Well when the Holy Spirit told me that “Faith doesn’t say I believe that I’m going to get something, faith says I HAVE IT NOW.”  I began to argue with the Holy Spirit.  You see, sometimes we think we know more than God, besides the bible teaches us to test the spirits to see that they be of God and the way you do that is to judge everything by the written Word of God.  If the Holy Spirit speaks to you it will always be in agreement with His written Word.  So I spoke back to the Holy Spirit and quoted Mark 11:23 “For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith.”  Now notice in this verse of scripture that it says when you speak to the mountain and command it to be cast into the sea that you are supposed to believe that it “shall come to pass”.  Now that is future tense, not present tense.  That’s what I told the Holy Spirit.  Then the Spirit of the Lord spoke back to me and said again; “Faith doesn’t say I believe that I’m going to get something, faith says I HAVE IT NOW!”

     Now when God tells you something more than once you had better listen, so I got out my reference materials and began to study that particular scripture which appeared to be in conflict with what the Holy Spirit was telling me about faith.

     When I was in Southwestern Assemblies of God bible college in Waxahachie, Texas they gave us a list of bible reference books that we needed to properly study the bible.  One of them was what’s called a Greek Interlinear.  It’s the New Testament in the literal Greek with the literal translation of each Greek word translated in English.  You see the New Testament was originally written in Greek.  That was the universal language of the day and most people of different countries understood Greek and therefore could read and understand it.

     So guess what I found out when I studied this scripture out in the original Greek?  That’s right.  The Holy Spirit was right after all.  You see in the original writings of this particular scripture it doesn’t say we should believe what we say “shall come to pass.”  It says we should believe that what we say “HAPPENS” when we say it.  Now that’s a big difference.

     I’ve found that it is very important to pay particular attention to what tense something is written in when studying the scriptures.  That is to say; is it in past tense?  Is it in present tense?  Is it in future tense?  You see in this particular scripture where Jesus is teaching His disciples about faith He tells them that if they speak to a situation and believe that what they say happens when they say it, then they will have whatever they say.  The next scripture is a confirmation to this when it says; “Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.”  Now notice that when you are speaking to a situation or desiring something in prayer that you have to believe that you receive it at that moment and then you will get it.  You have to believe that you have it before you get it.  Now in the natural that seems silly but when you are dealing with spiritual powers like faith you operate differently than we do in the natural. “While we look not at the things that are seen, but the things that are not seen, for the things seen are temporary, but the things that are not seen are eternal.”  “For we walk by faith and not by sight.”

We believe something because God says it.  You see faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the Word of God.  So to truly be able to stand in faith and receive any or all of the promises that are contained in God’s grace we have to know what God’s Word says concerning our situation.  This is an area where many people miss it.  Many people are trying to receive something from God based on their wants, desires, or lusts and not on the promise of God. “You receive not because you ask not and then you ask and receive not because you asked amiss, that you may consume it upon your own lusts.”

     When we come to the throne of grace to obtain help in time of need we need to come boldly and with complete faith and assurance that when we pray, we have what we ask for.  Hebrews 4:16 says “Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.”  Now notice that the throne of grace is the place we go to receive what we need from God.  Everything we need is contained in God’s grace and has been freely given to us through all of His great and precious promises.

     Let’s look at the scripture that tells us that to receive God’s grace we must receive it by faith.  Eph. 2:8 says “For by grace are you saved through faith; and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God.”  Now there are a few things I’d like to look at in this scripture. First notice that salvation is contained in God’s grace.  Now the Greek word translated saved in this scripture is the Greek word SOZO and it means to deliver, to protect, to heal, to preserve, and to make whole.  So you see when God is telling us in this scripture that by grace you are saved, He is saying that contained in His grace is deliverance.  What did Jesus deliver us from? He delivered us from sin, sickness, and poverty.  These were all taken care of for us at Calvary.  “Who his own self bare our sins in His own body on the tree; that we being dead to sin should live unto righteousness; by whose stripes you were healed.”  Now notice the past tense used in this portion of scripture.  Jesus bare our sins.  That’s past tense.  That means Jesus already did it.  Jesus has already paid the price for the sins of the whole world.  Every person that has ever lived, who ever does live, and every person who ever will live in the world has already had the price paid for their sins.  So then why isn’t everyone delivered from sin?  Because redemption from sin is contained in God’s grace and the only way anyone can receive it, is to receive it by faith.  “Now faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the Word of God.”   So you see a person has to learn from God’s word that Jesus bare their sins for them before they are able to believe and receive that redemption from sin.  People have the choice. They can either believe God and receive what God has already freely given them by his grace or they can reject God’s word and believe the lie of the Devil and go without receiving the promise of God.

     Now when Jesus paid the price for our sins He totally and completely forgave us of our sins and made us white as snow.  Micah 7:19 says “God will subdue our iniquities; and will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea.”  Isaiah 23:45 says “I, even I, am he that blotteth out thy transgressions for mine own sake, and will not remember thy sins.”  When we receive salvation God forgives our sins and not only does He forgive us of our sins but he doesn’t even remember we ever were a sinner.  When God looks at you and me he sees the righteousness of Jesus Himself.  Praise the Lord.  Now since God has blotted out our sins we need to forgive ourselves and believe that we are the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus.  Eph. 5:1 says “Be ye therefore imitators of God as dear children.”  That means that in the same way little children imitate their daddy we are supposed to imitate God.  So if God remembers our sins no more then we are supposed to forgive ourselves and put it in the past and realize that we are no longer the person that we used to be but that we are now new creations in Christ Jesus.  Old things in our sinful nature are passed away, behold all things are become new.  Praise God!

     Now not only is forgiveness from sin contained in salvation and God’s grace but also preservation from sin.  That is to say not only has God forgiven our sins but He has totally and completely delivered us from the sin nature.  Sin no longer has power over us.  God has restored us and made us whole again.  We’ve been redeemed, set free, delivered.  We’ve been made overcomers.  We’ve been made more than conquers through Jesus.  The law of the spirit of life has made us free from the law of sin and death.  Our sin nature has been buried in the grave with Jesus and we have been raised up together with Him in to His righteousness.  Now this seems like a hard concept for many people to grasp but we don’t have to keep living in sin.  Jesus has delivered us from sin.  We don’t have to sin every day.  That is a lie of the Devil.  We don’t have to sin every week.  We don’t have to sin every month.  We don’t have to sin every year.  I’m free at last, free at last, thank God almighty, I’m free at last!  1 Peter 2:24 says “Who his own self bare our sins in His own body on the tree; that we being dead to sin should live unto righteousness; by whose stripes you were healed.”  You see since we are dead to sin, we can live a righteous and holy life.  Thank you Jesus.  Thank you Lord.

     Now I know what you are going to say.  You are saying to yourself, that’s a high standard and what happens if I do sin?  Well this is the confidence that we have in Him.  If we confess our sins He is faithful and just to forgive us of our sins and to cleanse us of all unrighteousness.  So if and when you do sin and you catch yourself you need to immediately, or as soon as possible, confess that sin and turn away from it.  That way you stay in good standing with God and yourself.  Notice that he’s faithful and just to not only forgive you of your sin but to totally and completely cleanse you of ALL unrighteousness.  God makes you holy.  God makes us pure.  God makes us righteous.  God does the work.  We just need to believe and receive all these good things He has provided for us by his grace.

by Mike Mings