P. Douglas

Having Faith is: ASKING God for things, AND BELIEVING you will receive them - Mark 11:22-24.

Sunday, January 16, 2005

Further Proof That Having Faith Correctly Is Given in Mark 11:22-24

In this blog entry, I showed how having faith (outlined by Christ in Mark 11:22-24) is: saying what you want, and believing it will happen, or asking God for what you want, and believing you will receive it. The following provides further proof, that having faith correctly is as indicated above.

The people in the scripture below were surprised to learn they were not saved. This was because they did not have faith in a way God considered valid.

Matthew 7

15 “Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves.
16 By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles?
17 Likewise every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit.
18 A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit.
19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.
20 Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them.
21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.
22 Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?’
23 Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’

First, the people in the scripture above, directly believed and trusted that God would save them. (Why else did they call Him, 'Lord, Lord' as if they knew Him?) This indicates that directly believing and trusting God or in His salvation does not save anyone. (Remember also, Jews who do not have real faith do the same thing. They do directly believe and trust God, and that he will save them; and they also pray to God like Christians.) Second, the scripture above indicates that only those who bear good fruit are truly righteous, and suggests that they are the ones God will recognize as His in the end. In light of this fact, note that the following scripture indicates that it is when someone has faith consistent with Christ's instruction in Mark 11:22-24 (i.e. ask God for things [while believing he will receive them]), that he bears good fruit, and as a result, becomes righteous (resulting in him being seen by God as His in the end):

(NKJV)

John 15

7 If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you.
8 By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples.

The Bible appears to talk about various ways someone can be saved. Please note the following scriptures:

Ephesians 2

8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith–and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God–
9 not by works, so that no one can boast.

Hebrews 11

6 And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.

Romans 3

28 For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from observing the law.

Romans 2

13 For it is not those who hear the law who are righteous in God's sight, but it is those who obey the law who will be declared righteous.

Matthew 2

541 “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.
42 For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink,
43 I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’
44 “They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’
45 “He will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’
46 “Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”

Mark 1

14 Now after John was put in prison, Jesus came to Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God,
15 and saying, "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel."

Romans 10

9 That if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.

John 3

16 “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
.
.
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36 Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God's wrath remains on him.”

Acts 2

21 And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.’

Acts 16

29 The jailer called for lights, rushed in and fell trembling before Paul and Silas.
30 He then brought them out and asked, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”
31 They replied, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved–you and your household.”

Mark 16

16 Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.

The question is, can we abide by any one of the scriptures above, and ignore the others? The problem is that all of the scriptures above suggest that if we don't do what each of them says, we will not be saved. E.g. Romans 2:13 indicates that only those who obey the law are righteous, and Matthew 25:46 indicates that only the righteous will be saved. Therefore these two scriptures indicate that we must obey the law to be saved. Similarly, Ephesians 2:8-9, Hebrews 11:6, and Romans 3:28 imply that if we don't have faith, we will not be saved. Also the rest of the scriptures imply that we must believe in Christ (John 3:16), and we must believe in the Gospel (Mark 1:14-15), and we must confess Christ and believe God raised Him from the dead (Romans 10:9), etc. in order to be saved. We therefore have no choice but do what all of these scriptures say we must do, in order to be saved! This means that if we try to directly believe in God, but do not obey His law, we will not be saved! This also means that if we obey God's law, but do not have faith, we will not be saved! (Remember, Hebrews 11:6 indicates it is impossible to please God without having faith.)

As it turns out, there is one single action we can do, that squares us away with the requirements stipulated by all of the scriptures above (and all other scriptures in the Bible). This action is having faith per Christ's instructions in Mark 11:22-24. When we have faith per Christ's instructions in Mark 11:22-24: we meet the requirements stipulated by Christ in Mark 11:22-24 on how we should have faith; we have faith in a manner consistent with Hebrews 11:1; we believe in the gospel; we confess and believe in Christ and that God raised Him from the dead; we become righteous (which means we follow God's commandments and the law - Romans 9:30); we bear fruit (John 15:7-8); we call unto God; etc.

So again, we come back to the fact that to have faith correctly, we must follow Christ's instruction on how to do so in Mark 11:22-24. Also we see that it is only when we do have faith correctly, that we meet the requirements of all scriptures, which indicate the path to salvation. 

(You may use this link to find out how you can have faith and gain results.)

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