How Does A Believer Increase In Faith?

Introduction

In my previous articles on faith, we’ve examined the rational, foundational and dependable nature of faith. We then looked at how someone gets Biblical faith. We looked at God being both the source and object of true faith as well as obedience being the identifying mark of Biblical saving faith. Let us return to our working definition of faith.

Faith is the rational, confident trust in the revealed character and words of the all-knowing, perfect and good God which always results in joyful submissive obedience to the commands of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

In this article we will examine passages that discuss little faith and great faith. We will then seek to determine how to grow or strengthen our faith.

Little Faith

Several times in the gospels, Jesus Christ accuses His followers of having little faith. The first passage that we will study is found in the Sermon on the Mount, Matthew 6:25-34. Please take a moment to read these verses. In verse 30, Christ asks the disciples, “But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?” (Matthew 6:30). There is a single word that dominates this entire section of Christ’s sermon: anxious.

The word anxious is found in Matthew 6:25, 27, 28, 31, & 34. So in just 10 verses, Christ used the word anxious five times specifically telling His followers to not be anxious about three things: the necessities of life (food, drink, & clothing), the length of life, or the events of life. The word translated anxious is a word which means “a feeling of apprehension or distress in view of possible danger or misfortune” (Louw-Nida Greek Lexicon). Christ specifically says, “Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘’What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all” (Matthew 6:31-32).

Please notice that Christ does not instruct His followers to refuse to work and just have faith that God will feed them. He does not tell His people not to go shopping and just have faith that God will make clothing appear for them. Nor does He tell His people to not plan. He does not forbid them from seeking medical care. Instead, He commands us to not be anxious, to not live in fear with an undue focus on these things. So what does He want us to do instead?

In Matthew 6:33, Christ says, “But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.” Throughout this small section, Christ emphasizes the care and provision of our Heavenly Father. “Your heavenly Father feeds them [the birds]” (v. 26). “God so clothes the grass of the field” (v. 30). In both of those cases, Christ shows that God cares for the birds and the grass so of course He will provide for His own children. Little faith is refusing to accept a simple truth: God takes care of His people. It denies the sovereign care of our Heavenly Father and usurps the choices and decisions of life as we vainly seek to do what we think is best for ourselves. Little faith refuses to obey the commands of our Heavenly Father. Little faith doubts either His ability or His desire to provide for us in a way that brings Him glory and is for our good.

It is interesting that other uses of “little faith” occur with the disciples worrying about their provisions (Matthew 16:8), the disciples frightened of a storm (Matthew 8:26), and Peter sinking as he shifted his focus from Christ to a storm (Matthew 14:31). In each situation, the disciple entered a situation where his view of God’s dependability and faithfulness was questioned. The problem demonstrated just how little their view of God was, how little their faith was.

Great Faith

There are two times in Christ’s life when He is impressed by the greatness of someone’s faith. Sadly, both of these situations are with Gentiles. One of them is the Canaanite woman of Tyre and Sidon whose daughter was demon possessed. The other, and the one we will be focusing on, is the Centurion of Capernaum.

In Matthew 8:5-13, Christ returned to Capernaum which He made His headquarters during His earthly ministry in Galilee. As Jesus Christ entered the city, a Centurion informed Him that he had a paralyzed servant. When Christ offers to come and heal the servant, the Centurion says that he is not worthy for Christ to come into his home. The Centurion is a man who understands authority. As a man with human authority, he knows that he can just give a command and those under his authority will obey it. If he, as a man, has such power in his words, then he understands that as the God-man, Christ has much more power in His words. The effect of this trust on Christ is evident. “When Jesus heard this, he marveled and said to those who followed him, ‘Truly, I tell you, with no one in Israel have I found such faith’” (Matthew 8:10). Christ marveled at the Centurion’s faith. He was amazed to see such great faith.

Increase Faith

So the followers of Jesus frequently were accused of having little faith while a couple Gentiles were shown to have great or amazing faith. So what is the difference? Did the disciples somehow get a faulty version of faith while the Centurion got the muscled-up beefy kind? Since God is the source and object of faith, we know then that He never gives faulty faith to anyone. So how does someone go from little faith to great faith? Let us watch this transformation of faith in the account of the resurrection of Lazarus.

The account of the resurrection of Lazarus is found in John 11. When Jesus was across the Jordan in the land of Perea, He received news that His friend Lazarus was sick. Instead of rushing immediately to his aid, Christ waits an additional two days before going. By the time He gets there, Lazarus is dead. So, why didn’t Jesus go immediately? Why didn’t He just heal him from a distance as He did with the Centurion’s servant?

Part of the answer has to deal with Christ setting up His triumphal entry into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday and setting up the events of His last week which leads to His own crucifixion and resurrection. However, there is even more going on in the text. In John 11:3, Christ hears that Lazarus is sick, and in verse 6, He decides to wait the two additional days. Position between these two verses, John 11:5 is important to this study. “Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus” (John 11:5). Christ’s delay was not based on either laziness, apathy, or cruelty. His delay was based on His love for the family. However, that seems contradictory and confusing. Christ loved them so much that He allowed their problem to grow, He allowed Lazarus to die, and He allowed Mary and Martha to suffer such loss? How do we reconcile these truths?

