Why Faith Fails
Pastor Jerry Wilhite,
author
In this study we will find out why faith fails and why there are people who can not operate in, live in, walk in, or be a part of the Spirit.
We must understand how much love (God's love, not man's love) is a part of everything. It is due to His love that we are saved.
John 3
15. That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life.
16. For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
17. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.
18. He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.
God loved us so much that He gave His only begotten Son to die for us. What greater sacrifice is there than when one pays a price he does not owe and takes it upon Himself all the way unto death and beyond? Jesus forsook all and endured more to save us than we could ever imagine let alone do.
Ephesians 2
8. For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
9. Not of works, lest any man should boast.
We are saved through faith, by grace, not anything of our own. So, without faith we can not even be saved. Anyone who teaches anything else is a false teacher, one who tries to mislead everyone they can. One false teaching would be that we could save ourselves in any way on our own, by anything of the physical realm.
Matthew 7
21. Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.
22. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?
23. And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.
Many who will appear to be of God, prophesy in the name of the Lord, cast out demons, and do all kinds of wonderful works, will not actually be of God, but of the world.
The truth is that we are saved by love and everything of God is love. Without love we are not saved; without love our faith fails us.
John 14
6. Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.
Understand there are already many false doctrines and teachings in works today. I have run survey after survey for nearly a decade on the net and out of these surveys I have discovered that as many as 50% do not believe that the only way to God is through Jesus. They are not Muslims, Jews, etc; all claim to be of Christ.
1 John 4
1. Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.
2. Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God:
3. And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world.
In regards to the verses above, about the only way to God being through Jesus, almost 50% do not believe that Jesus came in the flesh even though we know, based on I John 4:1-3, all who do not believe that are of the antichrist.
There was another group of 50% or more who did not believe that to be forgiven you must first forgive.
Matthew 6
14. For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you:
15. But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.
People believe incorrectly for one of two reasons: (1) They are misled and do not read for them selves to know the truth. (2) They are lazy and sought out others who did not want to have to do anything and/or could not forgive others.
Romans 10
17. So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
Yes, we are to hear from God not man. It is only through the Spirit that we can gain depth and full understanding of the word and not just interpretation of it.
John 14
26. But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.
Not are we only to hear from God and be taught His ways, but we are to be taught all things by Him.
Matthew 22
36. Master, which is the great commandment in the law?
37. Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.
38. This is the first and great commandment.
39. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
40. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.
According to verse 40 above, if we break either of the two laws of love, then we break them all and everything taught or prophesied was to no avail.
Matthew 5
43. Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy.
44. But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;
45. That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.
46. For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same?
47. And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others? do not even the publicans so?
48. Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.
Can you see the lack of judging and the forgiveness in the verses above?
So who is my neighbor?
Luke 10
30. And Jesus answering said, A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, which stripped him of his raiment, and wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead.
31. And by chance there came down a certain priest that way: and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side.
32. And likewise a Levite, when he was at the place, came and looked on him, and passed by on the other side.
33. But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was: and when he saw him, he had compassion on him,
34. And went to him, and bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine, and set him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn, and took care of him.
35. And on the morrow when he departed, he took out two pence, and gave them to the host, and said unto him, Take care of him; and whatsoever thou spendest more, when I come again, I will repay thee.
36. Which now of these three, thinkest thou, was neighbour unto him that fell among the thieves?
37. And he said, He that shewed mercy on him. Then said Jesus unto him, Go, and do thou likewise.
We are to love God with all our heart, all our soul, and our entire mind. We are to love our neighbor as ourselves. Our neighbor is everyone, not just the guy next door, but next door and around the world.
Before you read on, understand the word charity is not referring to giving only, but it is God's love - the love that is giving, and giving, and giving, and more.
1 Corinthians 13
1. Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal.
How many of us have fallen into this group and may still do so? We praise with our lips and make the sounds, but it does not come from our heart (inner spirit being). It comes from our minds alone.
1 Corinthians 13
2. And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing.
Here we are again; if we have all this what does it mean if we do not have God's love in us? Notice he said, "have all faith" all being every form of faith.
