Exceeding The Minimum Required Level For Having Faith
As I indicated here, per Christ in Mark 11:22-24, having faith is saying what you want and believing it will happen, or asking God for things, and believing that you will receive them. You can have faith that lies within several ranges of effort, that has a bearing on how God sees you. Please note the diagram below:
Maximum Satisfactory Faith Level / Great Righteousness
Minimum Satisfactory Faith Level
Minimum Unrighteousness Level
Maximum Unrighteousness Level / Great Wickedness
The maximum satisfactory level for having faith, marks the maximum, most effective faith you can have. At this level of having faith, you do a lot of ‘saying and believing’ or ‘asking and believing’ type praying, as effectively, and as long as possible (Ephesians 6:18). This can include several hours of praying (consistent with Mark 11:22-24) a day. Below this, you can have faith satisfactorily in decreasing amounts, down to the minimum satisfactory level for having faith. This means that you can have faith within these two limits, and God will be happy with you. When you go beneath the minimum satisfactory level for having faith however, you enter a danger zone where God becomes uncomfortable with the level of faith you have. The following scriptures describe what can happen if you are in this danger zone - specifically between the minimum satisfactory level for having faith, and the minimum unrighteousness level:
1 Corinthians 11
17 In the following directives I have no praise for you, for your meetings do more harm than good.
18 In the first place, I hear that when you come together as a church, there are divisions among you, and to some extent I believe it.
19 No doubt there have to be differences among you to show which of you have God's approval.
20 When you come together, it is not the Lord's Supper you eat,
21 for as you eat, each of you goes ahead without waiting for anybody else. One remains hungry, another gets drunk.
22 Don't you have homes to eat and drink in? Or do you despise the church of God and humiliate those who have nothing? What shall I say to you? Shall I praise you for this? Certainly not!
23 For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread,
24 and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, "This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me."
25 In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me."
26 For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes.
27 Therefore, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord.
28 A man ought to examine himself before he eats of the bread and drinks of the cup.
29 For anyone who eats and drinks without recognizing the body of the Lord eats and drinks judgment on himself.
30 That is why many among you are weak and sick, and a number of you have fallen asleep.
31 But if we judged ourselves, we would not come under judgment.
32 When we are judged by the Lord, we are being disciplined so that we will not be condemned with the world.
33 So then, my brothers, when you come together to eat, wait for each other.
34 If anyone is hungry, he should eat at home, so that when you meet together it may not result in judgment. And when I come I will give further directions.
1 Corinthians 3
10 By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as an expert builder, and someone else is building on it. But each one should be careful how he builds.
11 For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ.
12 If any man builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw,
13 his work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each man's work.
14 If what he has built survives, he will receive his reward.
15 If it is burned up, he will suffer loss; he himself will be saved, but only as one escaping through the flames.
Revelation 2
1"To the angel of the church in Ephesus write: These are the words of him who holds the seven stars in his right hand and walks among the seven golden lampstands:
2 I know your deeds, your hard work and your perseverance. I know that you cannot tolerate wicked men, that you have tested those who claim to be apostles but are not, and have found them false.
3 You have persevered and have endured hardships for my name, and have not grown weary.
4 Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken your first love.
5 Remember the height from which you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place.
6 But you have this in your favor: You hate the practices of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate. 7 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes, I will give the right to eat from the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.
In the first scripture, the Corinthians' behavior bore evidence that their faith was weakening (1 Corinthians 11:18, 20-22). This means that they were not having faith at the level they should have been. The consequence of this was that they were being judged by God through the receipt of sicknesses and even death from Him (1 Corinthians 11:29-30). Paul went on to say that despite God's judgments, the Corinthians would ultimately be saved (1 Corinthians 11:31-32).
Paul wrote something similar in 1 Corinthians 3:10-15. Paul effectively noted that if anyone starts having faith at a level acceptable to God, but that person becomes distracted with pursuits of the world, and does not keep up his level of faith satisfactorily, then he will not receive any rewards, but he will be saved.
In Revelation 2:1-7, Christ noted some behavior in the Church that were acceptable to Him. This indicates that the Church had some level of faith. But Christ also expressed anger with them, indicating that their level of faith was overall unsatisfactory, and that He would punish them if they did not raise their level back up. (Note: Christ would have punished them by taking away their eternal reward, because there was the possibility if they did not take action, their faith could have slipped below the minimum unrighteousness level - which would have made them apostate.)
If a person's faith decreases so that it lies below the minimum unrighteousness level, that person's faith becomes too weak to save him, and God then regards that person as forsaking his faith. This is a very bad state for someone to be in, because God becomes most angry at the person who once had faith, then turns his back on it.
Between the minimum and maximum unrighteousness levels, are people who don't have faith, and are increasingly unrighteous. These people unforturnately will not be saved.
As the above indicates, it is very important to ensure that your level of faith lies between the maximum and minimum satisfactory levels, to be assured you have a sound relationship with God. As a practical matter, you can tell that this is the case, by looking at your fundamental behavior, to see if it improves over time. Also it is best to try and have faith as much as possible, as the the primary reason we are here on earth is to see who will have faith, and who will have it the most.
