FAITH SCRIPTURES

Matt 9:29 29 Then He touched their eyes, saying, “Be it done to you according to your faith.”(NAS)

Matt 17:20 20 And He said to them, “Because of the littleness of your faith; for truly I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you shall say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it shall move; and nothing shall be impossible to you.(NAS)

Mark 5:34 34 And He said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace, and be healed of your affliction.”(NAS)

Mark 10:52 52 And Jesus said to him, “Go your way; your faith has made you well.” And immediately he regained his sight and {began} following Him on the road.(NAS)

Luke 17:19 19 And He said to him, “Rise, and go your way; your faith has made you well.”(NAS)

Acts 3:16 16 “And on the basis of faith in His name, {it is} the name of Jesus which has strengthened this man whom you see and know; and the faith which {comes} through Him has given him this perfect health in the presence of you all.(NAS)

Rom 4:20 20 He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God;(KJV)

Rom 4:20 20 yet, with respect to the promise of God, he did not waver in unbelief, but grew strong in faith, giving glory to God,(NAS) 21

Rom 10:17 17 So faith {comes} from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ.(NAS)

Rom 11:20 20 Quite right, they were broken off for their unbelief, but you stand by your faith. Do not be conceited, but fear;(NAS)

Rom 14:2 2 One man has faith that he may eat all things, but he who is weak eats vegetables {only.}(NAS)

Rom 14:22-23 22 The faith which you have, have as your own conviction before God. Happy is he who does not condemn himself in what he approves. 23 But he who doubts is condemned if he eats, because {his eating is} not from faith; and whatever is not from faith is sin.(NAS)

1 Cor 2:4-5 4 And my message and my preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, 5 that your faith should not rest on the wisdom of men, but on the power of God.(NAS)

2 Cor 5:7 7 for we walk by faith, not by sight–(NAS) 2 Cor 13:5 5 Test yourselves {to see} if you are in the faith; examine yourselves! Or do you not recognize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you– unless indeed you fail the test?(NAS)

Isa 7:9 9 and the head of Ephraim is Samaria and the head of Samaria is the son of Remaliah. If you will not believe, you surely shall not last.”‘”(NAS)

Matt 8:13 13 And Jesus said to the centurion, “Go your way; let it be done to you as you have believed.” And the servant was healed that {very} hour.(NAS)

Matt 13:58 58 And He did not do many miracles there because of their unbelief.(NAS)

Gal 2:20 20 “I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the {life} which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me, and delivered Himself up for me. (NAS)

Eph 6:10-17 10 Finally, be strong in the Lord, and in the strength of His might. 11 Put on the full armor of God, that you may be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil. 12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual {forces} of wickedness in the heavenly {places.} 13 Therefore, take up the full armor of God, that you may be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm. 14 Stand firm therefore, having girded your loins with truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, 15 and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; 16 in addition to all, taking up the shield of faith with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming missiles of the evil {one.} 17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. (NAS)

