The God kind of faith
Bible
teacher Andrew Wommack wrote an article on his website entitled, “Faith of God”.
In quoting Galatians 2:20, he stated: "Paul did not say that he lived by faith IN the Son of God but by the faith OF the Son of God. The measure of faith that Paul had was the same measure that Jesus had. It was Jesus' faith. If there is only one measure of faith (Rom. 12:3), then we also have the faith of Jesus." Wommack went on to write, "We already have the faith of God" and "We just need to acknowledge what we have and begin to learn the laws that govern the operation of God's faith." (Andrew Wommack Ministries, accessed 2/5/17)
Similarly,
Joel Osteen wrote:
“There’s
a difference between having faith in God and having the faith of God. When you
open your heart to the God kind of faith, you’re actually allowing Him to
believe through you. The God kind of faith will cause you to believe for things
when you don’t even know how they’ll happen. And it probably won’t make sense
in your mind, but you have to allow your spirit to rise higher than your
thinking. Don’t talk yourself out of believing. Don’t focus on all the reasons
why not, instead allow God’s faith to rise up within you.”[1]
On the same page, Galatians 2:20 is quoted
as:
“…the life which I now life in the flesh I
live by the faith of the Son of God…” (Today’s Word, posted 3/19/08)
From what English translation was this verse
found, with “of” inserted before Son
of God? Galatians 2:20 is translated as
“in the Son of God” in all of the
following English Bible versions: NIV,
NASB, NKJV, Amplified, NLT, ESV, ASV, and TNIV.
Did this ministry find something missed by all the Greek scholars who
produced these other translations? For the
record, the intent here is not to criticize Mr. Osteen who seems to be a
sincere, genuinely nice guy, and his messages have many valuable points. But, there are other instances of this same
teaching.
Charles Capps wrote, “God is a faith
God. God released His faith in words … God
created the universe by the methods which you have just put into motion by the
words of your mouth. God released His
faith in words. Man is created in the
image of God, therefore man releases his faith in words.”[2] Kenneth Hagin stated, “The
God kind of faith . . . is the kind of faith that spoke the world into
existence . . . God created the universe with words.”[3] E. W. Kenyon wrote, “Faith is the creative
force in man. Faith is the creative
force in the Creator.”[4] Kenneth Copeland stated, “The world and the
physical forces governing it were created by the power of faith – a spiritual
force. God, a Spirit, created all matter
and he created it with the force of faith.”[5] And, Charles Capps promulgated the notion
that, “God created the universe by the methods which you have just put into
motion by the words of your mouth. God
released His faith in words.”[6]
Where is “the God kind of faith” found
in the Bible?
Many people may not notice the
difference between faith in God and faith of God. Is there a difference and, if so, who cares?
There
are two verses in the Bible used to support the teaching that God has faith: Mark 11:22 and Hebrews 11:3. In the first verse, which is the primary text
for this doctrine, Jesus tells His disciples to “Have faith in God” (all of the
above-mentioned English translations).
Those who subscribe to this teaching translate the verse as, “Have the
God kind of faith”, signifying that God has faith and humans are being directed
by Jesus to have the same kind of faith that God possesses.
In
the second instance, the writer of Hebrews states, “By faith we understand
that the worlds were prepared by the word of God, so that what is seen was not
made out of things which are visible.”
Some teach that this verse should read that the worlds were prepared “by
faith by the word of God”, indicating that God used faith to create the worlds. But,
as context is crucial in Biblical interpretation, what is the context in
Hebrews 11? The second verse indicates
this as “men of old”, then goes on to list the faith of Abel, Enoch, Noah,
Abraham, and so on. All of those
individuals mentioned in Hebrews 11 had faith in God. To allege that the third verse describes God
as having faith does not fit the context of the chapter or the entirety of
scripture.
Grammatical structure of the Greek
The
Greek words used in Mark 11:22 are “echete
pistin theou”. The word for God (theou) was written in the genitive case
and has been understood as an objective genitive. This means that God is the object of the verb
echete or “have” and Jesus is directing people to have faith with God as the
object or have faith directed toward God.
If the subjective genitive had been used, then God would be the one who
has or possesses the faith. All major
English translations, made by well-qualified Greek scholars, translate this
verse as “Have faith in God”. The
distinction between objective and subjective genitive is determined by usage
and context. Grammatically, it may be
possible to designate theou as a
subjective genitive; however, that is not indicated in the context and is not
recognized as the proper translation by all translators of the major English
versions.[7]
Furthermore, in the numerous other Biblical passages concerning faith,
all usages direct humans to have faith.
Nowhere else in the Bible is there an indication that God possesses or
uses faith. To translate this verse as
“faith of God” violates the most fundamental rules of hermeneutics: Scripture interprets scripture and less clear
passages are interpreted in light of clear passages.
The
same Greek structure is used in Romans 3:22 (pisteos Iesou), with Jesus (Iesou) in the genitive case, rendered in the vast majority of
English translations as “faith in Jesus”.
Have those who believe God has faith translated this verse as “faith of
Jesus”? Other references in the New
Testament follow the same grammatical structure in the Greek, such as Acts
3:16, which is translated as “faith in his name”. Another example is 2 Thess. 2:13, “the faith
in the truth”. Certainly no one
advocates the position that “his name” or “the truth” possess or use faith. In Romans 3:18, translated as “fear of God”,
the word for God is in the genitive case, and no one would accept the notion
that God has fear. Translating these
verses one way and Mark 11:22 differently is inconsistent. To build an entire doctrine around one
questionably translated word in Mark 11:22 is not sound Biblical exegesis.
