A person does not get faith by himself. The LORD GOD decides how much faith a person will have, and deals it to each man accordingly.
His measure focuses on six areas to determine how much faith to give you after you are called forward by Him.
He examines you to determine your ability to...
1) Be a living sacrifice
2) Be holy
3) Be acceptable of God
4) Be non-conforming to this world
5) Be able to transform yourself by the renewing of your mind
6) Be able to prove what is the good, acceptable, perfect will of God
1 ¶ I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. 2 And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God. 3 For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith. (Romans 12:1-3 AV)
Reasonable service to the LORD GOD, means the reasonable amount of worship that the LORD GOD expects from one of his people.This reasonable service consists of three of the measured areas...
1) Be a living sacrifice
2) Be holy
3) Be acceptable of God
Worshipping the LORD GOD means you must be a living sacrifice. A living sacrifice means that you give up your will, and allow the Will of the LORD GOD, Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit to perform works through you. Worshipping the LORD GOD also requires you to be holy and acceptable to Him. These areas are measured by the LORD GOD from his expectation that these three areas are reasonable requirements that should be met.
The LORD GOD uses the other three measurements for determining the amount of faith you will receive. These three measurements are not under the "reasonable service" standard. They are not required for faith to be given by the LORD GOD, but they are important measurements to test for your ability to handle faith. People given large amounts of faith will possess these other three abilities, and people of little faith will not. These three measurements are
4) Be non-conforming to this world
5) Be able to transform yourself by the renewing of your mind
6) Be able to prove what is the good, acceptable, perfect will of God
The six measurements that the LORD GOD uses to determine the meting out of faith are not works, but spiritual necessities for faith.
Understand this well. Anytime that you are doing any of these six things, you are doing them as a matter of spiritual necessity. They are not works and they will not be rewarded as works. These six measurements are used by the LORD GOD to give you faith. He determines the measurements, and He determines the standards, and in His Grace, He decides how much faith you will have.
The LORD GOD, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit will not think you are great for letting Them use your body. It is expected of you. It is a spiritual standard required of you by the LORD GOD. However, if they use your body, and works result, you will receive reward from those works. So, being a living sacrifice is your spirituality which leads to faith. What your body does as a living sacrifice is works
So...when you see some with great faith, and some with little faith, recognize that their faith is given to each individual by the LORD GOD after a careful and exacting measurement in six areas to determine the amount of faith that they can handle. To increase the amount of faith that is rewarded to you, attention must be paid to those six attributes, all of which are dependent upon a steady and forward walk with Jesus Christ, study of His Word, and a dedicated focus on the Things of God.
Bucker
His measure focuses on six areas to determine how much faith to give you after you are called forward by Him.
He examines you to determine your ability to...
1) Be a living sacrifice
2) Be holy
3) Be acceptable of God
4) Be non-conforming to this world
5) Be able to transform yourself by the renewing of your mind
6) Be able to prove what is the good, acceptable, perfect will of God
1 ¶ I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. 2 And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God. 3 For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith. (Romans 12:1-3 AV)
Reasonable service to the LORD GOD, means the reasonable amount of worship that the LORD GOD expects from one of his people.This reasonable service consists of three of the measured areas...
1) Be a living sacrifice
2) Be holy
3) Be acceptable of God
Worshipping the LORD GOD means you must be a living sacrifice. A living sacrifice means that you give up your will, and allow the Will of the LORD GOD, Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit to perform works through you. Worshipping the LORD GOD also requires you to be holy and acceptable to Him. These areas are measured by the LORD GOD from his expectation that these three areas are reasonable requirements that should be met.
The LORD GOD uses the other three measurements for determining the amount of faith you will receive. These three measurements are not under the "reasonable service" standard. They are not required for faith to be given by the LORD GOD, but they are important measurements to test for your ability to handle faith. People given large amounts of faith will possess these other three abilities, and people of little faith will not. These three measurements are
4) Be non-conforming to this world
5) Be able to transform yourself by the renewing of your mind
6) Be able to prove what is the good, acceptable, perfect will of God
The six measurements that the LORD GOD uses to determine the meting out of faith are not works, but spiritual necessities for faith.
