FOUNDATION IN CHRIST STUDIES

BELIEVING GOD

Martin Luther, the Protestant reformer whose teachings founded the

Lutheran church made an amazing discovery while still a Roman Catholic
priest. While studying the Scriptures he found a verse that totally reversed
everything he had been taught regarding salvation. All his previous beliefs held
that man was incapable of receiving the goodness of God due to sin. And that
the best a person could do was attempt to earn salvation by performing various
tasks such as pilgrimages, worshipping relics, and the purchasing of
indulgences.

But while studying the scriptures, he read in the first chapter of the
book of Romans, verse seventeen, which states:

The just shall live by faith.

Though he may or may not have fully understood this verse it was
enough to begin him on his quest to break away from the doctrines and
traditions of Papal Catholicism and begin what is known today as the Lutheran
church.
The just, or as the Greek and Aramaic texts read the righteous shall live
by faith.

What then is faith? It is used in so many different ways that it's

meaning has to be nailed down. Some people use the word to mean a
particular denomination of Christianity, such as the Lutheran faith, or the
Methodist faith. Many well meaning ministers and members of different
denominations also use the word another way when they say that you have
to take something on faith; or that you have to have faith.

There appears to be different ways the word faith is presented in the

New Testament. There is the faith of Jesus Christ, the family faith, the common
faith, the manifestation of faith, the fruit of faith, and the ability of faith. But
whenever the Bible mentions the word faith it simply means believing. The

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ability to believe God and His Word is essential to having the more than
abundant life that Jesus Christ promised in John 10:10.

Believing is no great mystery; we all do it to one degree or another. We

either believe positively or we believe negatively. We either have confidence
and trust, which lead to positive believing, or we have doubt and worry which
lead to negative believing. So one way or another we all believe.

Believing though is a law, set up by God before He created the heavens

and the earth. And like the law of gravity, it works every time it is operated.
The Greek root word for believe in the Greek text is the word pistis, and it
means "to believe". Now it says in Romans 1:17 that the righteous, those whom
God has made righteous, shall live by believing. They shall live that puts it in
the absolute. They absolutely shall live by believing. For the righteous, God's
believers, we shall, in all we do and say, live by our believing. Believing is the
key to living life to the fullest. Wherever we do not live by believing God we
merely exist.

God is not just interested in our spiritual lives; as the Creator He is also
interested in every other aspect of our lives. The financial, the mental, our jobs,
our activities, even our relationships with others. We as Christians are to live
life to its fullest; life in all of its manifestations. But without believing it is
impossible to please God.

Hebrews 11:6
But without faith (apart from believing) it is impossible to please God (to be well
pleasing to God), for he that comes to God must (needs to) believe that He is, and
that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him.

The first thing you and I need to believe is that God is, that He truly
exists. Why pray to someone who you don't believe in? If I had any doubt that
there was a God I wouldn't waste my time teaching others about Him. It
amazes me the number of men and women who stand before their
congregations and deny the very God they are there to teach about. By their
words and actions they really don't believe God, but there they stand,
proclaiming to all that they know Him, and yet they deny His power, they
denounce His Word, and they lie about His nature. They claim to be

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representing the Creator of the heavens and the earth, while not believing what
He says about Himself in His Word.

They say things like God loves you, but then say that He causes
sickness and death. Or they tell people about how great He is but that the
miracles accounted for in the Bible didn't really happen; that theyre just nice
stories. I have no respect for these men and women. They don't believe God and
they teach others to do the same. I don't care what if they came from the
greatest seminaries on the planet, or stand in front of the largest congregations
or come from the biggest denominations. Why? Because lip service doesn't
please God, believing does.

If believing pleases God, then fear does not please Him. Fear is
believing and acting in opposition to how God wants us to believe and act. Fear
robs a person from doing what they knows is right to do. It is the believer's
greatest struggle. Fear never comes from the true God. It is a weapon in the
hands of the god of this world, the devil.

