It Is Impossible To Have Faith Without The Motivation And Assistance Of The Holy Spirit

As I indicated here, a person's motivation to have faith correctly can only be pure. In other words, it is impossible for someone to be impurely motivated to have faith. I would like to examine this important fact from another angle. Please note below:

Romans 3

9 What shall we conclude then? Are we any better? Not at all! We have already made the charge that Jews and Gentiles alike are all under sin.
10 As it is written:
"There is no one righteous, not even one;
11 there is no one who understands,
no one who seeks God.
12 All have turned away,
they have together become worthless;
there is no one who does good,
not even one."

The scripture above shows the normal human condition. Absolutely no one seeks after God correctly. People may seek after God through various endeavors and religions (including Christianity and Judaism), but because they don't do it correctly, their efforts do no count. It stands to reason therefore that the motivation to have faith correctly, and to actually carry it out, is only possible through the action of the Holy Spirit as indicated in the following scripture:

2 Corinthians 4

13 It is written: "I believed; therefore I have spoken."With that same spirit of faith we also believe and therefore speak,
14 because we know that the one who raised the Lord Jesus from the dead will also raise us with Jesus and present us with you in his presence.

Therefore, without the motivation and action of the Holy Spirit, it is impossible for us to have faith correctly. Someone might respond by saying that we must couple the action of the Holy Spirit motivating us to have faith, with our own pure desire to do so. However Romans 3:12 indicates no such pure desire exists within us, for us to use. Therefore we are left only with the motivation and action of the Holy Spirit enabling us to have faith, and us achieving righteousness through it. That is why the following scripture says what it says below:

Romans 4

13 It was not through law that Abraham and his offspring received the promise that he would be heir of the world, but through the righteousness that comes by faith.

Therefore it is only by the action of the Holy Spirit inspiring and causing us to have faith, that we are able to achieve righteousness – not by any righteous thing we might try also to do.

Motivations Behind Having Faith

There are some who suggest that a person must have pure motivation behind having faith; and they mean by this, that a person must have faith consistent with the rules outlined in the law of Moses. As I indicated here, a person can in fact ask God for anything he wants (while believing that he will receive it), and this action is in and of itself righteous, and makes that person righteous.

It is important to realize that a person never brings righteousness to a relationship with God: a person only walks away with righteousness from a relationship with God. That is what Paul meant in the following scripture:

Philippians 3

9 And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith:

The above can more clearly be seen in the following:

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.

The scripture above indicates that salvation never allows someone to be able to boast about righteousness produced by himself. Therefore if someone advocates that someone else take a position that allows him to be able to boast to people about his own righteousness (such as, "Look! I asked God to do something out of a pure heart!"), then that is a dead giveaway that the instructor actually teaches righteousness through works, or the law - rather than righteousness by faith.

The above underscores the fact that a person can ask God for anything he wants, or else be guilty of practicing righteousness through works, by asking only for things that the law of Moses seemingly suggests he should. (Please note however that when someone asks God for something, he must believe that he will receive it  in order for his exercise of faith to be valid ( James 1:5-8.))

Now if a person can ask God for anything he wants while having faith correctly, and this action is only produced by the Holy Spirit (see here for more information), this means that a person's motivation behind having faith in the above manner can only be pure - since it is impossible for the Holy Spirit to impurely motivate someone to do anything, including having faith.

(Please realize that it is only when someone has faith incorrectly [i.e. not via the practice of asking God for things and believing he will receive them], that his motivation behind the act can be called into question, because the Holy Spirit does not inspire or produce that kind of behavior in anyone.)

You Can Ask God For Anything You Want When Having Faith

Christ indicated several times that a person can ask God for whatever he wants - not just for certain things:

Mark 11

24 Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.

John 11

22 But I know that even now God will give you whatever you ask."

Some suggest that Christ actually meant that a person can only come to God with righteous requests. What they mean by this is that a person can only ask God for things in line with the law of Moses. In other words, a person can only ask God for things outlined in the law of Moses, such as that God blesses his neighbors; but he really cannot just ask God for anything he wants, such as obtaining a new yacht.

Please note the scriptures below:

Romans 3

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

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.

Romans 3:28 indicates that the law of Moses does not come into the equation when having faith, and receiving justification from it. Therefore a person is not required to ask God for things consistent with things outlined in the law. This means that a person can in fact ask God for anything he wants - just like what Christ said. Further, Ephesians 2:8-9 indicates that a person is saved through faith and not by any work of righteousness, lest he becomes able to boast. Now if a person was obligated to ask God for things in line with the law of Moses (or some other set of rules of righteousness), he would be able to boast of making righteous requests under his own strength - rather than as a result of his faith (which shows up naturally in his actions). Therefore we see that it is misleading to say that a person is constrained in what he can ask God for, when he has faith.

It is important to realize that the act or practice of asking God for things, and believing that you will receive them (i.e. having faith - Mark 11:22-24) is it self a righteous act, since this can only be produced by the Holy Spirit.

2 Corinthians 4

13 It is written: "I believed; therefore I have spoken."With that same spirit of faith we also believe and therefore speak,
14 because we know that the one who raised the Lord Jesus from the dead will also raise us with Jesus and present us with you in his presence.

In other words, it is impossible for a person to ask God for anything he wants at all (while believing he will receive it), without the Holy Spirit producing this action in him. Therefore it is impossible for someone to have faith in an unrighteous manner - if he does so consistent with Christ's instructions on how it should be done.

Do not let anyone suggest to you that you must do anything under the law of Moses - including having faith. You can in fact ask God for anything at all that you want (while believing that you will receive it), and you should constantly do so, since this is what produces righteousness in you, and the more you do so, the more righteous you will become.

No Creature Can Create Another Substantially Better Than Itself

One of the reasons we know that the theory of evolution is incorrect, is that it suggests that creatures can ultimately create other creatures substantially greater than themselves. This principle however appears only in evolution and related theories: they are not seen in things around us. Therefore in as much as we don't see e.g. viruses creating plants, animals, or humans (but rather humans creating viruses), we shouldn't expect the claims made by the theory of evolution about microscopic organisms e.g. ultimately creating humans, to be possible.

Wickedness: Imperfection That Arises Due To Separation From God

Please note the following:

Mark 10

17 As Jesus started on his way, a man ran up to him and fell on his knees before him. "Good teacher," he asked, "what must I do to inherit eternal life?"
18 "Why do you call me good?" Jesus answered. "No one is good—except God alone.

The scripture above is very important, because it points out that wickedness is a phenomenon that arises in a being, when it is separated from God. (More specifically, the Father.) Therefore, wickedness / evil is a disease that afflicts those who are severed from the Father, or have no dependency on Him. (Someone is dependent on the Father, through the process of having fiath correctly). The above is why mankind and the material world are wicked: because by default, the beings that make up both do not have faith. The above is also why the natures of Lucifer and the angels who followed him out of the realm of the Father, became wicked: because by these beings declaring their independence from the Father, they became cut off from their source of goodness, and became wriddled with the wickedness disease.

The war that mankind fights with the material world and its rulers, is the process of detoxifying himself (and others around him) from the wickedness of the material world, in all its forms. This includes exhibiting good deeds, obtaining the mysteries of God and His creation, and trying to reach and even exceed the state Christ was in, when He was here on earth. (All of this can only be accomplished through the process of having faith correctly.) Therefore have faith correctly and accomplish your main purpose for being here, so that you will receive your reward from your heavenly Father, which includes creatorship, and kingship over the new creation.