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Presumption Vs Faith

Presumption is destructive. It is a lead weight that carries us to the bottom of the ocean. On the other hand, faith is vital. On the wings of faith, we can soar to new heights. Without it, we cannot please God at all. Often, these two opposing belief systems say the same things and take the same actions; only the results differ. How can we tell the difference between faith and presumption?

What Is Faith?

“The fundamental fact of existence is that this trust in God, this faith, is the firm foundation under everything that makes life worth living. It's our handle on what we can't see....It's impossible to please God apart from faith. And why? Because anyone who wants to approach God must believe both that he exists and that he cares enough to respond to those who seek him.” Heb. 11:1-2, 6, The Message

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In its essence, faith is simply trusting God. It is being willing to believe God and His Word even when outward circumstances seem to contradict it. It is knowing that God is good even when only bad things seem to be happening to us. Job is, of course, the prime example of this. He lost everything from his wealth to his family to his health, yet he still clung to God. Part of the devil's tricks is to get us to put faith in what we see and feel rather than in the Word and character of the Lord Jesus Christ.

First Nations family safe in God's hands during storm

Believing and acting on a general faith in God is where things start, but faith is personal. God has given many promises in His Word. Faith takes those promises and begins to live them out. There are two aspects to this.

First of all, faith seeks to obey the Word of God because it trusts the God who gave it. It knows that obedience is an act of love and devotion. Faith knows that it may not see the results immediately - if it did, faith would not be necessary. And so the person of faith continues to align his or her life with the Word of God in love, whether or not they see any immediate personal benefits. For example, the husband whose wife is on the point of divorcing him and turns to God in repentance of his sins will, in faith, continue to follow God even if he ends up losing his wife and family.

Second, when God makes a promise in His Word real to the individual heart of a believer, the person of faith will act on it even if it seems foolish. In fact, it probably will seem foolish to the natural eyes. This is where it becomes vital to hear what God is actually saying to us individually, not simply what we want God to say. If God has made a promise real in our hearts, then we know God will follow through, and we can stand confidently in the face of opposition because we "know" God has spoken to us in that area. We may not be able to explain to family or friends how we know - and they may think we are crazy - but we know God has spoken to us. And that is enough. An example is someone who leaves a well-paying job to start a new church. From a human perspective, this is a very foolish and risky thing to do, and finances may be tight to non-existent, but if the person knows in faith that it is what God has called him to do, he can launch out knowing that God's arms are under him and he will accomplish the will of God.

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 [Luke 4:1-13]. Satan even had Scripture to back him up! He was challenging Jesus to believe and act on the Word of God! How unScriptural would it be for Jesus to ignore what the Bible plainly said? Jesus didn't have to "prove" Scripture or defend His faith. Jesus knew that specific Scripture wasn’t God’s will for His life then. For everything there is a time and a season. To have done something foolish and expected God to protect Him would have been the sin of presumption. In grace, God may have protected Him, or God may have allowed Him to suffer the consequences of His actions. Of course, we know that Jesus answered the devil with Scripture, showing that the devil's Scripture-backed proposition was actually disobedience and sin.

man holding cross in front of speeding train - presumption

Presumption is attempting to manipulate God. It relies on the same principles as witchcraft. Witchcraft believes it can manipulate the supernatural [angels, demons, spirits, etc.] through words [spells], rituals, or potions. It is trying to control the spirit realm for personal or selfish purposes. Notice I did not say that when Christians fall into the sin of presumption, they are practicing witchcraft. But what they are unconsciously doing is using the same principles that witchcraft is based on. Principles that a] are abhorrent to God and b] do not work. God will not be manipulated by our presumption of His love and grace.

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, without a personal, direct Word of God, they were operating in presumption. They were trying, perhaps unconsciously, to force God to do their will instead of seeking 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.

My father, a former pastor, has told of a lady whom he had to drive to the emergency room several times because she stopped taking vital medicine in the belief that God had healed her. No one can doubt her sincerity. She was willing to risk her life on her belief. She knew and believed God's general will of healing; what she lacked, based on the results, was God's specific word to her that He had healed her. She desperately wanted to be healed. Perhaps unconsciously, she thought if she "proved" her faith by not taking her medicine, God would be forced to honour His Word and heal her. This is exactly the same temptation to presumption that Jesus faced on the top of the temple. God responds to faith, not to presumption.

Faith hears from God; presumption tells Him what to do [and usually when to do it]

Faith Alive

Another misconception about faith is that we can work it up in ourselves. Saying, “ I believe” a million times does not create faith, only presumption. 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; presumption is a work of man. Faith comes by hearing/studying the Word of God and having the Holy Spirit quicken it to our hearts.

For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith —and this not from yourselves; it is the gift of God - not by works, so that no one can boast. Eph. 2:8-9, NIV

(Belief, you see, can only come from hearing the message, and the message is the word of Christ.) Rom. 10:17, Phillips

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 will only end up with presumption. 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. Being 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.

Glenn Davis is a Christian author and Bible teacher whose work draws on more than 40 years of study, writing, and local church teaching. He has written 700+ articles, created five Bible courses, published three books, and shared 100+ Bible videos on YouTube. Readers can find his books on Amazon, follow his teaching on YouTube or visit Glenn Davis Books. Away from the keyboard, he enjoys time with family, reading, walking, and board or card games.

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