Proverbs 29:25
The fear of a man brings a snare, but whosoever puts his trust in the Lord shall be safe.

Fear is a snare; it can bind a man or woman and prevent them from
doing God's will. Jeremiah 49:24 says that Damascus had been seized by fear.
Fear does just that; it seizes an individual and prevents them from receiving the
promises of God.

Fear is never the Will of God for His people. He desires that we trust
Him and He always wants His people to believe positively and reap the result
of His blessings. Do you know the account in the Old Testament of Job? Job is
one of the most records in the Old Testament for it shows us the contrast of
Gods goodness and mercy and the Devils wickedness and evil.

Many people teach that God tested Job with the loss of his children and
his sickness. That it was God who killed Jobs children and destroyed his flocks
and made him sick. But this is not what is declared in Gods Word.

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Job 1: 1
There was a man in the land of Uz, whose name was Job; and that man was perfect and
upright, and one that feared God, and eschewed evil.

Job lived during the time of Joseph in the land of Uz. Uz was Huz, the
son of Nahor, Abraham's brother. Where Huz had settled, this is where Job now
lived. It was the land south of Edom and west of Arabia. Dedan of the Old
Testament, the area of the Nabataean kingdoms in the New Testament. Job was
most likely the son of Issachar mentioned in Genesis 46:13.

Job was a righteous man, that's the meaning of perfect and upright.
Perfect means inoffensive, while upright means without fault in the sight of
God. It also says here that he feared God. Now wait a minute, didn't I just say
that fear is wrong? Yet here it says that Job feared God.

To fear God doesn't mean to be afraid of Him. It is an old English

meaning for respect or reverence. Job loved God, he respected Him, he was in
awe of Him, and he reverenced Him.

Now Job had three sons and three daughters, and it says in verse 5 that
Job offered sacrifices for his children every day. Because...

"it may be that my sons (all inclusive noun which includes his daughters) have
sinned and cursed God in their hearts."

Does this verse say that Job heard his children curse God? Was Job
God? Was it his place to think evil and pass judgment on his children? No. This
was Job's sin, this is how fear got its foot in the door of Job's hedge of protection
until it wore him down and almost destroyed him. In chapter 3, verse 25 it says:

For the thing which I greatly feared is come upon me, and that which I was afraid of is
come unto me.

That's the law of believing in a nutshell. Whatever you believe for,

you'll receive. If you have fear in your life, and you harbor that fear and dwell
on that fear, that fear is going to be manifested in your life. But if you trust God,

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if you believe His promises, you're going to manifest those promises in your
life.

In the gospel of John in the 22nd chapter and in the 29th verse, Jesus
Christ makes an interesting statement, when he says.. You do err, not knowing the
scripture, nor the power of God.

The men that Jesus was speaking to were the religious leaders of his
day. These were men that others would go to for answers. Yet Jesus said to
those men that they did not know the scriptures nor the power of God. The
word not is the key to understanding this verse. It means absolutely not, a
refusal to do a thing or matter. These Judeans leaders knew what the scriptures
said but they refused to believe that the Scriptures was Gods Word.

So if these men with all their training did not desire to know the
scriptures, could they truly help troubled people who came to them? The
answer is no. Like so many leaders in our society today these religious leaders
refused to believe God's Word. They did not believe that the Word of God is the
Will of God. They could quote laws and regulations, men's opinions, the
traditions of the elders, the popular writers of their time, but they didn't want to
know or believe God's Word.

I never try to convince a person that the Bible is God's Word. Because it
is. The Bible is written to those who believe God. If you don't believe it, it is
either because you refuse to believe it, or do not know enough about it to make
the decision to believe. The word believe is a verb and verbs connote action.
In order to have the power of God in our lives we first have to believe.
Remember Hebrews 11:6? It says just that:

But without faith (pistis-believing) it is impossible to please Him: for he

that comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of them that
diligently seek Him.