(Please use this link to see how you can have faith and gain results. Please use this link for practical steps on how you can have faith.)
Maximum Satisfactory Faith Level / Great RighteousnessMinimum Satisfactory Faith Level
Minimum Unrighteousness Level
Maximum Unrighteousness Level / Great Wickedness
The maximum satisfactory level for having faith, marks the maximum, most effective faith you can have. At this level of having faith, you do a lot of ‘saying and believing’ or ‘asking and believing’ type praying, as effectively, and as long as possible (Ephesians 6:18). This can include several hours of praying (consistent with Mark 11:22-24) a day. Below this, you can have faith satisfactorily in decreasing amounts, down to the minimum satisfactory level for having faith. This means that you can have faith within these two limits, and God will be happy with you. When you go beneath the minimum satisfactory level for having faith however, you enter a danger zone where God becomes uncomfortable with the level of faith you have. The following scriptures describe what can happen if you are in this danger zone - specifically between the minimum satisfactory level for having faith, and the minimum unrighteousness level:
1 Corinthians 11
17 In the following directives I have no praise for you, for your meetings do more harm than good.
18 In the first place, I hear that when you come together as a church, there are divisions among you, and to some extent I believe it.
19 No doubt there have to be differences among you to show which of you have God's approval.
20 When you come together, it is not the Lord's Supper you eat,
21 for as you eat, each of you goes ahead without waiting for anybody else. One remains hungry, another gets drunk.
22 Don't you have homes to eat and drink in? Or do you despise the church of God and humiliate those who have nothing? What shall I say to you? Shall I praise you for this? Certainly not!
23 For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread,
24 and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, "This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me."
25 In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me."
26 For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes.
27 Therefore, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord.
28 A man ought to examine himself before he eats of the bread and drinks of the cup.
29 For anyone who eats and drinks without recognizing the body of the Lord eats and drinks judgment on himself.
30 That is why many among you are weak and sick, and a number of you have fallen asleep.
31 But if we judged ourselves, we would not come under judgment.
32 When we are judged by the Lord, we are being disciplined so that we will not be condemned with the world.
33 So then, my brothers, when you come together to eat, wait for each other.
34 If anyone is hungry, he should eat at home, so that when you meet together it may not result in judgment. And when I come I will give further directions.
1 Corinthians 3
10 By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as an expert builder, and someone else is building on it. But each one should be careful how he builds.
11 For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ.
12 If any man builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw,
13 his work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each man's work.
14 If what he has built survives, he will receive his reward.
15 If it is burned up, he will suffer loss; he himself will be saved, but only as one escaping through the flames.
Revelation 2
1"To the angel of the church in Ephesus write: These are the words of him who holds the seven stars in his right hand and walks among the seven golden lampstands:
2 I know your deeds, your hard work and your perseverance. I know that you cannot tolerate wicked men, that you have tested those who claim to be apostles but are not, and have found them false.
3 You have persevered and have endured hardships for my name, and have not grown weary.
4 Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken your first love.
5 Remember the height from which you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place.
6 But you have this in your favor: You hate the practices of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate. 7 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes, I will give the right to eat from the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.
In the first scripture, the Corinthians' behavior bore evidence that their faith was weakening (1 Corinthians 11:18, 20-22). This means that they were not having faith at the level they should have been. The consequence of this was that they were being judged by God through the receipt of sicknesses and even death from Him (1 Corinthians 11:29-30). Paul went on to say that despite God's judgments, the Corinthians would ultimately be saved (1 Corinthians 11:31-32).
Paul wrote something similar in 1 Corinthians 3:10-15. Paul effectively noted that if anyone starts having faith at a level acceptable to God, but that person becomes distracted with pursuits of the world, and does not keep up his level of faith satisfactorily, then he will not receive any rewards, but he will be saved.
In Revelation 2:1-7, Christ noted some behavior in the Church that were acceptable to Him. This indicates that the Church had some level of faith. But Christ also expressed anger with them, indicating that their level of faith was overall unsatisfactory, and that He would punish them if they did not raise their level back up. (Note: Christ would have punished them by taking away their eternal reward, because there was the possibility if they did not take action, their faith could have slipped below the minimum unrighteousness level - which would have made them apostate.)
If a person's faith decreases so that it lies below the minimum unrighteousness level, that person's faith becomes too weak to save him, and God then regards that person as forsaking his faith. This is a very bad state for someone to be in, because God becomes most angry at the person who once had faith, then turns his back on it.
Between the minimum and maximum unrighteousness levels, are people who don't have faith, and are increasingly unrighteous. These people unforturnately will not be saved.
As the above indicates, it is very important to ensure that your level of faith lies between the maximum and minimum satisfactory levels, to be assured you have a sound relationship with God. As a practical matter, you can tell that this is the case, by looking at your fundamental behavior, to see if it improves over time. Also it is best to try and have faith as much as possible, as the the primary reason we are here on earth is to see who will have faith, and who will have it the most.
(Please use this link to see how you can have faith and gain results. Please use this link for practical steps on how you can have faith.)
posted by P. Douglas | 5:31 AM
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