What Faith Is: (Or So They Say)

1 Now faith is the reality of what is hoped for, the proof of what is not seen. 2 For by this our ancestors were approved. 3 By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was made from things that are not visible. 4 By faith Abel offered to God a better sacrifice than Cain did. By faith he was approved as a righteous man, because God approved his gifts, and even though he is dead, he still speaks through his faith. 5 By faith Enoch was taken away, and so he did not experience death. He was not to be found because God took him away. For before he was taken away, he was approved as one who pleased God. 6 Now without faith it is impossible to please God, since the one who draws near to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him. (Hebrews 11:1-6)

There are many voices within The Church, each of them sharing their own particular brand of the word of faith message, tailored & fashioned with a personal touch to suit themselves & their audiences alike. Every minister teaching on this provocative & dynamic subject is busy dipping into the same seemingly inexhaustible source of [what they refer to as] revelation knowledge but coming up with something only slightly different to those who have gone before. No marvel, I suppose one has to carve one’s own niche, as well as sell books in an already over saturated market. When I first began to learn about the word of faith as prescribed by the main proponents of charismatic theology in the 1980s, I was astounded. Within the Pentecostal fundamentalism that I was a part of, faith had been a very basic & simple trust in God, in Christ & in His Word.

We were told that we need faith in order to be saved (Ephesians 2:8). We are justified by faith (Romans 5:1). We, having been justified, are to live by faith (Habakkuk 2:4, Galatians 2:20 & Hebrews 10:38). We are given faith in a measure (Romans 12:3). Our faith can grow & also be strengthened (2nd Corinthians 10:15, 2nd Thessalonians 1:3 & Acts 16:5). We must have faith in God (Mark 11:22). Without faith we cannot please Him (Hebrews 11:6). Faith is a gift (1st Corinthians 12:9). We must fight the good fight of faith (1st Timothy 6:12). We overcome the world by faith (1st John 5:4). Faith comes by hearing (Romans 10:17). By faith we stand (2nd Corinthians 1:24). We walk by faith, not by sight (2nd Corinthians 5:17). Faith is our shield (Ephesians 6:16). 

Faith is a Bible subject. Because of this, it isn’t alien to us when someone teaches on the topic. The problem however, lies in what is taught about it. The subject of faith ought always to be overshadowed & underlined by its intended object; The Lord. He then, instructs us thus: have faith in GOD (Mark 11:22). Grab yourself a pot of tea & some custard creams. You’re gonna need ‘em.

Modern word of faith teaching is a complicated system of hoops through which you have to carefully maneuver. It is a set of delicate steps that you have to successfully negotiate in order to obtain whatever God wants you to have. The faith of the charismatic movement is a robust & tangible force. It is a spiritual law & one that has to be engaged & enhanced. It is often compared to the law of gravity. As its practitioners unfold their particular slant on The Scriptures, using their own unique & particular method of biblical interpretation, some believers will be steadily drawn in, just as I once was. Their forensic teaching seems to make sense. However, as I have said before & will doubtless say again, just because an argument is logically sound does not necessarily mean that it’s theo-logically sound. It isn’t enough for a teaching to make sense. It has to be true. It has to be so (Acts 17:11).

The Charismatic approach to the subject of faith is often blatantly flawed at best & fundamentally heretical at worst. In order to construct their teaching, word of faith apologists have to de-construct something first. Any attempt to oppose or expose their doctrine is decried as head knowledge or a religious spirit. If you ever sit & watch word of faith proponents in action, or listen to them, they follow the same initial pattern. After you’re given their chosen text, you’re then given their chosen context. This will usually take the form of an anecdote, a personal word-from-The-Lord received while they were praying, or perhaps a wayward misappropriation of Hebrew or Greek, as it suits them. Their experience sets you up. Their revelation wows you. Their knowledge bowls you over. The listener is then left to make their own logical assumptions & conclude that the particular verse or verses of Scripture in question mean whatever their teacher says it or they mean, based on their interaction with it. Finally, once this is established, you’re led through whatever verses seem to support the case presented, as co-text & the rest, as they say, is history.

While learning the fundamentals of the word of faith message, the stated passage from Hebrews chapter eleven will more often than not be primary among several proof texts, because of the first three words given to us in verse one; Now Faith Is. So, there you are on the edge of your seat, about to hear something that you’ve never heard before. You will not be disappointed. Beyond a carefully crafted & exciting title, there will be the eagerly anticipated ‘how to’, ‘steps to’, ‘keys to’ & ‘secrets to’. This is nothing more or less than New Age Gnosticism., but we will come to this later. 