Does this verse say that we have to know everything before God will
reward us? No, it does not. Nor does it say that God is a punisher. It says He is
a rewarder. That's the true God! But it does say that we have to believe. What is
it we have to believe? That He is. God is. You can argue until youre blue in the

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face but all your arguing won't dispel God. You might turn your back on Him,
but He'll never turn His back on you. All He requires is for us to believe Him.

Look at Mark 11:23:

For of a truth I say unto you, that whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be you
removed, and be you cast unto the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe
that those things which he says shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he says.

It says whosoever; now whosoever means whosoever. Does this mean

anyone can operate this law? Yes. Because it is a law; anyone can believe. Jesus
Christ said "this mountain". He was specific; he pointed to a specific mountain
and said they could, by believing, cast it into the sea.

Another point Id like to make here is that it says, "shall not doubt in his
heart". We have to remember that doubt leads to unbelief, which is negative
believing. Doubt begins in the mind. An occasional doubt is no big problem;
you just replace it with a positive. But if that doubt makes it into the heart, the
inner most part of your mind, and then there is a problem. For in Proverbs 4:23
it says that, out of the heart come the issues of life. What you feed your mind
you become.

What are you mentally eating? Proverbs 23:7 says, As a man thinks in
his heart, so is he.
Believing works for everyone, saint and sinner alike, believer and
unbeliever, Christian and non-Christian; because it is a law, it is a law no
different than the truth that gravity is a law. Hold your Bible over your lap for a
moment. Now let go of it. Did it float in midair? Did it suddenly shoot up
towards the ceiling? No? Why not? Because of the law of gravity, that whatever
goes up must [eventually] come down. The law of believing works just as
efficaciously as the law of gravity. What you believe is what you are going to
receive. Because all believing equals receiving. Whatever you believe for, you're
going to get. Why? Because it's a law.

Fear brings the results of negative believing; it works just as effectively

as trust, which brings the results of positive believing. Fear though, is always
wrong. Fear is believing contrary to the will of God. It ties the hands of God,

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and defeats the promises of God. Because where and when you have fear in
your heart and mind you cannot trust God.

Fear is the Christian's greatest enemy. Fear is never the Will of God. Oh,
I know, you're going to say that you've read in the Bible that we should fear
God. Or that your Sunday school teachers or your parents taught you that you
should fear God. Well, it isn't so. There are two meanings for the English word
fear as it is used in Gods Word. Theres fear which is the opposite of trust and
then there is the fear of the Lord. Whenever the Bible it talking of fearing God
it is an indication of showing respect or having great awe, not to be terrified in
your mind.

The angel told Mary to fear not in Luke 1:30. Romans 8:15 states that we
are not to receive the spirit of bondage again to fear. Look at Galatians 2:11-14.
It says that Peter responded the way he did towards the Gentile converts
because he feared the Judean leadership from Jerusalem. If his fear was right,
then why did Paul reprove him with the Word? It says in 1st John 4:18 that
there is no fear in love. Then by sheer logic there is no love in fear.

Remember the account in the gospel of Matthew, when Peter walked

on the water to Jesus?
Matthew 14:25-31:
And in the fourth watch of the night, (about our 3-6 a.m.) Jesus went unto them,
walking on the sea.
And when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying; It is a
spirit; and they cried out for fear.
But straightway Jesus spoke unto them, saying, Be of good cheer; it is I; be not afraid.
And Peter answered him and said, Lord, if it is you, bid me come unto you on the water.
And he said, Come.
And when Peter was come down out of the ship, he walked on the water, to go to Jesus.
But when he saw the wind boisterous, (powerful, mighty) he was afraid; and
beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord save me.
And immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand, and caught him, and said to him, O'
you of little faith (holigopistos = little, not as in a small amount, but little, as in
shortness of span, non-enduring believing), wherefore (why) did you doubt?

