How Faith Comes: (Or So They Say)

Modern word of faith doctrine is systematic, whether we recognize it or not. It is a series of formulas & equations. Using the system of logical conclusion that’s so common in faith circles, we would have to take it for granted that in order for faith to come to us, we would have to hear God’s Word first. This verse is then deliberately tied in to Hebrews 11:3.

17 So faith comes from what is heard, and what is heard comes through the message about Christ. (Romans 10:17).

This particular verse of Scripture is one of the foundations of word of faith teaching concerning how we obtain faith, & what it does. Of course, there are sixteen verses leading up to Paul’s conclusion here. However, I would suggest reading Romans chapter ten in its entirety instead of lifting one verse out of the twenty-one that make up this great section. According to our word of faith brethren, faith comes by us hearing God’s Word. More specifically, it comes to the heart of man & is released by the confession of his mouth. We are told that this is not only true of receiving God’s free gift of salvation, but also vital for obtaining any of God’s promises, by faith of course. But is this the sum total of Paul’s doctrinal statement here to The Church at Rome? Is he teaching principles of word of faith theology as taught by some in The Church today? The Apostle quotes specific passages from The Old Testament, referencing Moses, Joel & Isaiah. Are we to believe that these quotes support their questionable suppositions? These questions are rarely dealt with. Instead, the next step in your word of faith journey will be an avalanche of selected verses that claim to support the practical principle demonstrated here; faith is created in the heart by hearing God’s word & it is released through the mouth by confession. Therefore, as in the case of our salvation, if we need healing, prosperity, deliverance or any number of things in between, we must find God’s promises concerning these things in His Word, then rehearse & repeat them. As we hear God’s Word, our faith will develop & bring what we hope for into reality & our possession. Or so we’re told. Again, using the logic employed by our word of faith friends to reach their conclusions, we see examples of what they preach & teach played out conveniently in carefully selected Bible passages.

Before this is done however, we will be given the greatest example of this principle in action as proof positive of its validity. We will be taken to the creation narrative in an effort to show that God Himself possesses & utilizes the law of faith. He is [they claim] a faith God, Who used the same faith formula to speak His creation into existence. Just in case you’re thinking that this is an utterly ridiculous statement, that couldn’t possibly be true, let alone truly believed by anyone, lean in reader.

“How did God do it? God BELIEVED that what He said would come to pass. He spoke the Word, and there was earth. He spoke into existence the vegetable kingdom. He spoke into existence the animal kingdom. He spoke into existence the heavens and the earth, the moon, the sun, the stars and the universe. He said it, and it was so. That is the GOD KIND of faith. God BELIEVED what He said would come to pass, and it did!”

Kenneth E. Hagin ‘Exceedingly Growing Faith’ Copyright © 1983 RHEMA Bible Church AKA Kenneth Hagin Ministries, Inc. All Rights Reserved (emphasis added).

Every time I read that quote, I am ashamed, because I once believed that wholeheartedly. There was a time that I embraced the belief that God had faith & was teaching us how to have the same abilities as Him, through His Word. I was so nose blind to the borderline blasphemy I was being taught. In order to give credibility to their error, word of faith leaders will teach that we are simply emulating God. Are we though?

If faith comes by hearing God’s Word & God uses faith, whose word was God hearing? Where did the faith of this faith God come from? Why does God even need faith when He is almighty? We’re told by these teachers that knowing is beyond believing. The Lord is omniscient; therefore, He doesn't need faith. Pointing these things out is similar to informing someone that their laces are undone & then being completely ignored by them. It’s also important to note that there are millions of people who stake their lives on what they’re told & taught by those at the forefront of the word of faith movement. Sometimes with fatal results.

Perhaps it isn’t enough to try & demonstrate that faith was used in creation, by a faith God. What about The Lord Jesus Christ, in His earth walk? Once again, we are told that this law or force of faith can be wielded in order to reap results, if certain steps are followed. In Christ we have a perfect example of what an anointed man is capable of doing once he’s learned the principles of the God kind of faith. Lean in & listen to this.

22 Jesus replied to them, “Have faith in God. 23 Truly I tell you, if anyone says to this mountain, ‘Be lifted up and thrown into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says will happen, it will be done for him. 24 Therefore I tell you, everything you pray and ask for—believe that you have received it and it will be yours. (Mark 11:22-24).

