Faith Comes from God and from God Alone

Many people believe that if they just use their free will to firmly choose to believe in something that the thing that they are firmly believing in will happen, and thus for the masses faith is the free choice that is made and expressed to believe a certain way. Although an anti-realist would disagree with me, I find that choosing to believe something and then willfully rejecting any possibility of being wrong does not change reality. In other words faithfully believing in something false will never make what is false into something that is true.

The disciples identified that God can increase faith as is noted as follows, "The apostles said to the Lord, 'Increase our faith!'" Luke 17:5 (NIV) Not only that but also Jesus identified that faith as small as a mustard seed can move a mountain (Matthew 17:20). Most importantly however we learn that mountains do not move by people choosing to express their faith because faith comes from Christ in whatever way that he chooses to write faith into our lives as noted as follows, "Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God." Hebrews 12:2 (NIV)

In other words for Christ, who does not move mountains on a whim, to sit down and be enthroned at the right hand of the Father, he would never write or produce faith in people that would contradict his purpose. The purpose of Christ was to endure the cross, scorning its shame and to raise from the dead to be at the right hand of the Father. Overall, since Christ is God and has endured the cross, having much faith, Christ would not choose to write faith into people that would dominate the world through wild expression such as moving mountains, but instead Christ would write faith into people that would express their faith fruitfully just like he did such as in the case of the crucifixion of the martyrs.

If the purpose of faith, in the case of Christ, was to be crucified and raise from the dead in order to make intercession for us, then the purpose of faith in our lives should be to make intercession as the body of Christ and as a kingdom of priests that are citizens of the New Jerusalem. Faith thus not only produces a belief in Christ, but it also produces the works of Christ through us as Christ writes his faith into us while he also perfects that faith. Faith thus is completely produced by Christ as he builds his early body in terms of the church through developing his many members through God working through people in order to produce and perfect faith.

Just as blood pumps through the entire body as a result of the heart beating thus also Christ 'pumps' faith into his church as his earthly body is experienced through the many members of the church collectively comprising his body. Thus just as the high priest was dressed with twelve stones over his heart when he offered the yearly blood sacrifice of atonement, so too all those in Christ are in joyful assembly (Hebrews 12:22), through the blood of Christ as the sacrificial lamb, in the New Jerusalem built upon its twelve foundations (Revelation 21:14). What I am saying is that we that have received faith from God as a talent that we invest into others are seated in Christ's heart in the New Jerusalem (this is being in Christ), and what the servant that invested his talent into the ground thought that he had (Matthew 25:29) was taken from him because he never really had it to begin with (otherwise the faith would have produced works).

Just as the curtain was torn in the temple (Matthew 27:51), so too at the same time the body of Christ was torn (Hebrews 10:20). The fact that when Jesus was pierced with a spear it resulted in the flow of both blood and water (John 19:34) tells us that his heart had ruptured causing the water around his heart to flow out of his body along with the blood. The offertory of Christ as high priest to offer his own blood in the 'heavenly temple' to fulfill the duties of a high priest not only ruptured his heart and tore the curtain, but it also made a passage way for us to be in his heart through his blood and through the submersion in the water of repentance.

Just as the ancient Israelites had been submersed under the sea to follow Moses in order to be brought to life when risen to walk into the kingdom of God that was being prepared for them despite the death of the Egyptians in the sea, so too through the water of baptism God will raise some to life to make their pilgrimage for the New Jerusalem down the narrow path while others will choose the wide road and never arrive at the destination despite what they would wish for (just like the Egyptians in the sea). If both the Israelites and the Egyptians had been given the talent of faith, then who would be the party that invested that faith into building the kingdom of God in the example of going under the sea? The Egyptians went under the sea in order to destroy the Israelites, and the Israelites went under the sea in order to continue their lives and establish the kingdom that was being prepared for them (even if they did not fully know it at the time).

Just as Jesus transformed the water into wine at the wedding, so too by faith he turns the water of our washing of baptism into the fruit of the vine that we drink for communion as we find it to be his blood. The fact that the water basins that Jesus used had been used for washing tells us that the waters of our washing that we are submersed (baptized) into Jesus can turn into the fruit of the vine, and if we stay in Christ the true vine, then he will produce much fruit (John 15:5). Thus by faith our wedding robes are washed in the blood of the lamb to be spotless in order that we may attend the wedding of the lamb (Christ) and the New Jerusalem (the church), and through this union with God we permanently dwell in the heart of Christ (see Revelation 21:2, 19:7, 7:15 and 22:14).

The reason thus why the man that was not dressed in wedding robes was thrown out of the wedding by the Father's command is because his robes had not been washed in the blood of the lamb (Matthew 22:11-13). The wedding according to scripture was for the Son (Matthew 22:2), and it was the work of the Holy Ghost to invite people to the wedding banquet in order to fill the banquet hall (Matthew 22:3-10). The point is that faith according to scripture is administered through a process that all three persons of God are involved in, and the result of faith is that we enter into union with God for all eternity.