It would not be unreasonable to point out that fundamental Pentecostal traditions had failed its adherents miserably in these respects. We were encouraged to read The Bible, to believe The Bible & to obey & apply The Bible. However, we were never shown exactly how this was to be done or told how this was to be practically accomplished. There was plenty of dancing & singing & shouting & chandelier swinging, but none of these things equipped us to rightly divide The Scriptures or keep us safe from error. Therefore, the ill-informed & the ill-prepared were equally susceptible to the attractive propositions offered by word of faith mythology. Faith teaching filled the vacuum created by our ignorance. With little or nothing in the way of strong, biblical theology to compare it to or combat it with, many of us blindly followed the instructions given to us on the tin of charismatic goodies. Now. Faith. Is. 

What is faith? Or at least what do some say that faith is? This is where we must pay close attention theologically. If our word of faith brethren are correct concerning the importance of faith as they teach it, isn’t it equally important to know what faith is not? Follow carefully, because you’ll be taken quite quickly to whatever conclusion your word of faith guru wants you to reach, by whatever means necessary & so it begins. 1st Faith is the substance of things. 2nd Anything that has substance must be perceptible & therefore faith must be tangible. 3rd Faith gives substance, or tangibility, to things hoped for. 4th Faith takes the place of the thing hoped for, until such time as the said hoped for thing becomes a tangible reality. 5th Faith is our evidence that the things hoped for, which are unseen, to which our faith gives substance, are ours in the present, even though we do not see them. 6th God possesses & uses faith. He is [referred to as] a faith God. Are you following? Are you confused yet? Sip some tea. Have a biscuit. Catch your breath. There’s more to come. 

Remember that to the untrained ear all of this sounds deeply informative & revelatory. However, all of these conclusions are reached using logic & what have we said about that? Just because an argument is logically sound, does not necessarily mean that said argument is theo-logically sound. This is certainly true of these verses from Hebrews chapter eleven & in an effort to emboss the importance of faith onto the minds of their listeners, word of faith teachers may jump from verse one to verse six. Without faith it is impossible to please Him. Without this spiritual force or dynamic law, it is impossible to please God. Without their instruction, set out as they prescribe it, it is impossible to please God. Therefore faith must be the most important subject in The Bible. Right? Believe me, this has been said. Using their logical manipulation of Scripture you could conclude this quite easily. In the word of faith teacher’s playbook, salvation, healing, deliverance & prosperity are all appropriated by faith, as it is taught by them. They will declare that faith is a muscle that must be exercised & that action will cause it to grow & develop. 

It’s right here, at this particular juncture, that the individual should begin to ask themselves several important internal questions. If faith is a spiritual force, how does it work? If faith is a spiritual law, what governs it? If faith is spiritual principle, where does it come from? Depending upon the answers, the believer must decide to either embrace or abandon the word of faith message. As I said earlier, you’ll be taken very quickly through these primary steps because you’re about to make a series of massive dogmatic leaps, so you’ll need to build up some necessary momentum. Remember, we’re using their word of faith logic. 

Now, I have a question to ask. Before we try & delve into the depths of faith as defined by word of faith promoters, surely, we also need a definition of hope. If faith is the substance of things hoped for, we also need to know what hope is. Right? Hope, which is indirectly & somewhat unfairly denigrated as inferior, is all too often passed over in favor of faith, but this is typical. Even if we stick to the confines of the book of Hebrews, we cannot help but consider the perspective we may have inadvertently but erroneously taken. Faith is the substance of things hoped for, so we have to establish what the things hoped for actually are. Let’s just stick with the instances in this Epistle, all of which lead up to our given proof text. 

5 Moses was faithful as a servant in all God’s household, as a testimony to what would be said in the future. 6 But Christ was faithful as a Son over his household. And we are that household if we hold on to our confidence and the hope in which we boast. (Hebrews 3:5-6). What are the things hoped for here? 

10 For God is not unjust; he will not forget your work and the love you demonstrated for his name by serving the saints—and by continuing to serve them. 11 Now we desire each of you to demonstrate the same diligence for the full assurance of your hope until the end, (Hebrews 6:10-11). What are the things hoped for here? 