“Let us focus our attention on the statement, "Have faith in God" (v 22) or, as the margin [of the KJV] reads, "Have the faith of God." GREEK SCHOLARS TELL US this could have been translated, "Have the GOD KIND of faith." Jesus demonstrated that He had the "God kind of faith.".” Hagin continues, “After telling His disciples in verse 22 to have the God kind of faith, Jesus went on to DEFINE and DESCRIBE for us what it is. The God kind of faith is the kind of faith in which a man: (1) BELIEVES in his heart, and (2) SAYS with his mouth what he believes in his heart, and (3) it comes to pass. Jesus showed that He had that kind of faith, for HE BELIEVED THAT WHAT HE SAID WOULD COME TO PASS.”.

Kenneth E. Hagin ‘Exceedingly Growing Faith’ Copyright © 1983 RHEMA Bible Church AKA Kenneth Hagin Ministries, Inc. All Rights Reserved (emphasis added).

It would seem that we’re being offered a formulaic, foolproof & failsafe method of grasping how the law or force of faith operates & how we can obtain the results we want, by following a prescribed pattern. Is this the reason that The Lord cursed the Fig Tree & then taught His disciples a valuable lesson on faith & how it works? The Lord could have worked a miracle & created fruit on that tree, but He didn’t, He cursed it. There was something more important that Messiah was demonstrating & it was not the God kind of faith as it has been described. This would also mean that a faith God would have believed in His heart, said what He believed in His heart & then had whatever He said. Again, if faith comes by hearing, where did God get His God kind of faith? Watch out for those shoelaces.

17 As it is written: I have made you the father of many nations— in the presence of the God in whom he believed, the one who gives life to the dead and calls things into existence that do not exist. 18 He believed, hoping against hope, so that he became the father of many nations according to what had been spoken: So will your descendants be. 19 He did not weaken in faith when he considered his own body to be already dead (since he was about a hundred years old) and also the deadness of Sarah’s womb. 20 He did not waver in unbelief at God’s promise but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, 21 because he was fully convinced that what God had promised, he was also able to do. 22 Therefore, it was credited to him for righteousness. (Romans 4:17-22).

These verses are often the third of two or three witnesses put forward to shore up the argument for the God kind of faith. Surely the words of Paul here, show conclusively that God used the principle of faith. Don’t they? Not only did He speak His creation into reality by it, but also in His interaction with Abraham He speaks of things that do not exist as if they do. Isn’t this the God kind of faith? The Patriarch then emulates his faith God by employing hope against hope, not wavering, not doubting. He was strong in faith. He ignored his advanced age as well as that of his wife & was convinced that his faith God was able to do what He had promised. There you have it. Proof positive. Case closed. Slam dunk. Wait a minute. Have we missed something? I’m scratching my head. I’m rubbing my chin. I’m wracking my brains. What could it possibly be? Hmmmmmm…

17 Abraham fell facedown. Then he laughed and said to himself, “Can a child be born to a hundred-year-old man? Can Sarah, a ninety-year-old woman, give birth?” 18 So Abraham said to God, “If only Ishmael were acceptable to you!” 19 But God said, “No. Your wife Sarah will bear you a son, and you will name him Isaac. I will confirm my covenant with him as a permanent covenant for his future offspring. (Genesis 17:17-19).

9 “Where is your wife Sarah?” they asked him. “There, in the tent,” he answered. 10 The LORD said, “I will certainly come back to you in about a year’s time, and your wife Sarah will have a son!” Now Sarah was listening at the entrance of the tent behind him. 11 Abraham and Sarah were old and getting on in years. Sarah had passed the age of childbearing. 12 So she laughed to herself: “After I am worn out and my lord is old, will I have delight?” 13 But the LORD asked Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh, saying, ‘Can I really have a baby when I’m old?’ 14 Is anything impossible for the LORD? At the appointed time I will come back to you, and in about a year she will have a son.” 15 Sarah denied it. “I did not laugh,” she said, because she was afraid. But he replied, “No, you did laugh.” (Genesis 18:9-15).

Well, well, well. Houston, we have a problem. The apparent difference between these accounts & the one in Romans chapter four are eye wateringly obvious. However, your word of faith teachers will conveniently disregard the Genesis narrative. Why? Because they cannot explain the larger theological & doctrinal point that our dear brother Paul is making. We will come to this later. In the meantime, notice that Abraham had no physical problems when he went into Hagar. He hadn’t laughed when his wife suggested it as an alternative to her giving him a child (Genesis 16:1-4). Neither had he laughed at the prospect of being the father of many nations or having descendants like the stars. He was told that his heir would come from his own body (Genesis 15:1-5). Perhaps Paul missed these small but significant details. Afterall, it’s not as if he was a scholar or theologian. He must have hit his head when he fell on the road to Damascus. However, if we look again at Romans chapter four & keep reading, we will see a big fat finger pointing us in the right direction. We will come to this.