1 Corinthians 13
3. And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing.
We can do the works; in Matthew 7 Jesus discussed how we would be known by our fruit, not fruit of our works or the flesh, but fruit of the spirit. Yes, faith without works is dead. Faith, true faith, will produce works that are based in the Fruit of the Spirit, starting with love.
1 Corinthians 13
4. Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up,
5. Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil;
6. Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth;
Did you know the only way to worship God is in spirit and truth (John 4:24) and that the spirit is the spirit of truth (John 15:26)?
1 Corinthians 13
7. Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.
8. Charity never faileth: but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away.
Charity (love) never fails. If you have God's love it will never fail you and then your faith will never fail because faith is based on love.
1 Corinthians 13
9. For we know in part, and we prophesy in part.
10. But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away.
11. When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things.
A child is naturally selfish in his/her ways (give me, it's mine, etc) so instead of child replace it with selfish.
12. For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.
13. And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity.
Which is greater hope, faith? No, Love is greater because it is from Love that faith and hope come. Due to His love for us we are saved. In His love we find hope; not hope as the world knows it like a wish, but as the Bible states it - expectancy.
Faith, which means believing without any doubt, can only work when one has the love of God; otherwise they have the faith of the world and that faith often fails.
1 Corinthians 11
23. For I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you, That the Lord Jesus the same night in which he was betrayed took bread:
24. And when he had given thanks, he brake it, and said, Take, eat: this is my body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me.
25. After the same manner also he took the cup, when he had supped, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood: this do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of me.
26. For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord's death till he come.
27. Wherefore whosoever shall eat this bread, and drink this cup of the Lord, unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord.
28. But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup.
29. For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord's body.
30. For this cause many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep.
31. For if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged.
32. But when we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord, that we should not be condemned with the world.
Matthew 7
1. Judge not, that ye be not judged.
2. For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again.
3. And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye?
4. Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye; and, behold, a beam is in thine own eye?
5. Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother's eye.
Jesus did not come to this world to judge (condemn means judge as well as condemn) us but to save us. Jesus told us to judge not.
John 3
17. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.
John 8
3. And the scribes and Pharisees brought unto him a woman taken in adultery; and when they had set her in the midst,
4. They say unto him, Master, this woman was taken in adultery, in the very act.
5. Now Moses in the law commanded us, that such should be stoned: but what sayest thou?
6. This they said, tempting him, that they might have to accuse him. But Jesus stooped down, and with his finger wrote on the ground, as though he heard them not.
7. So when they continued asking him, he lifted up himself, and said unto them, He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her.
8. And again he stooped down, and wrote on the ground.
9. And they which heard it, being convicted by their own conscience, went out one by one, beginning at the eldest, even unto the last: and Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst.
10. When Jesus had lifted up himself, and saw none but the woman, he said unto her, Woman, where are those thine accusers? hath no man condemned thee?
If Jesus did not and does not judge, then who are we to judge another? Did you know that it is not God or Jesus that will judge us, but we will judge ourselves?
Matthew 12
37. For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned.
Matthew 15
7. Ye hypocrites, well did Esaias prophesy of you, saying,
8. This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me.
9. But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.
10. And he called the multitude, and said unto them, Hear, and understand:
11. Not that which goeth into the mouth defileth a man; but that which cometh out of the mouth, this defileth a man.
12. Then came his disciples, and said unto him, Knowest thou that the Pharisees were offended, after they heard this saying?
13. But he answered and said, Every plant, which my heavenly Father hath not planted, shall be rooted up.
14. Let them alone: they be blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch.
15. Then answered Peter and said unto him, Declare unto us this parable.
16. And Jesus said, Are ye also yet without understanding?
17. Do not ye yet understand, that whatsoever entereth in at the mouth goeth into the belly, and is cast out into the draught?
18. But those things, which proceed out of the mouth, come forth from the heart; and they defile the man.
19. For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, and blasphemies:
20. These are the things that defile a man: but to eat with unwashen hands defileth not a man.
Judging is one of the two worst things we can do. Of course all sin is wrong and we should not sin. Sin will negate the Love of God in us, not that it is not able to overcome, but only when we ask for forgiveness does it overcome sin. Judging automatically gets us out of the love and into the world and into unforgiving.