A rebuttal
Some
would argue there are principles that God is required to follow, such as “God
cannot lie” (Titus 1:2) and “God cannot be tempted by evil” (James 1:13). This demonstrates that there are constraints
on God’s actions and ability. One could
probably also state that God cannot stop loving, cease being merciful or stop
being holy, and these would be valid statements. However, these verses refer to God’s
character, not universal constraints on His ability to act. The Lord chooses to not lie or be tempted by
evil by His own free will. He also
chooses to love and show mercy, not because an outside, external force
constrains Him to do so. Those who would
require God to use faith as a necessity impose an external requirement on
Him. There is no valid Biblical warrant
to argue that God was ever faced with the choice of believing or not believing
in His own capabilities. He simply knew
He could do whatever He wanted. Humans,
on the other hand, need to choose whether or not to believe in God.
Some
would make the point that faith means “a firm persuasion or assurance” and that
would be accurate. And, as Hebrews 11:1
informs us that “faith is the assurance of things hoped for”, God is certainly
assured and persuaded that what He speaks will happen. Vine’s Complete Expository Dictionary defines
pistis (Strongs 4102) as “’firm persuasion,’ a conviction based upon hearing …,
is used in the NT always of ‘faith in God or Christ, or things spiritual’”.[8]
However, if God is all powerful and all knowing, does He need to be
persuaded of what He is capable of doing?
Doesn’t God simply know what He can do?
There never has been any possibility of doubt with God, so He never needed
to be assured or persuaded. Humans, on
the other hand, are capable of doubt, therefore need to be assured and have
faith.
What’s the big deal?
One
might ask why this issue is a concern.
Does it really matter if Christians use the phrase “the God kind of
faith”? Taken in an isolated, singular
sense, this teaching does not appear to be serious; however, the concern here
involves the theological underpinnings that form the basis of the surrounding
doctrine. To claim that God uses faith
in the same manner as humans is to diminish God. To say that God, in a sense, plugs into the
force of faith when He acts reduces His omnipotence. God is now not capable of accomplishing His
desires without tapping into this external force. If God needs faith to operate, then He is not the Almighty God,
but rather an advanced being who figured out how to tap into this force outside
of Himself. If God needs something else beyond himself, he cannot be the
omnipotent Creator. And, humans may be able to access this same Star Wars type
of force to be like God. That’s a big deal.
The
second problem with this teaching is not a minor issue. If it was necessary for God to use faith and
words to accomplish his desires, and we are to be imitators of God (Ephesians
5:1), then by necessity, believers also are required to use faith and words in
living the Christian life. We must be
careful to not reduce Christian living to a formula: believe + speak = receive. Believing and speaking are not formulaic
requirements, but are steps of obedience.
By far, the most important ingredient is our relationship to God. We believe because we have a relationship
with God, we know Him, and we trust Him.
Christians do not plug into the force of faith as one would plug a lamp
into an electrical outlet.
How did God create?
When
creating the heavens and the earth, did God have a “firm persuasion” that what
He spoke would come into existence? Of
course He did. The second variation in
meaning used in the Bible with the word pistis is “faith in God or
Christ”. When God was creating, did He
have faith in Himself? That sounds
ridiculous and it should. There was no
reason for the creator to have faith in anything: His capability to create the universe was
never in question. God simply created
without the need to meet any additional requirement, whether to have faith or
to speak. If He needed to use faith or
words – and could not have created without this formula – then other external
principles exist in the universe that are more powerful than God.
Very
closely related to this issue is God’s use of words. Was it necessary for God to speak for the
heavens and earth to exist? What if,
instead of speaking words, God chose to snap His fingers to initiate the
creation? Did God speak the worlds into existence
before creating air? Again, this sounds
ridiculous, but the point is, when we assert that God is required to use a
certain principle, then the principle surpasses His omnipotence. If God could not have created anything
without using the force of faith and words - and we can use the same principles
to create - then God is no more than a glorified human, which sounds a lot more
like Mormonism than Biblical Christianity.
Furthermore, if we can use the same formula as God to accomplish our
desires, do we even need God? As a final
note, the above information is not intended as a criticism, rather an attempt
to reach an accurate understanding of this issue. Also, this issue is not crucial to salvation: Those who believe differently remain brothers
and sisters in Christ.
(Biblical references are
from the NASB version.)
[1] Joel Osteen Ministries, Today’s Word,
http://joelosteen.lakewood.cc/site/MessageViewer?em_id=11881.0&printer_friendly=1&s_displayDate=03/19/2008
[2] Capps, Charles, God’s Creative Power Will Work for You … (Tulsa: Harrison House, 1976) 2, 25, quoted in Robert
M. Bowman Jr., The Word-Faith Controversy, p. 105.
[3] Hagin, Kenneth, New Thresholds of Faith (Tulsa:
Kenneth Hagin Ministries, 1989), 74-76
[4] Kenyon, E. W., Two Kinds of Knowledge (Lynnwood, WA: Kenyon Gospel Publishers, 1981), 14-15
[5] Copeland, Kenneth, The Laws of
Prosperity, (Ft. Worth: Kenneth Copeland Publications, 1974), 18-19
[6] Capps, Charles, God’s Creative Power Will Work for You, (Tulsa: Harrison House,
1976), p. 25
[7] Bowman, Richard Jr., The Word-Faith Controversy, (Grand
Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 2001), 107.
[8] Vine, W. E., Vine’s Complete
Expository Dictionary (Nashville, TN:
Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1996), 222.
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