Faith is the Doorway to Grace

With all of these wonderful new creation realities and responsibilities, you may feel overwhelmed.

A few of these may be hard for you to grasp and believe. What is the response of faith? We see that answer in a father who desperately needed a miracle during Jesus’ ministry.

And when He came to the disciples, He saw a great multitude around them, and scribes disputing with them. Immediately, when they saw Him, all the people were greatly amazed, and running to Him, greeted Him. And He asked the scribes, “What are you discussing with them?” Then one of the crowd answered and said, “Teacher, I brought You my son, who has a mute spirit. And wherever it seizes him, it throws him down; he foams at the mouth, gnashes his teeth, and becomes rigid. So I spoke to Your disciples, that they should cast it out, but they could not.” He answered him and said, “O faithless generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I bear with you? Bring him to Me.” Then they brought him to Him. And when he saw Him, immediately the spirit convulsed him, and he fell on the ground and wallowed, foaming at the mouth. So He asked his father, “How long has this been happening to him?” And he said, “From childhood. And often he has thrown him both into the fire and into the water to destroy him. But if You can do anything, have compassion on us and help us.” Jesus said to him, “If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes.” Immediately the father of the child cried out and said with tears, “Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!” (Mark 9:14–24).

The father of the young man was in a desperate situation. His son had been dealing with this affliction since childhood. The father was at the end of his rope and pleaded with Jesus saying, “If You can do anything, have compassion on us and help us.” He hit the proverbial ball to Jesus, but Jesus immediately put the ball back in his court.

 “If you can believe,” Jesus replied, “all things are possible to him who believes.” Throughout His ministry, Jesus credited faith for the positive outcome of prayer. In the gospels, we often hear Him say, “Your faith has made you whole.” Faith allowed all of those individuals to receive their miracle. Jesus likewise challenged this father to use his faith. According to the words of Jesus, the deliverance of the child would not be possible if he did not believe. For the father to receive this miracle, he had to believe.

“Lord, I believe!” the father cried, “Help my unbelief.” The man released his faith when he called Jesus “Lord” and expressed his belief. As seen in Mark 9, the father received his miracle. The father showed the response of faith when it was hard to believe. He chose to believe anyway and asked for help in his unbelief. When you see something concerning your new creation reality that is hard to believe, you need to respond in kind, saying, “Lord, I believe this. Help my unbelief.” When you pray that way, the Lord will respond, and He will help your unbelief. Unbelief, in this instance, is a lack of faith. How does Jesus help a lack of faith? We see one of those instances in Mark 6.

 Then He went out from there and came to His own country, and His disciples followed Him. And when the Sabbath had come, He began to teach in the synagogue. And many hearing Him were astonished, saying, “Where did this Man get these things? And what wisdom is this which is given to Him, that such mighty works are performed by His hands! Is this not the carpenter, the Son of Mary, and brother of James, Joses, Judas, and Simon? And are not His sisters here with us?” So they were offended at Him. But Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in his own country, among his own relatives, and in his own house.” Now He could do no mighty work there, except that He laid His hands on a few sick people and healed them. And He marveled because of their unbelief. Then He went about the villages in a circuit, teaching (Mark 6:1–6).

Jesus returned to Nazareth and went to His home synagogue. Imagine the heart of the Lord. He wanted to do good in the area that He grew up in. Imagine how many times He had visited this synagogue while He was growing up. Now, He had been commissioned by His heavenly Father to go to this synagogue to teach and to heal. Imagine the excitement and compassion that was overflowing from His heart. However, the people at the synagogue that day did not receive what Jesus had for them. As Jesus began to teach, they began to question and become offended. In addition to their offense, they refused to believe.

The language of this verse is so powerful and jarring to religious notions concerning the ministry of Jesus. The Scripture does not say He would not do, it says, “He could do no mighty work there.” He was only able to minister healing to a few sick people. Jesus was not able to do great miracles like He did in other cities because of their unbelief. Their unbelief was so strong that Jesus marveled at it. But Jesus did not give up. He responded to their unbelief by going around and teaching the word.

Today, Jesus will still help your unbelief. He will help your unbelief by taking you through the written word, communicating to your heart, and leading you to anointed preaching and teaching of the word.

 Faith Is A Door

Faith is many things, including a door. It is a door that leads you into the superhuman life that allows you to experience new creation realities. If faith is not built up and increased to become a lifestyle, the superhuman experiences of believers will be limited to few and far between. About faith, Paul wrote, “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God” (Ephesians 2:8).

When you were saved, you were born again and granted access to all of the new creation realities in Christ Jesus. You were granted access, but you still must go through the door. You were saved by grace through faith. Faith is the doorway to grace. Inside the marvelous grace of God is the superhuman life that has been promised to every believer.

Imagine it this way. Behind a simple garage door is your dream vehicle. A Mercedes S-Class. A Phantom RollsRoyce. A rare Ferrari GTO. A Bugatti La Voiture Noire. An Aston Martin Lagonda Taraf. Take your pick; it’s your dream car. All you have to do to get your dream car is go through the door; then it is yours to drive away. What is more valuable, the door or the dream car? The dream car, of course. The simple garage door is only worth a few hundred dollars. The dream car is worth six to seven figures. Although the vehicle is more valuable, you still have to go through the door to get it.