Let’s look at what Martha, Mary and even the crowd believed. John 11:21 records, “Martha said to Jesus, ‘Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.’” Martha fully believed that if Jesus would have gotten there in time that He could have healed Lazarus. She wasn’t the only one who believed this. Mary says the exact same thing in John 11:32, and even the people say, “Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man also have kept this man from dying?” (John 11:37). Everyone there believed that Jesus could have healed Lazarus, but now that he is dead, it is too late. Not even Jesus could solve this.

Jesus’ interaction with Martha before He heals Lazarus is instructive. After she confesses that it is too late, she says, “But even now I know that whatever you ask from God, God will give you” (John 11:22). There is a conflict between her exalted view of the problem and her exalted view of Jesus Christ. Christ doesn’t run off and heal Lazarus as though that is what she really needs. Instead, He kindly instructs her.

In John 11:23, “Jesus said to her, ‘Your brother will rise again.’” Christ appeals to the resurrection which the Old Testament repeatedly teaches. Martha believes this. In John 11:24, “Martha said to him, ‘I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.’” Christ knew He was about to bring Lazarus back to life. He knew the moment He did so that all her worries would be gone, but still He waits and teaches her. In John 11:25-26, “Jesus said to her, ‘I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?”

Martha’s faith was struggling. Everything in her was screaming that her brother was dead and that there was nothing she could do, nothing that anyone could do. Yet, she knew Jesus Christ. She knew what He taught about himself that He was both God and King. It is in this moment that Jesus touches her faith. “Do you believe this?” Martha doesn’t know what is going to happen. She doesn’t know what can happen. So she answers in submissive faith. “She said to him, ‘Yes, Lord; I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who is coming into the world” (John 11:27). She retreats to faith in Christ’s two-fold revelation of Himself. She steps out of the storm of fear and doubt onto doctrine. “Yes, Lord. I believe.” It is only then that Jesus goes and resurrects Lazarus.

Change

We speak of growing in faith and increasing in faith, but this is not the correct way to look at it. Since our faith was created by God and given equally to every believer, the question isn’t how big is your faith. The question isn’t how strong is your faith. 2 Peter 1:3 says, “His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence.” At salvation, God gave you everything you need to live an obedient and God-honoring life.We cannot do some great work to cause our faith to increase as though we could depend on ourselves. If you’ve accepted Jesus Christ as your Savior, then your faith is fine. Your faith is strong. Your faith is enough. Here is the important question: How big is your view of God?

Little faith believes that the only problems God can solve are the simple ones, the easy ones. However, when something gets really bad, well, then it is time for you to worry. It is time for you to take control and do things your way. Little faith quickly balks at the commands and truths of God. Sure, God seems good when things are going our way, but we think He can’t be good when we are suffering. Sure, it’s fine to obey God when things are easy, but when things get hard, little faith says that God is at a loss. Little faith refuses to accept the truth of God’s character and submit to the commands of God’s Word. One easy example of this is the tithe. Little faith is fine paying the tithe when the paychecks are coming in, when the bills are low, and when the bank account is healthy. But the moment a big bill comes or a pay cut damages our finances, then little faith refuses to obey the tithe. Little faith sees God as capable during the good times and useless during the bad times.

Great faith chooses to trust God no matter what the situation is. When a big bill comes, great faith trusts in the character of God and obeys God’s commands to work, to tithe, and to be generous. When a health problem arises, great faith knows that a person’s days are in God’s hand. No amount of worrying will make someone live one day longer than God intends, and when it is time for the believer to go home, great faith is joyful to meet the Lord. Great faith also knows that in order to be a good servant, the believer needs to be in the best health possible in order to be able to serve the longest. Great faith refuses to worship the great gifts of God and joyfully trusts in Him even when He in His great wisdom and love takes those gifts away. Great faith refuses to let anything separate the believer from God.

Conclusion

The great men and women of faith in the Bible were those people who simply trusted and obeyed no matter what. Abraham was commanded to leave everything and go to an unknown foreign land. He left not knowing where he was going but trusting in the One he was following. David defeated a lion, a bear and even a giant, but his trust wasn’t in the strength of his slingshot but in the deliverance of His God. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego refused to worship any God but their God, and they were willing to die before they disobeyed Him. They knew that God would either deliver through the fire or from the fire. They did not wonder if God would deliver, and they weren’t concerned with which way God would deliver. As God, He was free to deliver whenever and however He wanted.

Just like with Martha, Mary and Lazarus, Christ will lovingly allow our problems to grow beyond our resources, our strength, and the aid of our friends. He does this because our biggest problem isn’t external but internal. He will wisely use these divinely-crafted and ordained problems to bring Himself glory so that we develop a greater view of Him. Therefore, we do not need to try and increase our faith, but instead we must have an ever-increasing view of God. Over time, we learn that God is faithful. God is dependable. God never fails. Like the others, we can simply trust in what He has revealed about Himself and obey the commands He has given while leaving the results to Him.

But that leaves us still with questions. What about those times when someone had faith, and yet things didn’t work out? What happens when it seems like faith failed? In the next article, we will examine what believers can confidently believe.