“And since we have the same spirit of faith, according to what is written, “I believed and therefore I spoke,” we also believe and therefore speak.” —2 Corinthians 4:13
Bible faith is made up of two main components, believing in the heart and saying with mouth. This is what the Apostle Paul called the spirit of faith. These principles have been used throughout the Bible by men and women of faith who changed history. We have the same opportunity to believe God today and release His power in our lives. However, to be effective, the same faith principles must be used—believing and speaking.
We know God has given to every man the measure of faith (Rom. 12:3). And the Bible tells us in Romans 10:17, “So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” So, we know we have faith, and we know how to get more faith, but faith must be released to do its job. Faith comes by hearing, and it is released by speaking. You must have both believing and speaking for your faith to work.
We see these same principles mentioned again in reference to salvation:
“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. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.” —Romans 10:9-10
We get saved by believing and speaking, and we’re supposed to continue to live our lives, exercising these same principles.
“As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him.” —Colossians 2:6
Most of us need to be reminded to watch what we say, to speak our faith, and to say what we believe, not what we see and feel. Many times, our confession undermines our faith and is the cause of many problems. If you’re not happy with the life you’re living in Christ, check your confession. As one writer said, “You’ll never rise above your confession.” That’s a sobering thought!
Most of us think we’re doing fine in the area of faith because our doctrine is correct. Maybe you have a good understanding of God’s Word and believe the wonderful truths of the Bible. You believe God does miracles today, and He still heals the sick. You believe He wants to supply all your needs according to His riches in glory. You know through His Word His will for you is that you live the life of an overcomer. All these things are true, but believing them in your heart is not all there is to faith.
Mark 11:23 is very enlightening:
“For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be removed and be cast into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says.”
Jesus did not say you would have whatever you believe, period. He said you’ll have whatever you say (when you believe it in your heart). Until your saying agrees with your believing, you aren’t exercising Bible faith or the faith that receives! It’s not enough to simply agree with the doctrines of the Bible. Nodding in agreement as the preacher preaches on powerful doctrines is not enough. It’s what you’re saying day in and day out about that doctrine that determines what you receive.
Most full-gospel or Charismatic Christians, as we’re called, would get an A on a true or false test on Bible doctrine. That’s a good start, but that by itself is not faith. Jesus didn’t say you would have what you believe; He said you would have what you say.
The question is not: What are you believing? The real question is: What are you saying? You can have your believing 100% right, but if you’re not speaking your faith, it won’t work. You can’t live in victory and talk defeat. You can’t live in power and talk weakness. You can’t receive healing and speak sickness and disease. Faith believes and speaks!
Unbelief is so subtle it can slip right out of your mouth without you recognizing it. You probably don’t have to be reminded God exists or that He loves you or that He has a future for you, but it’s easy to talk like those things aren’t true. “Oh, me! What am I going to do? How are we going to make it? I’m so sick and tired!” It’s not just what you believe that puts you over in life, it’s what you believe and speak.
It’s not just what you say in church either. One day of faith confessions is not enough to overcome six days of doubt and unbelief. If we recorded every word you said Monday through Saturday, transcribed it, laid it next to the Bible and compared the two, would your words for the week agree with God’s Words? If they don’t, you will have what is in your transcript and not what is in God’s. Because Jesus said, “You will have whatever you say.” Not what He said, but what you say. Of course, you have to believe it as well. Speaking without believing doesn’t work, neither does believing without speaking. Bible faith is made up of these two main components, believing in the heart and saying with the mouth. If you leave off the saying, it won’t work in your life.
If we could put your entire faith in God’s Word on a pie chart and separate it into different categories, you would probably have a very full pie chart. It would include all the wonderful doctrines of the Bible and everything you believe about God. Most of us believe much more than we are experiencing in our lives. Our pie chart, what we believe, is much greater than our experience. What part of the chart will we experience? The part we’re consistently speaking.
In Luke 17, Jesus gives the disciples a faith lesson. Verse 5 says, “And the apostles said to the Lord, ‘Increase our faith.'” We may have all wanted that from time to time, especially when you begin to see how important faith is in the kingdom of God. They felt like they could do better if they just had more faith—as if Jesus had it and wasn’t giving it to them.
In verse 6, Jesus said, “If you have faith as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be pulled up by the roots and be planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you.” It’s clear from this analogy Jesus was saying, you don’t need more faith; you need to use the faith you have. A mustard seed is a tiny seed and symbolizes a tiny amount of faith. Evidently, it doesn’t take much faith to change things, but your faith has to be released. If you aren’t using what you have, it won’t do any good to get more.
If you have a nice small car in your driveway and it runs, but you never start it, it would be useless to say, “I can’t get to work in this car. I need a bigger car.” No matter how big your car is, it won’t get you to work if you don’t drive it.
We all have faith. How do we use the faith we have? Jesus gives us the answer. He said, “If you have faith as a mustard seed, you can say….” Stop there. The amount of the faith is not nearly as important as what you do with it. If you have faith, and you’re saying, “It’s not working!’ It doesn’t matter how much faith you have. For it to work, you have to speak. If you have faith you must say. If you have and you don’t say, it won’t work. Faith speaks! That’s what faith does.
This is the area of faith that requires the most maintenance. Check out your words. Take inventory and make sure they’re working for and not against you. Faith words are simply words that agree with what God’s Word says. Say what God says about you, refuse to say things contrary to God’s Word. Allow God’s Word in your mouth to change things in your life. This is not some kind of works program, but if faith is going to be released in your life to enable you to receive the gifts of grace that have been freely given, it’s going to have to come through your mouth first. Faith receives what God has freely given us.
Faith speaks!
Good teaching
Bro Greg your teaching on faith is some of the best I have ever heard. Dad Hagin would be proud of you. We all need to be reminded of these truths to win the victory in the big and everyday ordinary circumstances. Keep teaching us the Word so clearly.
This article is wonderful, just wonderful. Keep them coming, I look forward to them every Monday. Thank you.
Jim Officer
New Hamshire