17 Because God wanted to show his unchangeable purpose even more clearly to the heirs of the promise, he guaranteed it with an oath, 18 so that through two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to seize the hope set before us. 19 We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain. 20 Jesus has entered there on our behalf as a forerunner, because he has become a high priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek. (Hebrews 6:17-20). What are the things hoped for here? 

19 (for the law perfected nothing), but a better hope is introduced, through which we draw near to God. (Hebrews 7:19). What are the things hoped for here? 

It follows then that in the word of faith universe, hope has to precede faith, otherwise faith has nothing to give substance to. Right? Using the same logic, it would also have to follow that the things unseen have to exist somewhere or the other in order for faith to be their evidence. Is faith a spiritual force or a divine law, akin to the law of Gravity as defined by the word of faith system of belief? We’ve been told that it is. However, gravity is ever present in all circumstances & works regardless of anyone’s hope, belief or disbelief in its existence or operation. We’re not dealt a measure of Gravity. Gravity doesn’t come by hearing, neither can we increase it or have little Gravity. Gravity does not give substance to things or take the place of things as our evidence until said things arrive from the spirit world. Gravity doesn’t have to be exercised. The faith we’re being taught about is actually nothing like Gravity at all, but in order to give credence & bulk to the word of faith message, it’s often stated by way of comparison, that the force of faith works just like the force of Gravity, which is a substantial & formidable power in the natural world. The reason for this comparison is obvious; make faith appear to be a considerable & formidable spiritual force. 

What were the elders hoping for? What was Abel hoping for? What was Enoch hoping for? What was God, the creator hoping for? These objections & others like it easily poke holes in word of faith rhetoric, so why aren’t more people asking the relevant questions. Their logic doesn’t stand up to careful scrutiny, neither does it hold water when pitted against simple objective intellectual honesty. Sit back for a second & allow me to give you some information that you can verify for yourself, in your own time. The comparison made between the law or force of faith & Gravity isn’t found in Scripture, but it is found in metaphysics. 

‘Metaphysics has two main strands: that which holds that what exists lies beyond experience (as argued by Plato), and that which holds that objects of experience constitute the only reality (as argued by Kant, the logical positivists, and Hume). Metaphysics has also concerned itself with a discussion of whether what exists is made of one substance or many, and whether what exists is inevitable or driven by chance’. It continues, ‘the title came to denote the branch of study treated in the books, later interpreted as meaning ‘the science of things transcending what is physical or natural’. The Oxford Online Dictionary 

Metaphysics deals with that which is based on abstract reasoning & things transcending physical matter or the laws of nature. 

“Hold on a minute.” I hear you say, “What we encounter as believers does indeed lie beyond experience, beyond the physical senses. God is the source & object of our experience therefore He constitutes our reality. faith is the substance of all that exists. Our faith does transcend what is physical or natural. Therefore, the faith message is not metaphysical at all.”. “Furthermore”, I hear you object, “The Bible is replete with miraculous instances that defy both science & nature?” Drink some tea & have a biscuit. How can the faith message be considered metaphysical, when Scripture so clearly demonstrates it? The answer is a simple one. The Scriptures are being used to teach these principles, having been twisted out of all reasonable context. This means that the faith message itself is metaphysical, not The Bible. Not Christianity. What is being taught as faith is simply metaphysics, yet the real faith is far removed from such things. Instances in Scripture that record miraculous events, in both Testaments, are a demonstration of the awesome power of a sovereign God. When we lower The Almighty’s actions to a set of principles that we can learn to manipulate & emulate, we are in serious error. 

As we have seen, faith is not akin to Gravity in any way, shape or form. It is not a faith force. There is no faith law. The faith message clearly resembles metaphysics because that’s exactly what it is. Finally, you may say, “You cannot use a dictionary definition to accurately describe Bible Doctrine.” & I agree with you wholeheartedly. You can however use a dictionary definition to accurately describe metaphysics. Modern word of faith teaching is not a bonafide Bible Doctrine. It is simple metaphysics 1-0-1. I’m sticking my tongue out, with my thumb to my nose while wiggling my fingers. 

