Your Faith: Its Miraculous Origin, Work, And Destination
You received faith when you were born again. You must release it through love. In twelve of the eighteen detailed instances of healing by Jesus, He pointed to the person’s faith as being a factor. Faith in them met with love in Him. We frequently read that He was “moved with compassion”.
By its very nature, therefore, faith cannot merely lie on the surface of its intended target but must pierce the subject needing change. Both a sending and receiving are involved. Perhaps we can best illustrate that piercing with the male sperm penetrating and strategically joining itself into the female ovum. Only by the sperm’s pressing through the ovum-wall does conception take place. If the sperm remains on the outside nothing happens. In every instance of faith’s having impact and success, change results from the arrival of Kingdom of God dunamis into a terrestrial target. Without penetration of the intended subject there can be no change.
As I understand it, this interaction of “peiros” faith—that is “faith” from the “other side-the beyond-the farther-the over-the across” is a coming-together with the material substance of our dimension. This is miraculous and has a parallel the day of the Resurrection when Jesus’ physical body passed through the physical wall of the room without having physical effect upon either. Such a feat is not possible in our dimension of length, breadth, depth; it is only possible if there is a “piercing through” this dimension with peiros-power that by-passes and supersedes the limitations of our material realm.
As Christians, we accept the reality of this “beyond” dimension without difficulty. But hear a scientist, Dr. Lisa Randall, 44 year-old female theoretical physicist, author, and Harvard University Professor who says: “The Universe has higher, hidden, infinitely larger dimensions so vast that our’s in comparison is nothing more than a 3-D sinkhole.” While some physicists probably reject her ideas, the greatest living physicist of all, Dr. Stephen Hawkins, is actively pursuing her concepts. Am I saying that the “dimensions” of which Dr. Randall speaks is Heaven and the origin of faith? I don’t know. “The world by wisdom knows not God.” But I want to listen carefully to what she says.
Paul, the greatest faith-writer of the New Testament reveals his dependence on the “peiros” aspect of penetrating-faith in preaching when he said, “Then after fourteen years I went up again to Jerusalem with Barnabas, and also took Titus with me. And I went up by revelation, and communicated to them that gospel which I preach among the Gentiles …” Galatians 2:1-2. What does he mean by the expression “I went up“? Paul’s trip to Jerusalem was a physical one; his trip into “revelation” was not. While preaching he experienced an out-of-body passage into the other dimension. II Corinthians 12:2-5. Paul simply meant that he exited the physical realm and entered the non-physical. He had a “peiros” transport to the “other side”-of the beyond-the farther-the over-the across” dimension. Preaching from such a position brought phenomenal penetration of faith-power both to Paul and to his hearers. In this capacity, I speak of a level of consciousness for which we have no parallel.
True faith, borne of love and compassion, manifests itself as a “Divine Expectation”, demanding that the imperfections of our flawed, earthly realm conform to the Divine perfection of the Kingdom-realm from which it comes. “Faith works by love.” Love is the identifying distinctive of Kingdom power. Where the empowering and motivation is loveless, it is not faith, it is not Kingdom, it is not God. Hope and faith are not the same. Both are to be cherished and loved but only faith expects. When hope begins to expect it ceases to be hope and becomes faith.
Why is faith essential in salvation and how does it work? “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast …” Ephesians 2:8-10. In salvation, grace and faith are inseparable spiritual-companions, both come to us from the “peros” realm; neither are native to our cosmos and because they do not share our inferior nature are able to perform, perfect, and impose, their own “peros” nature into our’s. Grace makes it possible for us to receive faith; similarly, faith makes it possible for us to step into saving grace. In salvation, peros-faith must first penetrate us then continue its journey out of us—”believing in the heart” followed by “confessing with the mouth”. There must be both the “sound” received (into the heart) and the “echo” returned (out of the mouth). Romans 10:10.
Grace—as the companion to faith—follows that “echo”, the Holy Spirit transferring His regenerating-power into man while transforming his nature from sin and uncleanness to the imputed righteousness of Christ. In all this eternal activity of faith, grace, regeneration, the Holy Spirit remains the active Agent. Faith and grace cannot operate alone, each is dependent on the other, both dependent on the Holy Spirit. We might liken the transition to the sunrise; first, the faint glow of dawn, then the sun on the horizon, continuing to the brightness of high noon. John Newton described the process best:
‘Twas grace that taught my heart to fear
And grace my fears relieved,
How precious did that grace appear,
The hour I first believed!
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