Here is the same question again, but in spiritual terms. What is more valuable, faith or grace? Grace, of course. Although grace is more valuable, you still have to go through the doorway of faith to get it. The doorway of faith leads you to the superhuman life. Continually increase your faith so that the door remains wide open, enabling you to continue your journey into the superhuman life.

Strong Faith or Weak Faith

How do you measure the strength of your faith? What is the sign of weak or strong faith? How much grace can your faith access? The life of Abraham, who is called the father of faith, gives us an accurate standard by which to measure our faith.

Therefore it is of faith that it might be according to grace, so that the promise might be sure to all the seed, not only to those who are of the law, but also those who are of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all (as it is written, “I have made you a father of many nations”) in the presence of Him whom he believed— God, who gives life to the dead and calls those things which do not exist as though they did; who contrary to hope, in hope believed, so that he became the father of many nations, according to what was spoken, “So shall your descendants be.” And not being weak in faith, he did not consider his own body, already dead (since he was about a hundred years old), and the deadness of Sarah’s womb. He did not waver at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strengthened in faith, giving glory to God, and being fully persuaded that what He had promised He was also able to perform. And therefore “it was accounted to him for righteousness” (Romans 4:16–22).

According to verse 19, weak faith is considering your circumstances. By this point in the scripture, Abraham was no longer a man of weak faith. He did not take into account the age or ability of their bodies. It was impossible for either of them to have a child. Yet, since Abraham was no longer weak in faith, he did not consider the impossibility.

In this verse, consider means to fix one’s eyes or mind upon. Instead of considering his circumstances, Abraham considered the covenant God had made with him. He considered God’s promise. He considered God’s faithfulness. As verse 20 relates, he did not waver at God’s promise to them. Instead, he gave glory to God. He praised God even when it did not look like anything was happening. Strong faith praises God in the face of contradictory circumstances.

There may be things in your life that seem to be a direct contradiction to the new creation realities God has promised you. Instead of fixing your eyes and mind on those things, be strong in faith. Choose to believe God, and say, “Father, I thank You that I am born again. Thank You for redeeming me. Thank You for making me a new creation in Christ Jesus. Thank You for Your anointing. Thank You for making me an overcomer and giving me the advantage. I choose to believe Your word!”

Faith Is A Substance

“Now the just shall live by faith; but if anyone draws back, My soul has no pleasure in him.” But we are not of those who draw back to perdition, but of those who believe to the saving of the soul. Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen (Hebrews 10:38–11:1).

 In the previous section on superhuman realities, we looked at the life that is possible to every believer. In a later section, we will examine more of the abilities and powers that accompany the superhuman life. These realities, powers, and abilities are things that people hope are real. Even if they do not think they are real, they enjoy watching these powers and abilities displayed on the small and big screen. The power and abilities that you have previously only hoped for are real; faith gives that reality substance in your life. Faith brings things that are only in the realm of dreams, wishes, and expectations into this reality.

Now faith is the assurance (the confirmation, the title deed) of the things we hope for, being the proof of things we do not see and the conviction of their reality [faith perceiving as real fact what is not revealed to the senses] (Hebrews 11:1 AMPC).

Faith is the title deed to the superhuman life. When people have a title deed, it shows that the object in question belongs to them. Faith is the confirmation that the believer can have a superhuman life. Sometimes, when you check into a hotel, the hostess will ask for your confirmation number. The confirmation number is the evidence that the hotel room has been reserved for you. Faith is the proof of the superhuman life. Faith’s proof comes from continually hearing the word.

Challenges will at times present themselves as contradictions to the superhuman life God has promised you in Christ Jesus. Sometimes those circumstances will be so challenging that the only proof that you have a superhuman life is faith in the word. In those moments, you have to be like Abraham. Faith in what God has said has to be enough for you. You must consider your new covenant in Christ as greater than the contradictions you face. In those trying times, faith must be your evidence. Faith as your evidence will produce the supernatural in your life. As you continually study and meditate on what the word says about being a new creation in Christ Jesus, faith will rise in your heart and convict you that you have barely scratched the surface of the superhuman life. This freshly arisen faith will convince you that there is more for you and that you must embark on the journey into the superhuman life.

Faith Is Like A Vehicle

How far will your faith take you down the journey into the superhuman life? If your faith was like a vehicle, how fuel efficient would it be? It is important to build your faith, but you must also make sure your faith can take you into your future. Cars work by fuel. Whether you have a car that works by gas or electricity, the vehicle works by some type of fuel. The vehicle can only travel as long as the fuel lasts. If the fuel is efficient, the vehicle can go farther than it could if it was fueled by less efficient fuel.

In the same way, faith is fueled by love. Paul explained this when he said, “For in Jesus Christ neither circumcision availeth anything, nor uncircumcision; but faith which worketh by love” (Galatians 5:6 KJV). Faith can only go as far as the operation of love in the life of the believer. Faith will only be as effective as the efficiency and quality of the love that is operating in the life of the believer.

In the comics, Superman’s powers are derived from the rays of the sun. If Superman is ever in a weakened state or has had his powers drained, exposure to sunlight restores his powers. Just as Superman is recharged by the rays of the sun, a believer’s faith is empowered by the revelation of the love of God and that love’s operation in the believer’s life.