By Doug Mamvura “Now the next day, when they had come out from Bethany, He was hungry. And seeing from afar a fig tree having leaves, He went to see if perhaps He would find something on it. When He came to it, He found nothing but leaves, for it was not the season for figs. In response Jesus said to it, “Let no one eat fruit from you ever again”. And His disciples heard it, (Mark 11: 12-14).
Now in the morning, as they passed by, they saw the fig tree dried up from the roots. And Peter remembering, said to Him, “Rabbi, look! The fig tree which You cursed has withered away.” So Jesus answered and said to them, “Have faith in God”. This statement “Have faith in God” can be translated “Have the God kind of faith,” (Mark 11:20 – 22).
Finding no fruit on the tree, Jesus spoke to it, saying, “Let no one eat fruit from you ever again”. The next day when Jesus and His disciples passed by again, they found the tree dried up from the roots. Peter said, “Master, behold, the fig tree which you cursed has withered away,” which brought this amazing and startling statement from the lips of Jesus: “Have faith in God [have the faith of God, or the God-kind of faith]. For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be removed and be cast into the sea and doesn’t doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says,” (Mark 11: 22-23).
After telling His disciples in verse 22 to have the God-kind of faith, Jesus went on to define and describe for us what it is. The God-kind of faith is the kind of faith in which a man: (1) believes in his heart, and (2) says with his mouth what he believes in his heart, and (3) it comes to pass. Jesus showed that He had that kind of faith, for He believed that what He said would come to pass. He said to the tree, “Let no one eat fruit from you ever again”.
This is the kind of faith that spoke the world into existence! (Hebrews 11:3) “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.” How did God do it? God believed that what He said would come to pass. He spoke the Word, and there was earth. He spoke into existence the vegetable kingdom. He spoke into existence the animal kingdom. He spoke into existence the heavens and the earth, the moon, the sun, the stars and the universe. He said it, and it was so. That is the God-kind of faith.
Every believer has been dealt a measure of the God-kind of faith. Paul wrote this to believers, for he says, “to every man that is among you. Every believer, every child of God, every Christian does have a measure of the God-kind of faith. Further proof of this is seen in Ephesians 2:8, “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: It is the gift of God.” The faith is not of yourself. He is not talking about the grace, for everyone knows that grace is not of yourself. He is saying that the faith by which you are saved is not of yourself. It is not a natural human faith. It was given to sinners by God.
And how did God give the sinner faith to be saved? Romans 10:17 says, “So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” Notice the expressions we have just seen in regard to faith: “So then faith comes….” “God has dealt… faith.” “You [are] saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift….” Paul says that faith is given, it is dealt, it comes.
Romans 10:8, “But what does it say? The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” that is the word of faith which we preach.”
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The Bible, this message of God, is called the Word of faith. Why is it called the Word of faith? Because it causes faith to come even into the heart of the unsaved. It causes the kind of faith that spoke the universe into existence to be dealt to our hearts. Faith is given to us through the Word. Notice again the words of Romans 10:8: “But what does it say? The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart, that is, the word of faith, which we preach.” This agrees exactly with the words of Jesus in Mark 11:23, “Whosoever shall say… and shall not doubt in his heart….” We see here the basic principle inherent in the God-kind of faith: believing it with the heart and saying it with the mouth. Jesus believed it and He said it. God believed it and He said it, speaking the earth into existence!
Verses nine and 10 of this same tenth chapter of Romans say, “That if you shall confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus, and shall believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you shall be saved. For with the heart man believes unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.” A measure of faith is dealt to the sinner through hearing the Word. Then he uses it to create the reality of salvation in his own life. When Christians are asked, “When were you saved?” they often answer by saying something like, “About nine on the night of July tenth.” They are mistaken, however, because God saved them nearly 2 000 years ago. It became a reality to them only when they believed it and confessed it.
Faith for salvation comes by hearing the Word of God. Faith for anything we receive from God comes in the same way. The God-kind of faith comes by hearing God’s Word —and God has no kind of faith other than the God-kind. In other words, God gives or causes the God-kind of faith to come into the hearts of those who hear. It is no wonder then that Jesus said, “Take heed therefore how you hear’’ (Luke 8:18). You cannot let it go in one ear and out the other, because that won’t do any good. Faith won’t come. If you act as if the Word of God were some fairy tale, faith will not come. But when you accept it reverently and sincerely, and act upon it, faith comes. 2 Corinthians 4:13 “We having the same spirit of faith, according as it is written, I believed, and therefore have I spoken; we also believe, and therefore speak. We have the same spirit of faith. What belonged to the Church at Corinth belongs to the Church today.
On no occasion did Paul or any of the apostles ever write to encourage the people to believe; never did they tell them to have faith. Our having to encourage believers to believe or have faith is a result of the Word of God’s having lost its reality to us. We are believers! When our children are away, we don’t have to write to them and say, “Be sure to keep breathing.” They will continue to breathe as long as they are alive. Neither do we have to encourage believers to believe, because that is what they are, believers.
The key to overcoming sickness and problems is the God-kind of faith—believing with the heart and confessing with the mouth. Our lips can make us victors or keep us captives. We can fill our words with faith or we can fill our words with doubt. We can fill our words with love that will melt the coldest heart, or we can fill our words with hate and poison. We can fill our words with love that will help the discouraged and broken-hearted, and with faith that will stir heaven. Our faith will never rise above the words of our lips.
- Dr Doug Mamvura is a graduate of Charis Bible School. Feedback: dr[email protected] or Twitter @dougmamvura
