INCREASED FAITH

In my many years as a Youth Pastor, I’m sure the teens heard me quote Romans 12:1-2 many, many times. It was one of the exhortations I used to challenge them to serve the Lord with all their hearts. Young people, and most others for that matter, deal with pressure to conform to the world. Paul here is charging them to present their bodies as a living sacrifice, and he reminds them of the mercies that had been dealt with in the first eleven chapters. And because of all those mercies, Paul said that a total dedication to God was the norm for the child of God.

In verse 2 Paul gives the key to not conforming to the world. The renewing of the mind is the formula to the transformation (metamorphosis). This helps us understand the process that is spoken of in II Corinthians 5:17 “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away (are in the process of) behold all things are become (are in the process of) new.” The change takes place as the Word of God is applied in the life of the child of God. He does not conform to the world but is changed into the likeness of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Now we come to our text verse, 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.”

Paul now warns against pride and reminds the believer that his thinking should be “soberly” or “sane or with right judgment.” Then the Apostle goes on to mention what I want to emphasize in this week’s “Challenging Concept.” Notice the last part of verse 3 “. . . according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith.” Notice the word “measure.” The implication here is that we are given a limited amount of faith.

Paul says that faith comes from God and is given in a varied degree. We are even given the faith to receive Jesus Christ as our personal Savior (Phil 1:29). But Paul is not saying that since God is the One who gives faith, we have no responsibility, or that if God wanted us to have more faith He would have given us more faith. That’s not what he’s saying at all. In fact in II Corinthians 10:15 he hoped their faith would “increase.” He also said in II Thessalonians 1:3 that their faith had “grown abundantly.” That’s God desire for all of us.

Years ago I had faith sufficient for the need of that hour. In fact, I’ve even said, “If I had known then all that I would face in life, I might have thrown up my hands in defeat.” What I didn’t know then was that God gives faith equal to the circumstance we face. Notice I Corinthians 10:13 “. . . God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted (tested) above that ye are able but will with the temptation (provocation) also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.”

It’s very clear that God wants our faith to grow or increase. Faith sufficient for yesterday is not God’s level of faith for today. His will for you tomorrow may necessitate you have a deeper level of faith than you had yesterday. So our faith must grow and increase.

Let me remind you that faith comes from God. On your own you can not receive more faith by working harder or even through more positive thinking. No, faith comes from God, but that does not mean we sit back and do nothing. We can’t lay back on the couch of “do nothing” and say since God works, that gets me off the hook.

I know of no one who had more faith than Paul but he believed in working. He said in I Corinthians 15:10 “But by the grace of God I am what I am and his grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain; but I laboured more abundantly than they all: yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me.” Did you notice the word “labored?” Paul is saying in this situation that the fruit of Grace was hard work. God works and we work. In other words, God gives us faith and we take the next step. God gives us faith and we step out into deeper waters. We trust Him more in harder situations than we did years ago.

Our faith grows as we read and study the Word of God (Rom 10:17) and submit to the work the Holy Spirit is doing in our life (Gal 5:22).

A young married couple makes a commitment to put Christ in the center of their home. They have a time each day to read the Word of God and pray. They attend their local church every service and try to witness of their faith. They learn that they should give God the first fruits of their labor. They really have some insecurities about this but decide to step out in faith. God blesses then in their finances and they now start giving to missions also. Then in one mission conference God really begins to deal with them about quitting their jobs and moving to another town to prepare themselves to take the gospel to the country of Africa. They again step out by faith. Could they have done this when they were first married? Probably not! But now they are at a higher level of opportunity and this level requires a higher level of faith.

God still is the giver of faith, but it also still takes response on our part. God help us to grow in our faith. May our faith increase.

That’s my view: how about you?