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 Why did Peter doubt? Because He saw, he placed his focus on how
powerful the wind was blowing. His senses told him that what he doing was
impossible. For a moment though he did believe, until his senses led his focus
off Jesus and his doubt caused him to fear. Peter responded to his doubt by
confessing that he was sinking. It was his response to the things around him
that caused him to fear.
How do you think Peter get back to the boat? Do you think he swam?
No. Jesus believed to walk him back, and with the Master's example being set
before his eyes, Peter walked back.

Look at James 1:6-8:

But let him ask in faith, (the texts read "with believing") nothing wavering
(doubting nothing) For he that wavers (doubts) is like a wave of the sea driven with
the wind and tossed.
For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord.
A double minded man (a man of two minds, or two conflicting opinions on the
same subject) is unstable (unsteady, unsettled) in all his ways.

If you are of two opinions on a subject how can you believe positively?
You're not certain where you stand on the matter. If you are unsettled you are
not at peace in your mind. And in order to believe God you have the peace of
God so that you can trust Him to do what He promised.

What you believe in your heart and confess with your mouth, you will
absolutely receive in your life. This is the law of believing. If you only mentally
agree to the Word of God, and still continue to confess the negatives of the
world, you will not receive the promises of God. If you do not follow through
on your positive confession with positive actions; your senses or others around
you will talk you out of believing positively for the desired results. You may
want the positive results, but your thoughts and actions will betray you to
doubt and fear. Don't be surprised when you don't receive what you prayed for
if all you do is agree that the Word of God is the Will of God; rather than
believed it to be so.

James 2:17:
Even so faith, (believing) if it has not works, (corresponding actions) is dead, being
alone.

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Hebrews 4:2:
For unto us was the gospel preached as well as unto them: but the Word preached did
not profit them, not being mixed (tempered, blended) with faith (pistis = believing)
[with] in them that heard it.

Look again at Proverbs 29:25; it says that the fear of man brings a snare.
A snare ties you up, it is designed to capture you or trip you. In Psalm 27:1, it
states that God is our light and salvation; He is the strength of our life.
Therefore we need have no fear. In Psalm 34:4, it says that by seeking the Lord,
He'll deliver us from our fears. God is our refuge; a very present help in trouble,
according to Psalm 46:1-3. This is the truth according to the Word of God. This
is what we are to believe, not the negatives of the world around us.

The newspapers and television shows are not positive; they will not
build up your mind and help you to believe for the positive things of God. So
why do we feed our minds such garbage?

There is an idiom that is so true in this day and time. It says, Garbage
in, garbage out. How very true. What you put in your mind will affect you,
either positively or negatively. Which way do you want to think?

Most Christians, I believe, don't give God the rightful place in their
lives. They go to church every Sunday. They throw their dollar in the collection
plate. Shout amen and praise God, then go home and live like the devil. There is
no lifestyle of believing affiliated with most of Christianity today. They don't
know God as their Heavenly Father, and don't live their lives with any respect
to what He has done for them. Most Christians couldn't claim a promise of God
if it hit them over the head. Did you know that there are over 900 promises of
God? How many do you know? You can only claim the ones you know.

For most so-called believers, God is too small. He is there to get them
out of sticky situations, someone to pray to when there's a problem. Most
people see God as a loan officer, borrow what you need, pay Him back as fast
as possible, and then forget about Him until another emergency arises. A great
man once said that most Christians see salvation only as a fire escape from hell.

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 God desires to be our Father. Not a part time problem solver. Although
He is good at rescuing us, there's more to Christianity than that. Christianity
should be the way of a father with his children. Not someone you try to
appease when things aren't going your way.

In Proverbs 3:5 & 6, it states that we should trust in the Lord with all
our hearts and lean not unto our own understanding. In all our ways
acknowledge Him, and He shall direct our paths.

