NEWSLETTER 049 MESSAGE

Message: Faith vs. Presumption

“Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen...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.” Heb. 11:1, 6”

Faith is vital. Without it we cannot please God. So what is this thing called faith? And how can we tell the difference between faith and presumption?

We need to understand the Biblical concepts of faith and hope. Often we define Biblical terms by modern definitions instead of studying to see what the Bible means when it uses the words. A small illustration may make the concepts clear.

Let’s say my son comes to me in the morning and asks to go to McDonalds for supper. I promise him that we will go if he cleans his room. Now many things come into play: faith, hope, obedience. My son has faith in the promise. He has absolutely no evidence that we are going. All he has is my word, but he believes the promise on the strength of my word alone. That is faith. Hope, similar to faith, is the anticipation of the promise being fulfilled. Biblical hope is not a wish, but the firm confidence that something is going to happen.

It is the same idea when we come to God. We make a request or we read something in the Bible which comes alive. God confirms His word to our hearts. We can then have faith. We believe that what God said is truth. There may be no physical evidence but we stand on the Word of God alone. God has said it and so it must be. Circumstances and emotions may rage against us and seem to deny what God has spoken but we set our face toward God. We choose to believe what He has said no matter what the appearance around us is. We have faith.

After we have faith, hope comes into plan. It is the anticipation of what God has promised coming to pass. There is no doubt that it is going to happen but we eagerly wait for it. When it does come to pass our faith and hope are fully justified.

What is presumption? Presumption is trying to force God to do our will. Jesus was tempted to presumption when Satan told Him to jump off the pinnacle of the temple. Satan even had Scripture to back him up. Jesus knew that wasn’t God’s will for His life. To do something foolish and expect God to protect Him would have been presumption.

Some people have refused to take vital medicine or refused necessary operations claiming God would heal them. They have placed their lives [and in some cases the lives of their children] in danger. They have thought they were operating in faith. In fact, they were operating in presumption. They were trying, perhaps unconsciously, to force God to do their will instead of seeking for God’s will. Now, don’t misunderstand me, I believe in divine healing. But faith is believing God’s Word - having Him make it real to us - and waiting for His timing.

Another misconception about faith is that it is something we can work up in ourselves. Saying, “ I believe” a million times does not create faith. We can’t talk ourselves into it. Even memorizing and repeating Scripture [as good as that is] doesn’t create faith. Faith is a work of God. It comes being hearing/studying the Word of God and having the Holy Spirit quicken it to our hearts.

If we don’t have faith in a given situation we do not need to be condemned. We shouldn’t try humanistic/physiological tricks to work it up. We come to God and confess our lack of faith. We ask God to grant us His gift of faith and we study His word. The fact that we are willing to honestly lay it all before God is itself an act of faith. And in faith we leave it in His hands. We have faith in God even when we can’t see our way through a given situation.

Announcements

Free Bible Study Lessons continues to grow. December was our busiest month yet. I am considering adding a forum to our site where people could comment on or ask questions about the various reports and e-mail courses. I need to hear from you as to how many of you would actually use such a forum. There is no point in putting it up if it is only going to remain silent.

There is another free course available now. It is called The Westminister Confession. This will take the student through the Westminister Confession which examines the basics of the Christian faith. There are “tons” of Scripture references for the students to look up and study. Your faith will grow as you work on understanding the Word of God. Don’t miss this chance to review basic Christian teachings.

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The RSS feed is a great way to stay up-to-date on new reports and courses on our site.

God bless you,
Glenn Davis
Free Bible Study Lessons