Heb 11:1-40 1 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. 2 For by it the elders obtained a good report. 3 Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear. 4 By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts: and by it he being dead yet speaketh. 5 By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death; and was not found, because God had translated him: for before his translation he had this testimony, that he pleased God. 6 But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him. 7 By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house; by the which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith. 8 By faith Abraham, when
he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed; and he went out, not knowing whither he went. 9 By faith he sojourned in the land of promise, as in a strange country, dwelling in tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise: 10 For he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God. 11 Through faith also Sara herself received strength to conceive seed, and was delivered of a child when she was past age, because she judged him faithful who had promised. 12 Therefore sprang there even of one, and him as good as dead, so many as the stars of the sky in multitude, and as the sand which is by the sea shore innumerable. 13 These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. 14 For they that say such things declare plainly that they seek a country. 15 And truly, if they had been mindful of that country from whence they came out, they might have had opportunity to have returned. 16 But now they desire a better country, that is, an heavenly: wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God: for he hath prepared for them a city. 17 By faith Abraham, when he was tried, offered up Isaac: and he that had received the promises offered up his only begotten son, 18 Of whom it was said, That in Isaac shall thy seed be called: 19 Accounting that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead; from whence also he received him in a figure. 20 By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau concerning things to come. 21 By faith Jacob, when he was a dying, blessed both the sons of Joseph; and worshipped, leaning upon the top of his staff. 22 By faith Joseph, when he died, made mention of the departing of the children of Israel; and gave commandment concerning his bones. 23 By faith Moses, when he was born, was hid three months of his parents, because they saw he was a proper child; and they were not afraid of the king’s commandment. 24 By faith Moses, when he was come to years, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter; 25 Choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season; 26 Esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt: for he had respect unto the recompence of the reward. 27 By faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king: for he endured, as seeing him who is invisible. 28 Through faith he kept the passover, and the sprinkling of blood, lest he that destroyed the firstborn should touch them. 29 By faith they passed through the Red sea as by dry land: which the Egyptians assaying to do were drowned. 30 By faith the walls of Jericho fell down, after they were compassed about seven days. 31 By faith the harlot Rahab perished not with them that believed not, when she had received the spies with peace. 32 And what shall I more say? for the time would fail me to tell of Gedeon, and of Barak, and of Samson, and of Jephthae; of David also, and Samuel, and of the prophets: 33 Who through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, 34 Quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, waxed valiant in fight, turned to flight the armies of the aliens. 35 Women received their dead raised to life again: and others were tortured, not accepting deliverance; that they might obtain a better resurrection: 36 And others had trial of cruel mockings and scourgings, yea, moreover of bonds and imprisonment: 37 They were stoned, they were sawn asunder, were tempted, were slain with the sword: they wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins; being destitute, afflicted, tormented; 38 (Of whom the world was not worthy:) they wandered in deserts, and in mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth. 39 And these all, having obtained a good report through faith, received not the promise: 40 God having provided some better thing for us, that they without us should not be made perfect. (KJV)

Heb 13:7 7 Remember those who led you, who spoke the word of God to you; and considering the result of their conduct, imitate their faith. (NAS)

How does reading and meditating on these scriptures encourage your faith?

In what areas of your life do you need more faith?

FALSE TEACHING within the Body of Messiah

Firstly, this is in no means intended to criticize any one specific ministry, or individual. I believe that the majority of people who call themselves Christians, or Believers (followers of Messiah) and minister in the name of the Lord Jesus, are desiring to be obedient to the Lord and witness the full manifestation of His power, anointing and Kingdom on earth. However, because of the enemies plan to divide and weaken the Body of Messiah, many are teaching and following heresy in these last days.

2 Peter 2:1-3 But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will also be false teachers among you, who will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing swift destruction upon themselves. Many will follow their sensuality, and because of them the way of the truth will be maligned; and in their greed they will exploit you with false words; their judgment from long ago is not idle, and their destruction is not asleep.

I also believe that we must be extremely careful once we begin to discern false teachings within the Body of Messiah so as not to fall into the sin of self righteousness, and pride ourselves. The path of the true disciple of the Lord Messiah Yeshua/Jesus Christ is a walk of love, humility and unity, and it is indeed very narrow, as the Lord told us.

Matthew 7:13-14 Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it. “For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it.

To walk in the truth, we must be wise and apply a keen eye to the fruit of individuals, ministries and teachings because the Lord warns us that there are in fact, false prophets in our midst, whose goals are to devour us.

Matthew 7:15-16 Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits. Grapes are not gathered from thorn bushes nor figs from thistles, are they?

It was God who put the topic of false teaching before me and made me question the truth of the teachings from many well known ministries, including things I was seeing on television. I saw so much Scripture in what they were teaching, but that did not make it right in the Lord’s eyes. He explained it to me like this:

There is a lifetime of study and application necessary to knowing God, learning about the sound words of Messiah Yeshua/Jesus Christ and about godliness, and our growing in the character of Christ. When we teach or study other things, we focus on the wrong
things and those teachings lead us astray. For example, thinking that godliness is a means of gain is error. If we focus on godliness being a means, we in our human weakness are drawn into temptation that leads to ruin and destruction.