Trust is the opposite of fear. If we trust God we get the desired results
to our prayers; but it also says that we aren't to lean to our own understanding.
We shouldnt try to figure things out on our own but rather we should first
develop a knowledge of His Word. If we try to be God, we'll fall flat on our
noses. We are to acknowledge Him, and we do that by going to His Word and
seeing what He has to say. Then change our thinking to line up with His Word,
and do it His way. When we do that, then He shall direct our paths.

Ephesians 1:3 says that we have (past tense) been blessed with all
spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ. That's a promise of God. John
8:32 says that the truth shall make us free. Notice it doesn't say set us free.
Because to be set free implies that we could be captured again. God says what
He means and means what He says, and Jesus Christ, speaking by revelation
from God, said make, not set.

In the epistle to the Romans, Paul, speaking by the spirit of God in him,
said in 8:37, that we are more than conquerors. In the Greek, the words "more
than" means super. We are super-conquerors through Christ. Is that only when
I feel like it? Only when everything is going my way? Only on Sundays during
Church? No! In all things, all situations I am a super-conqueror; if the Word of
God is right. Even when I don't feel like it I am a super-conqueror I am to
change my thinking to what the Word says, and not give in to my feelings.

People make God too small, they limit what He can do in their lives;
they do this either through ignorance or unbelief. Do you want to make God
insignificant in your life? Would you worship a God who is limited to what he
can do in your life?

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Look at Isaiah 41:10:
Fear you not; for I am with you: be not dismayed; for I am your God: I will strengthen
you; yea, I will help you; yea, I will uphold you with the right hand of My
righteousness.

God will do this for you, if you claim His promises. But first you have
to know them. Psalm 32:8 says that God shall instruct us in the ways we shall
go; He will guide us with His eye. Do you want God to instruct you? Then
you're going to have to know His Word.

Ephesians 3:20 is a verse all believers should be able to quote at a

moments notice:
Now unto Him who is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think,
according to the power that works in us.

You see, God is able. He has the ability, that's why He is God, not you
or I. But is what he does only above what we think or ask for? That would be
pretty great; but wait, there's more. Abundantly above..., it's not just above
what we ask or think, and it's not just abundantly above what we ask or think.
It's exceeding abundantly above ALL that we ask or think.

The word for ask in the Greek means to demand or request. Demand
like you would demand payment on a check, when you know the money's in
your account. It's your money; you have a right to it. Our requests are ours
also; we have a right to them. The word "Think" means to perceive. All that
we can rightfully request or perceive. God can even bless us greater than that.
This is limited only by the power that works in us.

The texts read: The standard being the latent ability that is energized in
us. Your latent ability is your believing. Whatever you can believe God for,
He can do way far beyond that. So where is your believing? What is it you
believe? The lies of the world, or the truth of God's Word?

A literal of Colossians 1:13 says:

Who has rescued us out from the exercised power of darkness, and has transported us
into the Kingdom by the son of His love.

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 This is not just some man's word, this is God's Word. Do you believe
what God says? Philippians 2:13 says that it is God who is at work in you,
both to will and to do of His good pleasure. God is a God of greatness and
strength. He is a God of unlimited resources and ability. But He can only
work when we allow Him to work.

God gave man the freedom of will to believe or not believe. His love for
us is freely given and He wants us to return our love to Him just as freely.
The devil possesses, the devil controls and strips a man of his freedom of
will. God never does. A man must choose to love and serve God. God works
within us; we are fellow-workers with Him.

We need to desire to do His Will, which is to do what the Word of God,

the Bible says and that starts in Hebrews 11:6, we must first believe that He is
and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him.

There are five basic ways we can impede God in our lives. We can
restrict Him by:
1) Our wrong believing.
2) Not knowing our rights in Christ.
3) Not knowing what Jesus Christ did for us by his live, death, and
resurrection.
4) Not knowing what God has done for us or in us.
5) Not allowing God to bring His promises to pass in our lives.

Is God too small in our lives? He must be if we are not manifesting the
more than abundant life His son Jesus Christ came to make available to us.

