And Jesus answering saith to them, 'Have faith of God; for verily I say to you, that whoever may say to this mount, Be taken up, and be cast into the sea, and may not doubt in his heart, but may believe that the things that he saith do come to pass, it shall be to him whatever he may say.
(Mark 11:22-23 YLT)
Begin by asking the simple question: What is faith?
Faith in its simplest form is trust in someone or something. Faith is also a gift from God.
For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, (Ephesians 2:8)
God gives us faith by his grace for our salvation. We have to put faith in God’s grace, but the faith that we use isn’t our own human faith. It's from him. It's his faith.
But how can God have faith? Doesn't he know everything? Why would he need faith?
God gives us faith so that we can believe. Think about it: can God give us something that he does not have. If God does not possess something he cannot give it. Some may say, "Well he will just create it and then give it." But if he creates it, then he still has it. He can't give away something he does not have. But there is more.
What about Jesus?
In his time on earth did Jesus trust in God the Father? Of course! He was in constant communion with the Father, obeying everything the Father said and in order to obey him he must have trusted him. We see that in John 4:34, 5:30, 6:38, 8:26, 10:18, 12:49-50, 14:30-31 and 15:10. If we equate faith with trust then Jesus had faith in God the Father and if Jesus is/was/always has been God (which he is) then God has faith.
When God spoke the worlds into existence he knew that what he spoke would happen. He knew that his Word would create the worlds. He had faith that his Word would produce his desired effect. That is faith. God has faith because he knows (trusts) that what he says will happen.
The subject of faith is an exhaustive subject. We're only going to hit the highlights – enough to flesh out the faith of God and how it applies to our lives.
Is the faith we have our faith or is it God's?
If we “Have faith in God” that makes the responsibility for creating faith ours. We would be the ones “increasing” our faith. This is an area most Christian struggle with. In the past my heart's cry was to "Lord, Please Increase my faith!" I was always bemoaning the my lack of faith for this or that or the other thing. But after years and years of trying in my own strength I still struggled. Trying in our own strength (our faith) just plain doesn't work.
Increase our faith
The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith!” And the Lord said, “If you had faith like a grain of mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you. (Luke 17:5-6)
Here we see the disciples asking Jesus to increase their faith, something probably all of us have done at one time or another. "Lord, we lack the faith to do what you would have us to do. Give us more!" This was the same as us praying to God to increase our faith.
Notice Jesus' response. He didn't say that they should pray or fast or proclaim or be more holy. He didn't tell them to do anything. Jesus told them that faith is so powerful (his faith) that even a tiny amount, like a grain of mustard seed, is enough to pluck up a tree and cast it into the sea. He was saying, “Gentlemen, use the faith that you already have. You already have faith – use it! Because God has given you his faith." The disciples didn’t need more faith; they just needed to use what they had. The same is true for us.
The just live by faith (Gal. 3:11).
The Measure of Faith
For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned. (Rom 12:3)
We see from this verse that God has given every believer a “measure” (an amount) of faith. But this does not mean that God has given different amounts of faith to different believers, rather he has given the same amount of faith to every believer. This is verified in 2 Peter 1:1:
Simon Peter, a servant and an apostle of Jesus Christ, to them that have obtained like precious faith with us through the righteousness of God and our Savior Jesus Christ: (2Peter 1:1 KJV)
The Greek word translated as “like precious” is “isotimos” and means “of equal price, equally precious or valuable.” Each one of us, every single believer has been given the same amount of faith. None of us have more or less faith than any other believer. We have the same faith that Peter used when he raised Dorcas from the dead (Acts 9:36-42) and when he healed with his shadow (Acts 5:15). We also have the same faith that Paul had. If there is only one measure of faith (Rom. 12:3), then we also have the faith of Jesus.
We have the same faith, the same amount of faith that Jesus did. (That really rocked my world! I am still amazed at that truth!)
That is why Jesus said we can do the same works he did (John 14:12). Remember – we have the same Spirit inside of us that Jesus did. We just have to believe that we have it and use it.
Andrew Wommack writes:
God has dealt to every person “the” measure of faith, not “a” measure of faith. There are not different measures with God. The Lord doesn’t give one person great faith while another person is given small faith. We were all given an equal amount of faith at salvation. The problem is not that we don’t have faith, but rather we don’t know how to use our faith, because of a lack of renewing our minds. Paul said he was living his Christian life by the faith of the Son of God (Gal 2:20 KJV). Since we all have been given “the” measure of faith, then that means we all have the faith of the Son of God in us. Our faith is sufficient. The problem we’re experiencing is a result of our minds not knowing what we have. In the same way that a car battery transfers its power to the starter through battery cables, so our minds are what allows this faith of God that is in our spirits to flow into our bodies. If our minds are not renewed, then it’s like having corroded cables. The power is there, but it won’t flow. Likewise, we believers have the same faith that Jesus has, but it won’t flow through us until we renew our minds through the Word of God.
A. S. Worrell writes:
“Have the faith of God. Translators generally render this, “Have faith in God;” but if this had been the thought, it would have been easy to have expressed it in the Greek. Faith originates with God; and those who have real faith have His faith; the same perhaps as “the faith which is of the Son of God.” (See Galatians 2:20).
Have the Faith of God
And answering, Jesus said to them, Have faith of God. (Mar 11:22 LITV)
Among the definitions of the Greek word for “have” (echo) are: to have, to hold, to take possession of, to posses, to adhere or cling to (Thayer). This verse could be translated as:
"Possess (take hold of) the faith of God (Mark 11:22)."
You see it's not our faith we take possesion of, it's his!
I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me. (Gal 2:20 KJV)
Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified. (Gal 2:16) KJV
Although most modern translations translate the above verses as “faith in God” many literal translations say “faith of God” (KJV, YLT, Wycliff, TPT, LEB, NET, ISV). As we saw Romans 12:3 and 2 Peter 1:1 (above) affirm this.
We do not live by our faith in the Son of God, but by his faith. When I discovered this it was a huge eye-opener for me.
Why is this important?
If we live by Jesus' faith we can rest and trust that his faith is sufficient. We no longer have to strive for “mountain-moving” faith, we can rest in the assurance that Jesus' perfect faith is sufficient and that it is ours. We no longer have to struggle and strive for faith because we have the faith of Christ. We already have all the faith we need.
God’s faith goes beyond sight. God’s faith is supernaturally, beyond the limitations of our natural mind. Andrew Wommack
Every believer (that’s you!) has the same quality and quantity of faith that Jesus had. It’s not your faith in Him, but His faith at work in you. It was given to you as part of your salvation. You have the Holy Spirit within you and his faith!
We do not acquire more faith, but we activate the faith God has already given us - His faith – the faith of God. And we activate it by using it.
Romans 10:17 says, “So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.”
We grow in God’s faith through His Word. In the original Greek the word “comes” does not appear. It was added for readability so the literal translation is:
“So then faith by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.”
When coupled with the other verses we noted this verse would seem to indicate that we cannot increase our faith only activate it. It also affirms that every believer has the same measure of faith because it is God’s faith.
Bottom line
Jesus’ faith is much greater than anything you or I could muster.
When we rely on his faith it takes us from a point of stress and striving and self-condemnation to a place of rest – resting in his work and not ours.
His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire. (2 Peter 1:3-4)
We partake of the divine nature” by activating his faith in us by reading the Word and walking in that faith.