1 Timothy 6:3-10 If anyone advocates a different doctrine and does not agree with sound words, those of our Lord Jesus Christ, and with the doctrine conforming to godliness, he is conceited and understands nothing; but he has a morbid interest in controversial questions and disputes about words, out of which arise envy, strife, abusive language, evil suspicions, and constant friction between men of depraved mind and deprived of the truth, who suppose that godliness is a means of gain. But godliness actually is a means of great gain when accompanied by contentment. For we have brought nothing into the world, so we cannot take anything out of it either. If we have food and covering, with these we shall be content. But those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a snare and many foolish and harmful desires which plunge men into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all sorts of evil, and some by longing for it have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.

The next verse tells us what our goal is to be.

1 Timothy 6:11 But flee from these things, you man of God, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, perseverance and gentleness.

This is the road that the Lord calls us to walk, and the traights He wants us to be saturated in. This comes by continually studying and learning about Jesus Christ and what was accomplished through His life, death and resurrection. Anything else will lead us astray.

In the apostle Paul’s letter to Timothy, he was instructing him to remain in Ephesus to instruct certain men not to teach strange doctrines. (1 Tim. 1:3) The same is applicable to us in the church today! We might even look at the church’s practice of celebrating the pagan holidays of Easter and Christmas instead of the Feasts of the Lord (Lev. 23) where this entire topic is concerned. At this point, however, that’s an entirely different article :). I’m just throwing it out there for food for thought.

Back to the topic at hand….

1 Timothy 1:5 But the goal of our instruction is love from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith.
Swerving from these leads to vain discussion. (1 Tim. 1:6)

We’re to have nothing to do with irreverent, silly myths, but we’re to train ourselves for godliness. (1 Tim. 4:7)

Godliness is of value in every way, as it holds the promise for the present life and also for the life to come. (1 Tim. 4:8)

Christ died to give us so much! The first thing that He did was to free us to see our ungodliness, and give us a way to walk in His godliness (through the power of the Holy Spirit.) Because we are at war with the flesh, and we have a very real spiritual enemy this is a life long battle.

Galatians 5:16-17 But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh. For the flesh sets its desire against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another, so that you may not do the things that you please.
Thank God, in Christ we have been given the victory!

2 Cor. 10:3-4 For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh, for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses.

That is why the apostle Paul tells us to fight the good fight of faith, in 1 Timothy 1:18. Walking in godliness and holiness as children of God is warfare! Faith is a mighty weapon by which we wage war!

It is because of this life long battle that we must keep our focus where the Lord wants our focus to remain. He knows our fragility. He knows our vulnerabilities and weaknesses. Thankfully, He is our hope and our example.

1 Timothy 4:10 For it is for this we labor and strive, because we have fixed our hope on the living God, who is the Savior of all men, especially of believers.

God has called us, as His church, to shine His light into this world. We’re to set an example in speech conduct, love, faith and purity. (1 Timothy 4:12) We’re to keep a close watch on ourselves and the teaching that we share and listen to. By persisting in this we will save both ourselves and our hearers. (1 Timothy 4:16)

In other words, the teachings that we believe not only affect ourselves, but those we’re ministering to. That’s a huge responsibility and that is why I am writing this article. We are responsible to lead people to Christ. We are responsible to lead people to the truth.
What is the truth?

Jesus is the way, the truth and the life!

John 14:6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.

I want to challenge you to look at the teachings that you are receiving in your life. Are they teachings that move you to walk more as Christ walked? Are they teachings that are solidly founded in God’s Word, or are they suppositions of men? Are they teachings based on single scriptures vs. what all of Scripture teaches?

I pray that as you examine this in your own life, the Holy Spirit reveals the truth to you and in humility, and His power, you are able to repent and turn away from that which is exposed as false.

May we each be so saturated with the knowledge of our Lord and Savior that we will be able to discern in an instant if what we are hearing are the doctrines of God, or of men….so that we walk lives of godliness and be built up…

Ephesians 4:13-16 ..until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ. As a result, we are no longer to be children,tossed here and there by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by craftiness in deceitful scheming; but speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, even Christ, from whom the whole body, being fitted and held together by what every joint supplies, according to the proper working of each individual part, causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love.