THE REAL WORD OF FAITH

Saturday 2 November

When people hear the term ‘word of faith’ some think of it in reference to a charismatic movement, a certain stream of denomination or ‘hyper faith’ Pentecostals. In all reality, it is none of these things. So what is it really? Let’s find out.

Romans 10:8-9 tells us ‘the word is near you, in your heart and in your mouth; that is the word of faith that we preach…That’… Did you catch that? There are two ‘thats’ explaining to us precisely what the word of faith is. ‘That is the word of faith’, ‘That if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you shall be saved’. So confession and belief in the Lord Jesus Christ IS the ‘word of faith that we preach’.

This word of faith is also spoken in direct response to hearing the message of Christ. There is a specific message in the Bible that injects faith into the faithless to bring regeneration. We find it in 1 Corinthians 15:1-4

‘Moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received and in which you stand, by which also you are saved, if you hold fast that word which I preached to you—unless you believed in vain. For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures…’

Notice, this is the exact gospel that Apostle Paul preached. This is the message that creates faith in the hearers. Let’s break it down. Christ died for our sins, was buried for our sins and rose again for our justification as Romans 4:25 tells us. Faith to be saved is in the message of Christ which is why Paul preached it.

He was the same one who wrote in Romans 1:16-17 that the gospel is ‘the power of God unto salvation to them who believe’… and ‘in it (the gospel) the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith.’ In Romans 10:17 Paul tells us that this ‘faith comes by hearing the word of God.’The original text conveys his original thought. It says ‘faith comes by hearing the message of Christ.’

There is nothing ambiguous about our mandate to preach the message of Christ which comes with saving faith inside it which causes people to respond with their own word of faith. God has given us a blueprint to follow and we should never deviate from it. The fear of eternal separation from God doesn’t save anybody, in fact it has no power to do so; neither does preaching the traditions of men or vain philosophy.

Sadly many have come to an ‘altar call’ based on a ‘sermon’ that has no saving content in it whatsoever. The fact that someone behind a pulpit and said inspiring things or recited famous quotes, doesn’t hold an iota of saving power in it if it wasn’t the message of Christ.

Being a nice person doesn’t save you. Going to church can’t save you. Doing religious acts don’t save you. Salvation is not in a church. Salvation is not in religion. There is only one way to be saved. Hear the message of Christ and respond to that message with the word of faith.

This is the real word of faith and the genuine message of Christ that we must preach!

APPLICATION

Study 1 Corinthians 15:1-4 and Romans 10:8-17 to gain a greater insight and revelation on the word of faith and the message of Christ that all believers are to preach.