Let me tell you what we will not see. We will not see a faith God using the God kind of faith. We will not see Abraham confessing, believing & eventually possessing a desired end result or goal. The Lord God made Abraham a promise & He kept it. Despite the man’s laughter. Regardless of his wife’s amusement. No matter the deadness of his own body, or that of Sara’s womb. All of these things pale into insignificance when compared to what God says He will do. Truly, “Is there anything too hard for The Lord?”. The answer is no.

The God of the word of faith movement is some kind of almighty alchemist. The Jesus of their belief system is a sort of messianic magician. The men & women who believe in them are nothing short of miniature gods, who are in training for reigning. With the God kind of faith at their command, The Word tucked away neatly in their spirits & a hearty confession in their mouths, they step out into the world to act on what they believe. As I said previously, there are millions of people who stake their lives on what they’re told & taught by those at the forefront of the word of faith movement. Sometimes with fatal results. It is a very slippery slope indeed, that begins with a simple winking at ignorance & ends with a sinister laughter at blasphemy.

If we hear God’s Word with the sole intent of developing a faith muscle, we miss the point spectacularly. If we search The Scriptures in order to find passages to claim as our own, by faith, we do a huge disservice to their purpose. If we reduce The Lord & our Saviour to the level of a cosmic physicist, to Whom we are apprenticed, we commit an act of wickedness. The word of faith movement has denigrated God & Who He is by bringing Him down to man’s level. As well as this, man has been elevated & even deified.

Let me give you a very simple pointer. You can use this to identify the very instance that you went off track. The moment that you were told that learning to develop & use the God kind of faith was you acting just like God. When you believed that, you were cooked. Do you remember where you first heard that? It wasn’t from me. It’s right there in the third chapter of the book of Genesis. It is a dirty lie. It is a dangerous error. It is a damnable heresy.

1 Now the serpent was the most cunning of all the wild animals that the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You can’t eat from any tree in the garden’?” 2 The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat the fruit from the trees in the garden. 3 But about the fruit of the tree in the middle of the garden, God said, ‘You must not eat it or touch it, or you will die.’” 4 “No! You will certainly not die,” the serpent said to the woman. 5 “In fact, God knows that when you eat it your eyes will be opened and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” 6 The woman saw that the tree was good for food and delightful to look at, and that it was desirable for obtaining wisdom. So she took some of its fruit and ate it; she also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. 7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves. (Genesis 3:1-7).

What was the first thing the serpent said? It questioned the authenticity of God’s Word. Eve responded by adding to God’s instructions. Although technically they couldn’t eat the fruit without touching it. Furthermore, when a lack of knowledge is mixed with deception, you have something highly unstable, dangerous & even lethal. Forbidden fruit looks good, sounds great & feels amazing. Then it brings death. Their eyes were opened. Word of faith teaching, much like any other classic deception, offers revelation. It promises more than you’ve ever read, heard or believed. The promise of elitism, power & even godhood. The claim is that we’ve been religiously brainwashed, instead of New Testament taught. Yea, hath God said? If you question or doubt what you’re being taught by word of faith leadership, it will affect your faith. This allows the word of faith specialist to manipulate Scripture like a bad juggler. By the time they’ve finished, The Bible has been twisted into something that resembles a piece of modern artwork. Effectively, according to word of faith mythology, our fore parents acted on what the serpent said, instead of on what The Lord had said. This resulted in their ejection from Eden & death. They failed to use the faith that comes from hearing God’s Word & don’t forget [that] “..whatsoever is not of faith is sin.” (Romans 14:23b KJV). Apparently, this is what Adam & Eve did. This has been taught. This has been believed. Forget the proper context. Embrace the revelation.

Man committed an act of treason and sold out to Satan. This means that the tempter took man’s place of authoritative precedence on the planet & consequently, God has no right to intervene or interfere in the affairs of men, without permission. Therefore, this means that He is mighty, but not all mighty. I’m sure there must be Bible verses & passages to support their doctrine. Right?