Understand this well. Anytime that you are doing any of these six things, you are doing them as a matter of spiritual necessity. They are not works and they will not be rewarded as works. These six measurements are used by the LORD GOD to give you faith. He determines the measurements, and He determines the standards, and in His Grace, He decides how much faith you will have.
The LORD GOD, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit will not think you are great for letting Them use your body. It is expected of you. It is a spiritual standard required of you by the LORD GOD. However, if they use your body, and works result, you will receive reward from those works. So, being a living sacrifice is your spirituality which leads to faith. What your body does as a living sacrifice is works
So...when you see some with great faith, and some with little faith, recognize that their faith is given to each individual by the LORD GOD after a careful and exacting measurement in six areas to determine the amount of faith that they can handle. To increase the amount of faith that is rewarded to you, attention must be paid to those six attributes, all of which are dependent upon a steady and forward walk with Jesus Christ, study of His Word, and a dedicated focus on the Things of God.
Bucker
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2 comments:
Romans 12:3 says, "God hath dealt to every man THE measure of faith" (emphasis mine). God didn't give us different measures of faith; we all received THE measure of faith. If I were serving soup to a lot of people, and if I used the same ladle to dish it out, then that ladle would be THE measure. Everyone would get the same amount of soup because I would use the same measure. That's the way it is with God's faith. He only used one measure. All born-again Christians received the same amount of faith.
Hi Fellowship,
I agree with you that a common faith is given to all Christians.
“To Titus, [mine] own son after the common faith: Grace, mercy, [and] peace, from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ our Saviour.” (Titus 1:4)
However, I believe that there is clear proof in Scripture that faith is not measured once and given upon rebirth, but rather given in portion according to the LORD God's Will.
I will list several references to support my opinion...
James 2:18 suggests that faith can have different nature when works are applied with it. “Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works.” If faith can be changed for any reason, either man or God is changing it, and if it is changing, then the measure of faith is also varying.
If we hope for the same substance of things that we did as a newly saved Christian, if we search for evidence of things not seen as a child, then faith is measured equally. If however, we discover new things of hope, and are given new evidence through mystery of things not seen as we mature as Christians, then there is absolute proof that faith is measured and given as the LORD God wills. “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” (Hebrews 11:1 AV)
We know that there is a "first faith", which suggests more can come. “Having damnation, because they have cast off their first faith.” (1 Timothy 5:12)
Paul speaks of an exceedingly abundant superbounding faith given to him. “And I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who hath enabled me, for that he counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry; Who was before a blasphemer, and a persecutor, and injurious: but I obtained mercy, because I did [it] ignorantly in unbelief. And the grace of our Lord was exceeding abundant with faith and love which is in Christ Jesus.” (1 Timothy 1:12-14 AV)
In fact, specific reference is made about avoiding to stretch past their measure of faith, and it's possible increase.“For we stretch not ourselves beyond [our measure], as though we reached not unto you: for we are come as far as to you also in [preaching] the gospel of Christ: Not boasting of things without [our] measure, [that is], of other men’s labours; but having hope, when your faith is increased, that we shall be enlarged by you according to our rule abundantly, To preach the gospel in the [regions] beyond you, [and] not to boast in another man’s line of things made ready to our hand. But he that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord.” (2 Corinthians 10:14-17 )
Not only can a Christian have more faith than another, but even an excess of faith can exist...“Therefore, as ye abound in every [thing, in] faith, and utterance, and knowledge, and [in] all diligence, and [in] your love to us, [see] that ye abound in this grace also.” (2 Corinthians 8:7)
Even more confirming to my belief in the different measures of faith given to different believers is in 1 Cor 12:7-9, “But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal. For to one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom; to another the word of knowledge by the same Spirit; To another faith by the same Spirit; to another the gifts of healing by the same Spirit;”
I believe you are correct that one measure of faith is given to all born-again believers that is finished by Jesus Christ. But I also believe that there are other measures of faith, given in mystery and new understanding to the elite and righteous according to His Will. It is that measure of faith that I speak about in my article of "The Six Measures of Faith".
David "Bucker" Becker
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