God’s Measure of Faith

January 9, 2024

One thing that we know for sure is that it is impossible to please the Lord without having Faith. Hebrews 11:6 in the New Testament reveals “But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.” The word impossible being used here means: unable to be done.

When you take this passage of Scripture out of the Holy Bible at face value it is very eye-opening. Without having belief and trust in God and Jesus Christ you cannot please the Lord. What exactly is faith? Hebrews 11:1 describes faith when the writer states, “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”

This verse of Scripture out of God’s Word is letting us know that having faith means believing God for things that you are hoping for even though you haven’t seen them come to pass yet. However, it’s not pertaining to just anything that you are wishing for, the Lord wants us to stand on the promises that are found in His Word.

Romans 10:17 details, “So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” Here we can see that the Apostle Paul is disclosing to us that faith is built by hearing a word from God. The Lord can speak to us many different ways, but He primarily speaks to His children through His Word. As the body of Christ it is imperative that we spend time in the Scriptures of truth renewing your mind, Romans 12:2.

When you marinate on the guarantees of God and see them revealed in your everyday life, your faith will begin to naturally build. The problem with a lot of Christians is that they say they have faith but when the storms of life hit, their actions say otherwise. Faith says: I don’t care what my situation looks like, I am going to believe what God says about it in His Word and make that my final say.

That is why it is essential for believers of Jesus Christ to make it a daily habit to study the Bible, digest it, and apply it. There is no way that you can build your faith with an empty Scriptural memory bank. How are you going to be able to stand on God’s promises if you don’t know what they are?

The will of God is that every one of His children lives a victorious and plentiful life, John 10:10. The only way that we are going to be successful in our walk with Christ is if we have an abundant measure of faith. That way when trials and tribulations hit, we will remain unmovable and unshakable.

One question that someone could ask is: what if I don’t have any faith? I am going to break down that passage of Scripture that discloses what the Lord has to say about a Christian’s proportion of faith.

Romans 12:3

“For I say, through the grace given to me, to everyone who is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, as God has dealt to each one a measure of faith.”

Here we can see in this passage of Scripture that the Apostle Paul is explaining to us that all believers have been given a degree of faith as sort of a “starter kit” so to speak. So what that means is that God has given us the special gift of faith from the beginning. We really have no excuses when it comes to having trust in God.

The Lord has already set us up with an amount of faith but it is then up to us to make sure that the level of our belief does not remain stagnant. In your Christian life you are going to have to build upon your faith as you grow in the Lord. We start as babes in Christ but we are not supposed to stay that way, 1 Corinthians 3:1-2. We are eventually supposed to develop into mature Christians with the ability to rightly divide God’s Word, 2 Timothy 2:15.

To put the passage of Scripture that I am highlighting up above into complete context, let’s take a look at the verses out of the Bible right before it. Romans 12:1-2 details, “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.”

The Apostle Paul is disclosing to us the importance of the renewal of your mind. There are some words that he reveals that we need to pay attention to and those words are when he states, “…that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.” In order for a person to prove what is suitable to God, they must first know what the Lord deems acceptable which is found in His Word.

One thing that we know for sure is that having no faith is unacceptable to the Lord as He has made that clear, Hebrews 11:6. So knowing that, we have to make it a point to establish and grow our faith daily. We know that transforming our minds will help us develop our assurance in God because it changes the entire way that we think including the way that we view our faith.

Now let’s take a closer look at Romans 12:3 so that we can understand what Paul is disclosing to us. The word “grace” being used is he Greek word “charis” which means: gifts of grace, the aggregate of the extremely diverse gifts granted to Christians.

The word “soberly” is the Greek word “sōphroneō” which means: to put a moderate estimate upon oneself, think of oneself soberly or in other words have sober judgment. The words “a measure” is the Greek word “metron” which means: determined extent, portion measured off, measure or limit.

The words “of faith” being used is the Greek word “pistis” and when relating it to God means: the conviction that God exists and is the creator and ruler of all things, the provider and bestower of eternal salvation through Christ. When it relates to Christ it means: a strong and welcome conviction or belief that Jesus is the messiah, through Whom we obtain salvation in the kingdom of God.

So when we piece all of these keys words together from this passage of Scripture we can determine that the Apostle Paul is letting us know that a Christian should not get puffed up because of the spiritual gifts (like the gift of prophecy) that have been given to them. They are to remain humble with the understanding that every single believer has been handed God’s gracious gift of faith.

This measure of faith is such an important aspect to the life of every believer considering the fact that you need to have faith to be saved to begin with, Ephesians 2:8-9. That is what Paul is saying to us when he mentions having a measure of faith. It is pertaining to believing that God and Christ exist and the only way to obtain salvation into the Kingdom of God is through Jesus Christ.

As a result of God’s grace He allowed His only Son to become the living sacrifice on our behalf. His sacrifice is what has afforded us the opportunity to have the free gift of salvation. The requirement is that we must have faith and truly believe in our hearts that Jesus died on the cross for us and that God is Who He says He is.

Romans 10:9 describes it perfectly when Paul states, “that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.” We can see here how important it is to have genuine faith that resides deep down in our hearts. Your entire Christian life will require a level of faith to grow in the things of the Lord.

One thing that we know that is absolutely clear is that the Lord does not expect us to keep the same measure of faith that we began with. The Lord gives us an illustration of what our faith should mature into and it is found in Matthew 13:31-32. What He is basically saying in this parable of the mustard seed is the fact that your faith should develop within time and eventually grow roots so deep that a tree bearing fruit is produced.

Conclusion

There is a measure of faith God gives to all of His children as sort of a “starter pack” of faith. He does not want us to keep that same level of faith and in fact He wants to give us so many other different gifts that we can use to help establish His Kingdom.

The problem is that a lot of Christians do not read their Bible, study it, and apply it to their daily lives. We need to learn how to cultivate sound judgment. The Lord develops our faith primarily through His Word so if you aren’t reading it how can you expect your faith to mature? The good news is that we have been given the amazing gift of the Holy Spirit that lives on the inside of us. He is our Helper and is the One that will bring Scriptures to your remembrance when you need them the most, John 14:26.

So, when your faith is being tested, He will remind you of God’s Word pertaining to your situation. He does need to have Scriptures to be able to pull from to help you develop trust and belief in the Lord so your Scriptural memory bank cannot be empty. I cannot tell you how important it is to meditate on God’s Word day and night, Joshua 1:8. It will literally change the entire trajectory of your life!

Also, don’t forget to check out my other blogs:

Mustard Seed Faith

Having Faith in God

Bible Verses on Faith

How to activate your Faith

Hebrews examples of Faith

Breaking Spiritual Strongholds-Fight Back

Breaking Spiritual Strongholds-Feed Your Spirit

Breaking Spiritual Strongholds-Renouncing

Breaking Spiritual Strongholds-Confess and Repent

Recognizing Spiritual Strongholds

What are Spiritual Strongholds?