Faith seems like a Paradox

[friend of]

You have to have faith in order to get more of it....Right?

 

[Pilgrim]

You have to have faith in order to get more of it....Right?

Jesus described some people of His day as having little faith and others as having great faith. God makes it possible for us to grow and become like Jesus Christ

15 Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ. —Ephesians 4:15​

 

[friend of]

Growing in faith is my greatest joy

 

[Aimz]

Hello Friend,

When I swap the word faith for trust it helps me better understand the concept. I trust I will sleep tonight so I act on faith and with faith by getting ready for bed and turning the lights out and lying down. I trust the light will turn on again if I need it and I act on faith by tapping the switch. Yes you need a little and the more you use it the more it will grow but you only need to start off with a tiny amount like a mustard seed size! That is teeny tiny! Then over a lifetime of daily use it will grow beyond the planet!

Hope that helps,
Take care and all the best,
Aimz.

You have to have faith in order to get more of it....Right?

 

[Pilgrim]

Growing in faith is my greatest joy

Amen! The essential aspect of faith involves believing that God knows best—that alone brings much joy to the believer. Faith must be based trusting God’s word, his specific promises in the Bible. We have to be certain we correctly understand his word. Growing in God's word is growing our faith.

 

[joshua 1 9]

You have to have faith in order to get more of it....Right?

There is human faith which is often called positive thinking. This is popular with motivational speakers in business and in sports. Then there is God's Divine Faith that goes far beyond human faith. This is both a fruit and a gift of the Holy Spirit in us.

 

[RDKirk]

You have to have faith in order to get more of it....Right?

That's true of everything. You can't get "more" of anything unless you have some of it.

But that initial faith is assigned to each of us by God:

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. -- Romans 12

There is debatable reason to think persons are allotted varying initial measures of faith. There is OTOH debatable reason to think that persons are allotted the same measure of faith, but each person must learn how to fully use it.

Regardless:

He replied, "Because you have so little faith. Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you." -- Matthew 17

The concern is that one is using faith to greater measure, not whether the measure is greater.

 

[AlexDTX]

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[Ron Gurley]

Let's examine the meanings/definitions of spirit-led FAITH/BELIEF.

To me, "Belief" and "Faith" as used in the New Testament are almost identical in meaning and synonomous.

"Believe" occurs 152 times in 140 verses in the NASB...mostly in the NT.
G4103 pistos ~= faithful, believe, believing, true, faithfully, believer, sure
G4100 pisteuo = ~believe, commit unto, commit to (one's) trust, be committed unto, be put in trust with, be commited to one's trust, believer

John 1:12 (NASB)
...But as many as RECEIVED Him (spiritually!), to them He gave the right to become "children of God" , (saved believers)
even to those who BELIEVE (G4100) in His NAME,...

Romans 10:9,13-15 (NASB)
...that IF you confess (agree with God) with your mouth (mind) Jesus as LORD, AND
BELIEVE (G4100) in your heart (spirit) that God (the Father) raised Him (God the Son) from the dead,
you will (certain to) be SAVED (from eternal spiritual separation));
....for “WHOEVER WILL CALL ON THE NAME OF THE LORD WILL BE SAVED.”
How then will they call on Him in whom they have not BELIEVED?
How will they BELIEVE in Him whom they have not heard?
And how will they hear without a preacher?
How will they preach unless they are sent?

"Faith" occurs 250 times in 232 verses in the NASB ...all but 4 verses in the NT.
G4102 pistis (pe'-stes) = ~faith, assurance, believe, belief, them that believe, fidelity

Hebrews 11 (NASB) ...Biblical examples of The Triumphs of FAITH...DEFINITIONS and EXAMPLES

1. Now FAITH is the (spiritual) assurance of things HOPED for,
the CONVICTION of things (+ truths) not seen.(nor proven!)
For by it (faith) the "men of old" (OT heroes) gained approval. ( AND mankind today gains salvation)

John 6: 28-29
28 Then they (disciples) asked him, "What must we do to do the WORKS God requires?"
29 Jesus answered, "The work of God is this: to BELIEVE in the one he has sent." ...