Proverbs 11:8a says the righteous are delivered out of trouble. In Psalm
37, and in verses 3-5 God claims that if we trust in the Lord and do good, that
is, to do what He asks of us according to His Word, we shall dwell in the land
and we shall be fed. In verse 4, it says to delight in the Lord and He shall give
us the desires of our hearts. And if we commit our way unto the Lord and
trust in Him, He shall bring those desires to pass.

First it says commit, that is, rest in Him. Let go and let God work in our
lives. Then it says delight, to delight is to find joy in the doing of His

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commandments. Then it says trust in Him. To trust means to fully believe that
what He has promised, He is able and willing to perform. If we do those three
things, He will take care of our physical needs, give us the desires that come to
our hearts, then bring those desires to pass.

In 2nd Timothy 1:7 it says that God has given us power, love and a
sound mind. A sound mind is a healthy mind. A sane mind, a mind that
functions according to what God says, not what the world says. To think the
thoughts of God's Word is to think healthy, sane thoughts. Anything less would
be unhealthy and insane. Do you want a sane mind? Then you'll have to know
the Word.

2nd Timothy 4:9 says that the Word of God is faithful; it always works
when we believe it and act accordingly. 3rd John 2 says that it is the primary
Will of God that we prosper and be in (good) health. This is the Will of God; do
you believe God at His Word?

Hebrews 4:12 reports that the Word of God is quick and powerful, or
life-giving and energetic. It says that the Word of God can divide asunder soul
and spirit and the joints (nerve bundles) and marrow (myelin sheath). Do you
know where the soul life of a person ends, and the spiritual life begins? Can
you find the space between the myelin sheath and its nerve bundle? The Word
of God can. Furthermore, it says that the Word of God is a discerner, or a critic
of the thoughts and intents of the heart.

God knows your very thoughts, and why you feel what you feel. He
knows your every emotion and why you do what you do. His Word is the
critic, the judge of all that we feel, think, sense, and do. And He knows all this
even before we do it. And do you know what? He still loves us and doesn't look
at our actions and thoughts. Because He knows our hearts and when He looks
at our hearts, do you know what He sees? He sees the heart of His son, Jesus
Christ.

2nd Peter 1:3

According as His divine power has given unto us all things that pertain unto life and
godliness, through the knowledge of him that has called us to glory and virtue.

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 A literal according to Biblical usage:
As His divine ability has given to us all things which pertain to life in all its
manifestations; and a true, vital, spiritual relationship with Him, this is done by way
of a true and exact knowledge of Him who invited us to His own excellent glory.

If you want to have all things that pertain to life in its fullest, and if you
want to have a genuine relationship with the Creator of the heavens and the
earth, then you're going to have to have an accurate knowledge of Him who
called you. This is only found in His Word. We must know His Word, and
confess His Word, and act on His Word if we want to see His Word come to
pass in our lives.

James 1:21
Wherefore lay apart (put off) all filthiness and superfluity (excess) of naughtiness
(evil habits), and receive with meekness the engrafted Word, which is able to save
your souls (make your lives whole).

The Word of God is able to make our lives whole, when we come to it
willing to learn.

James 1:22-25:
But be you doers of the Word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.
For if any be a hearer of the Word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his
natural face in a glass (mirror).
For he beholds himself, and goes his way, and straightway (immediately) he forgets
what manner of man he was.
But whosoever looks into the perfect law of liberty, and continues therein, he being
not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed
(doing).

This is where we as Christian believers want to get in our walks with

God. To be doers of the Word and not hearers only. Only then will we receive
the promises of God; only then will God bless us in our doing.

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NOTE: All verses are quoted from the Stephens Greek text and/or the Peshitta
Aramaic text. Some verses are noted as literals according to their Biblical usage,
or as expanded literals for the readers greater understanding.

Mark Andrew Cartier, September 1994

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