulness in using what He gave you in the first place. Great Study. Thanks Lee
Best regards, John
Thanks John. I appreciate your stopping by, and especially your comments!
you are aware its all made up aren't you?
I am more inclined to think that someone without a name is "made up."
I agree with this study on faith except Romans 12:3 says ....God hath dealt to every man THE measure of faith. If it were a mixed or different measure then it would have said A measure and God would be a respector of persons. God gave all men THE same measure. The problem is some never tap into the gift. It was a free gift, right.God bless!
I was working on a sermon and was just looking up the measure of faith when I found your blog. You gave me a new understanding - when I was a child I thought as a child - thanks for the spiritual revelation! I'm almost ready to shout!
James, thanks for the comment. While I think we would aggree that every word in the Bible is important, you will note that we all have a tendency to place more importance on some words than others. I am sure I am guilty of this as often as anyone. However, the real key is to find confirmation in other scripture passages to support the emphasis that we have put on the word.
Now, you have emphasised "THE" in the passage, and have taken it to mean "an equal measure." I don't think the text demands that interpretation. "THE" is an adjective, but from Webster's I cannot ascertain any way in which it speaks to quantity. Interestingly, if you go to Young's Literal Translation, it read thus:
"For I say, through the grace that was given to me, to every one who is among you, not to think above what it behoveth to think; but to think so as to think wisely, as to each God did deal a measure of faith,"
So that is really no help, because I find that "A" serves the same basic purpose as "THE"; an adjective.
As to God giving to each a different amount of faith making him a respecter of persons, if that was a valid argument, God could be accused of the same for what is said in 1 Cor. 12:
1Co 12:7 But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal.
1Co 12:8 For to one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom; to another the word of knowledge by the same Spirit;
1Co 12:9 To another faith by the same Spirit; to another the gifts of healing by the same Spirit;
1Co 12:10 To another the working of miracles; to another prophecy; to another discerning of spirits; to another divers kinds of tongues; to another the interpretation of tongues:
1Co 12:11 But all these worketh that one and the selfsame Spirit, dividing to every man severally as he will.
A lot to consider, and I thank you for adding your comments and making me go back and reconsider my position. You haven't changed my mind, and I probably haven't changed yours, but as the Bible says, iron sharpens iron, so respectful exchange of viewpoints is a good thing! Thanks!
Dedicated, those are very kind words, and I certainly am not worthy of any praise. If you gained understanding, it was certainly the work of the Holy Spirit, and not my weak attempts to proclaim God's word.
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