31 Now is the judgment of this world. Now the ruler of this world will be cast out. (John 12:31).

3 But if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. 4 In their case, the god of this age has blinded the minds of the unbelievers to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. (2 Corinthians 4:3-4).

2 in which you previously walked according to the ways of this world, according to the ruler of the power of the air, the spirit now working in the disobedient. (Ephesians 2:2).

There you have it. Proof positive. Case closed. Slam dunk. Wait a minute. Have we missed something? None of these verses say anything about this world being the property of Satan to the exclusion of God. I’m scratching my head. I’m rubbing my chin. I’m wracking my brains. What could it possibly be? Hmmmmmm… “..so that the living will know that the Most High is ruler over human kingdoms. He gives them to anyone he wants and sets the lowliest of people over them” (Daniel 4:17 b). “The earth and everything in it, the world and its inhabitants, belong to the LORD” (Psalms 24:1). “By my great strength and outstretched arm, I made the earth, and the people, and animals on the face of the earth. I give it to anyone I please.” (Jeremiah 27:5).

I say these things to alert you to the fact that just like the serpent in the garden, not everything the word of faith movement purports to be the truth, is so.

If you are reading this article, stumbling through this charismatic life without a clue where the path is, stop. You’ve lost your way & it’s getting dark out there. You went in with a simple desire to know God & The Scriptures. You ended up believing you’re a little god with the power to speak God’s Word after Him & wield the God kind of faith. The big bad wolves are leading you astray, telling you to keep confessing. Keep giving. You’re so close. You’ll have whatsoever you say. Don’t let go. You’re almost at grandma’s. Keep on keeping on. Keep believing you receive. You have dominion. Did I mention that you have to keep giving? You’re acting just like God.

In what way is man like God? Man is made in His image & after His likeness. Does that make man a god? Man was not created as a result of God speaking. He was made with The Lord’s hands, as was Eve. The animals copulated in order to breed. The plants, shrub & flowers cross pollinated. In order for man to be a god, he would have to have been the result of some form of Divine duplication or mating. This would then endow man with the same attributes in his nature as his Creator. Do I need to go any further for it to be abundantly clear how thin the doctrinal ice is here? God’s creation of man was not an act of reproduction. If, as we have been taught, man can do what God can do, man does not need God at all. Eventually he will be off believing, confessing & creating all by himself. This reminds me of a story I heard when I was in the throes of the word of faith movement. At the time I believed it to be true, which shows how quickly one can travel from the sublime to the ridiculous.

“While out hunting in October (1959), Brother Branham was meditating on Mark 11:23, and God revealed to him that a man can be so anointed with the Holy Spirit that when he opens his lips, it is as if God is speaking. After showing Brother Branham this, the Lord instructed him to say whatever he desired, and it would be granted to him. Brother Branham requested squirrels to meet his hunting allocation. The Lord pushed him to speak squirrels into existence twice, and they materialized out of nowhere before being shot by Brother Branham. Later God showed him that these signs pointed to a change in his ministry that would soon culminate in a magnificent ending.”.

Branham, William. 1959, November 23. Speak To This Mountain (59-1123).

This is nothing new. However, the statements of many word of faith leaders have become tamer in an age where it is easier to fact check their proclamations. There are those who claim to stem the tide of diseases or control the weather. They command healing & miracles that are never documented, while they decree & declare unbridled prosperity, revival & wealth transfers. All of these things were done by exercising the God kind of faith. “Thou shalt also decree a thing, and it shall be established unto thee: and the light shall shine upon thy ways.” (Job 22:28 KVJ). While they’re at it, why don’t they just tell The Lord what to do. “Thus saith the Lord, the Holy One of Israel, and his Maker, Ask me of things to come concerning my sons, and concerning the work of my hands command ye me.” (Isaiah 45:11 KJV).

The context doesn’t matter. Just find any verse, anywhere at any time & make it yours. But this is a million miles away from what Scripture actually teaches. “..No one can receive anything unless it has been given to him from heaven.” (John 3:27). No confession? No believing with the heart? Just the simple trust & reliance on God? The word of faith movement makes promises that it cannot keep. These promises are made after taking The Scriptures out of all reasonable context. While it is absolutely true that faith comes by hearing God’s Word, it comes to make us God’s, not gods.

From the series: Have Faith in God, by, David Samuel Parkins.

Originally posted: February 7th, 2025.

You can follow David on his blog: The Discernment Quarterly

All Scriptures taken from the CSB unless otherwise noted.