Without forgiveness how do you think we can be saved? We can not be saved without forgiveness. Jesus died so we could be forgiven.
1 John 1
7. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.
8. If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
9. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
10. If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.
He is faithful and just to forgive our sins, but to be forgiven we have to be of Him, of the light not of the darkness. We can not say 1, 3, or even 6 days a week it is ok for us to do this or that and then on 1 day for an hour or so condemn it in others. We must walk after the light to be of the light, to have the light in us, to shine in all the darkness and remove it from us.
We start by admitting we are sinners and that we have fallen missed His mark for us in life. We then realize that we need Jesus and without Him we are lost. We then accept Him, repent of our ways, and we do our best 100% to avoid sinning again. We must not judge others and we forgive all.
2 Corinthians 10
5. Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;
One of the ways the enemy keeps us in judging and unforgiving is by our thoughts. They are not our own; they are either of Satan or God. We either accepts the thoughts that are forced on us as our own or we cast them down and seek the thoughts of God instead.
I John 4
15. Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him, and he in God.
16. And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him.
17. Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world.
18. There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love.
Fear is Satan's twisted faith. He uses it to keep us from Godly faith. As I showed above he does this through our thoughts. As long as we believe our thoughts are our own then we may accept thoughts that we would not otherwise. Once we accept them it leads to dwelling on them, then speaking, and finally acting upon them.
Ephesians 3
16. That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man;
17. That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love,
18. May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height;
19. And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God.
20. Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us,
Having the Holy Spirit and inner man working together in love brings forth faith and hope.
I Peter 4
8. And above all things have fervent charity among yourselves: for charity shall cover the multitude of sins.
Without love faith does not work and the spirit is not present.
Judging and unforgiving are not of love and they stop love which stops faith.
Jesus told those He healed, "Go and sin no more" or "Your faith has made you whole." In both cases they were healed by one action - their faith in His love for them. When we have faith in God (which can only come when we know Him) we also have His love and all the fruit of the spirit. This is the one true fruit we need and should desire not the fruit of the world but the fruit that can only come from the Spirit. Of all the fruit, the first and greatest is Love.
Of course sin of any kind shuts us down with God. Of all the sins, the two that are worse than the rest are judging and not forgiving. Search the New Testament for sin, judging, and forgiveness. You will find there are more references to judging and forgiveness than any other sin. This is because a person could be good and not sin in general (in any way that most think of sin) but judge or not forgive and they would be as separated from God and faith as one who commits a murder or rape.
Sin is anything which is not of God, anything we allow into us that keeps us from God. For the longest time people have been led to believe judging is ok or that it is even needed to judge those who are of sin and wrong. They condemn the homosexual, or the perverts, murders, etc, but Jesus said to forgive and do not judge.
Satan has had us under his thumb for long enough. It is time to take back what is ours and live, as we should in a full, prosperous life, in love not sin.
Ask yourself these questions before you read anything else, and seek the answers:
1. Is there a devil and is he Satan? Seek until you find the answer in yourself as well as the word - of course there is a devil and he is Satan - the word states it, so it is true.
2. If you were the devil and a liar wouldn't you lie about your existence and try to convince people that you do not exist?
3. What would the devil (who is a liar and deceives any and all he can) use in the word to lie to us about? Anything and everything that would help us learn the truth such as hearing from God; that would be a stop to the lies and reveal the truth; operating in faith and having faith because without faith we can not be saved; and that would mean we are his. Are you getting the idea? Seek all the ways he would keep us from the truth. Read John 15:26 - the spirit is the truth so to know the truth we have to know the spirit.
4. If thoughts only come from one of two places - forced on us by Satan or having been sought from God by us - how many of our thoughts are not based on a lie of some kind?
5. If you had a child and you loved the child would you not want the best for him/her, and would you not want them to listen to you and have a relationship with them? Of course you would so how much more would God with you? If you are a parent with a child this one is easier for you than those who are not.
6. There is nothing impossible for God. So we can hear Him and He hears us. Isn't it time to listen to Him?
The bottom line is faith fails because the love is not in us.
I John 4
15. Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him, and he in God.
16. And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him.
If the love is in us, and faith is of love, and love never fails, then faith never fails.