I’m not a scientist, but the last time I checked, Gravity had a one-hundred-percent success rate here on Earth. Anything comprised of mass is subject to it & affected by it. What goes up, must come down et cetera. Not so with faith teaching however. I couldn’t begin to try & calculate the failure rate among those who lay claim to the word of faith system of belief. For every individual who shouts ‘it works’, there are hundreds, thousands & perhaps even millions for whom it has not worked at all. Whose fault is that? The devil’s? The Lord’s? No, you’ll be told that it’s your fault. you haven’t worked it correctly. You give your money, but no blessing comes back to supply your need. your fault! You tithe faithfully, but you’re passed over for a promotion & pay rise. your fault! You name your seed, you confess God’s Word & you take authority in The Name of Jesus, yet no healing comes for you or for anyone else. You guessed it; it’s your fault! Yet, if the law of faith works just like the law of Gravity, there should be no failure rate whatsoever. It ought to work automatically. So why doesn’t it? Simply because faith is not a law or a force. Consequently, it does not work in the same way & there are no refunds. In other cases, I have known individuals personally, who claimed their promises from God, made their positive confession & ‘acted in faith’, only to lose their possessions, their homes & in two cases their lives. 

A minister sits at his desk & tells a family that it was their fault they had lost their home. A minister tells a mother & father it was their fault their child was not healed & had consequently died. A minister tells newlyweds that it was their fault they’d lost their possessions, which they’d started making payments on, by faith. Who’s really to blame here? If the premise of faith teaching is false, which I contend it is, then its conclusion will be false also. Remember, this particular line of reasoning is bad enough, but where it leads is far worse. In order for us to arrive at a proper biblical conclusion, we first have to know what the things hoped for are. Not a dictionary description; a bible one. This has to be done with faith also. As we move through this volume, we will see this quite clearly from The Scriptures. It’s one thing to conclude that faith is one of the forces that comes out of the spirit of the man or woman who is born-again. It’s altogether something else to then describe Almighty God in metaphysical terms. Doing this denigrates The Lord & is the first step for many in their erroneous faith journey. 

It has been said, ‘The Bible is so simple that one would have to hire someone in order to help one misunderstand it’. Yet those who make this declaration, demonstrate unrelentingly, a stark ignorance of Scripture, the God Who inspired it & The Christ it reveals. Their faith message is a caricature of the real faith; the faith that is truly in God. What then are we to ask of our brethren who present these beliefs as the truth & how are we to answer the questions these issues raise? We have to begin with Scripture. We have to stick with Scripture. We have to draw our conclusions from Scripture. If we revisit the text & treat it with the respect it deserves & commands, I cannot see how any of the conclusions reached by word of faith proponents are biblically tenable, unless the teachers of these things admit that they are handling The Word of God deceitfully (2nd Corinthians 4:1-6). 

If what we are being told about faith is a truly biblical representation of God, Christ & His Word, we are in deep trouble. The resemblance of word of faith teaching to New Thought Metaphysics, The Law of Attraction, New Age Gnosticism & Mind Science is disturbing to say the least. Yet these things are taught regardless of their dangerous proximity to damnable heresy. Let few of you be teachers. You will incur a more severe judgement. The God of Abraham, Isaac & Jacob has revealed whatever He has chosen to reveal of Himself, in Scripture. This is done from Genesis to Malachi, which we call The Old Covenant. With the coming of The Lord Jesus Christ & the initiation of The New Covenant we have a further revelation of Him. This is enough, or at least it ought to be. 

The canon of Scripture that we now have was given first to The Jews, not The Gentiles & yet The Gentiles have taken it upon themselves to read, study & interpret God’s Word as a western book, ignoring its Hebraic context & system of construal. Well, that’s hellenisation for you. When we look at the way in which Jesus handled Scripture, the way in which Paul & The Apostles taught God’s Word & the manner in which The Bible engages itself in a specific form, the ignorance, biblical illiteracy & unfamiliarity of The Gentile Church with Holy Writ is embarrassingly obvious. As we move through this volume, we will see that this fact is more than apparent. This is dangerous. The word of faith movement is like a person on thin ice who has little or no ability to skate properly. 

So, we have seen some of what the promoters of word of faith lore say faith is. But just how do we set about obtaining it? Conveniently, we are given the answer to our question by our charismatic brethren, as we will see. This is what they say faith is, but their faith is the substance of things hyped for, the edifice of things obscene. Now, go & enjoy the rest of your pot of tea!

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

Originally posted: January 31st, 2025.

You can follow David on his blog: The Discernment Quarterly

All Scriptures taken from the CSB unless otherwise noted.