FAITH and CONFESSION ! ! !

FAITH AND CONFESSION: With That in Mind, Let's go to (Hebrews 11:1). Faith is substance-- Hope is Goal setter. "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. Paul says, now faith is. . . When is faith ? Even though the word now is not used as a present tense word, let's use it that way to provoke your thinking. Let's think of the words on both sides of the word faith as being present tense words: now faith is. Faith that is the substance of things hoped for he is always now faith. The substance of things hoped for is always now. You can say it several different ways. If faith is not now, it's not faith. If it's not faith that is present tense, it's not the substance of things hoped for. Hope is always out there in the future. Many people miss it here. They confuse hope and faith. They say, "Well, I believe God is going to do this sometime." But God has done all He is ever going to do about your healing. Your deliverance. Your preservation. Your soundness. He has done all He will ever do about your finances. He has done all He will ever do about the devil until the end times. The promise of God is already spoken. God's will is His Word. His Word is His will, for our lives here in the earth. The New Testament is the last will and testament of Jesus. He has already said "yes" to it. It's not a matter of what He is going to do someday. It's a matter of us receiving what He has already done. God could have created the world anyway He wanted it. He could have created this earth and said it, "We are going to have a feel like world. When you get up in the morning, however you feel, that's just the way it will be." But He didn't do it that way. LAW OF FAITH: Faith is a law. It's a law of God. The apostle Paul talks about that in (Romans 3). "Where is boasting then ? It is excluded. By what law ? Of works ? Nay: but by the law of faith." (Romans 3:27). Paul was referring to receiving Jesus by faith and entering into the provisions by faith. He says you can't boast about it--- you can't boast about the fact that your sins are gone. Because it is something you have received by faith. "Where is boasting then ?" It is excluded. By what law ? Works ? No, but by the law of faith. The law of the Old Testament was and is a law of works. But now under the new Covenant, it's by the law of faith. So we could say that faith is the law of the new Covenant. Under the law, their works made them righteous. But under the new Covenant, righteousness is not by works but by faith. Righteousness now comes through the law of faith. Do we then make void the law through faith ? God forbid: yea, we establish the law. (Romans 3:31). What law is Paul establishing ? The law of faith. I believe this is the same low the apostle Paul refers to in (Romans 8). "For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be." (Romans 8:6-7). The carnal mind cannot operate in the law of God. I believe the law of God he is referring to is the law of faith. It is like God's law of gravity. It works. Whether or not you believe it, it still works. The law of gravity works all the time. God's law of faith works and it works all the time. The problem is that some people don't work it. The law of gravity is mandatory. This law of faith is optional. But God tells us how to operate it. It will work wherever it is applied properly. It will not work wherever we fail to work it God's way. FAITH IN THE HEART: Notice in (Romans 8:7), the carnal mind is enmity against God and not subject to the law of God; neither indeed can it be. The carnal mind cannot operate in God's law of faith. Faith works in the heart. We need to understand that faith is a spiritual force. It works in the heart of man. It doesn't work in the head. Mental ASSENT works in the head. Some mistake it for faith. But mental assent is not faith. Mental ASSENT working in the head says, "Yes, that's in the Bible." But they really don't believe it. If it's only in the head, you don't really believe it. Mental assent says, "yes That, it's true, because it's the Bible." But is it true in your life ? "Well, no, it really isn't true in me." Then it's not yet in your spirit. If you have the faith of God in you, it will produce the reality of that thing you hope for. But it has to be in the spirit which is the heart of man. And trust me whatever is in the hearts of men and women will come out of the mouth ! ! !