John 3 ...extracts...Jesus to the inquiring Nicodemus
'You must be born again (spiritually).'
The wind blows wherever it pleases.
You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going.
So it is with everyone born of the Spirit....(NEED fulfilled...a NEW LIFE... CHANGED SPIRIT)
Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert,
so the Son of Man must be lifted up, (crucified ?)
that everyone who BELIEVES in him may have eternal (spiritual) life.

Ephesians 2 ...Made Alive in Christ
1 As for you (believers), you WERE dead in your transgressions and sins,
2 in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient.
3 All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh (sin nature)
and following its desires and thoughts.
Like the rest, we were BY (spiritual) NATURE deserving of wrath.
4 But because of His great (unconditional) love for us, God, who is rich in mercy,
5 made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions
—it is by grace you HAVE BEEN saved.
6 And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus,(spiritual position)
7 in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace,
expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus.
8 For it is by (undeserved) Grace you have been saved, THROUGH (spirit-led) FAITH—
and this (FAITH) is not from yourselves,
it is the GIFT of God—
9 NOT by "works", so that no one can boast.(of their own FAITH or WORKS!)
10 For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus TO DO (unto) "good works",
which God prepared in advance for us to do.(will of God)


I adapt and rely on an excellent Bible scholar's statement:

"The CONDITION(S) for SALVATION...
Salvation is conditioned solely on FAITH/(BELIEF) in Jesus The Christ.("repentance" may be a SYNONYM when understood to be a spiritual "re-thinking" and a "turning around")
Nearly 200 times FAITH (or BELIEF) is stated as the single condition in the New Testament.
That FAITH must be placed in The Christ as one's substutute FOR and Savior FROM sin (/sins)...
There are some FALSE additions to FAITH...
e.g. ritual water baptism, repentance by works, confession / purification, lordship, etc
REF: Ryrie Study Bible...expanded NASB...p. 2073

(Jesus to Mary the Magdelene):.... "Your FAITH has saved YOU; go in peace."...>Luke 7:50

 

[Ron Gurley]

RESPONSE TO POST#8 : Q: "It is when you are a doer of the Word and not a hearer only that your mind becomes renewed and your faith in God increases."

A1: ILLOGICAL CONCLUSION. Indicative snippets of a false doctrine of "WORKS".

James 1(NASB)...in context!!
17 Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow.
18 In the exercise of His will He brought us forth by the word of truth, so that we (BELIEVERS)would be a kind of first fruits among His creatures.
19 This you know, my beloved brethren.
BUT everyone must be quick to hear, slow to speak and slow to anger;
20 for the anger of man does not achieve the righteousness of God.
21 Therefore, putting aside all filthiness and all that REMAINS of wickedness, in humility receive the word implanted, which is able to save your souls.
22 But PROVE yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves.
23 For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks at his natural face in a mirror;
24 for once he has looked at himself and gone away, he has immediately forgotten what kind of person he was.(A SINNER!)
25 But one who looks intently at the perfect law, the law of liberty, and abides by it, not having become a forgetful hearer but an effectual doer, this man will be blessed in what he DOES.

 

[Ron Gurley]

Perhaps you refer to: Jesus' Parable of the Sower and the Seeds in Matthew 13 (NASB)? An Explanation to His followers. The sow-reap principle!

10 And the disciples came and said to Him,
“Why do You speak to them in parables?”
11 Jesus answered them,
“To you it has been granted to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven,
but to them it has not been granted.
12 For whoever has ("good seed" = WORD of God), to him more shall be given, and he will have an abundance;
BUT whoever does not have (that), even what he has shall be taken away from him.
13 Therefore I speak to them in parables;
because while seeing they do not see,
and while hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand.

 

[Ron Gurley]

Romans 10:17
So (spirit-led) faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ.