How to Measure Your Faith

I want to share a study that all our members are famliar with, but who may not realize it in concrete terms. The apostle Paul said that the Holy Spirit testifies to our spirit that we are children of God. Did you know that this same testimony has to do with our continual walk of faith?

For this reason there is a way to measure whether we are in faith with the Lord. The testimony of the Holy Spirit is the testimony of peace. When the peace of God is ruling in our hearts, this means that we are living in the realm of faith. If we do not have peace in our hearts, this means that we are not under the covering of faith, that is, we are missing it somewhere. Let's talk about something that we all know a bit about:

This is Bible Study DU030 - How to Measure Your Faith.

Listen to these Scriptures:

"And He said to her, 'Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace and be healed of your affliction.'" (Mark 5:34 - Recorded also in Luke 7:50)

"And He said to the woman, 'Your faith has saved you; go in peace.'" (Luke 8:48)

"Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ." (Rom 5:1)

"Peace be to the brethren, and love with faith, from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ." (Eph 6:23)

The two words that interrelate in each of these Scriptures are the words 'faith' and 'peace.' We believers consciously know thse terms belong together. This is why we pray for guidance. If we don't have peace in our heart about a thing, we know to back off.

Here is where we need to understand something about governmental peace. Peter quoted from David, saying, "The one who desires life, to love God and see good days, must keep his tongue from evil and his lips from speaking guile. He must turn away from evil and do good;

"HE MUST SEEK PEACE AND PURSUE IT." (1 Peter 3:10,11 - Caps for emphasis only.)

Both David and Peter are speaking of a peace that comes from the Lord. The Amplified Bible gives the shades of meaning in Greek: "Let him search for peace (harmony; undisturbedness from fears, agitating passions, and moral conflicts) and seek it eagerly."

We are to seek the peace that comes from God Himself.

There is a reason that the peace of God and the faith walk go hand in hand. In the new covenant God's peace is a heavenly peace that is designed to let us know that we are in the perfect will of God. God's peace gives us perimiters for our faith journey. If we cross the borders or perimiters of peace, we know something is not right.

The apostle Paul adds to this in saying, "Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body; and be thankful." (Col 3:15)

Keep in mind that we are talking about a special peace, God's peace that comes from the throne is a clear witness that we are in God's will. This is why the apostle said that God's kingdom is not about what we eat or drink. It is about righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit.

And so, any child of God can find the measure of faith by finding the measure of peace.

The faith we are to live by is not our own human faith. Although our human faith is not to be disregarded. However, the faith we are to live by is administered to us by the Holy Spirit. This peace is the continual testimony of the Holy Spirit to our spirits that everything is alright. This is why we can speak of peace and faith as the power-twins of our Christian walk.

The faith that comes from God is a faith without mixture. It has no fear in it, no doubt, no confusion, no condemnation, or any other such thing. It comes to us in a pure spiritual atmosphere of heavenly peace. To seek to walk in this peace should be the continual aim of every believer.

Now -- Are there any conditions to be met in our Christian walk that determine how God's peace will work with our faith? There are two issues in particular.

First, Jesus said, "Do not let your heart be troubled; believe in God, believe also in Me." (John 14:1) Notice the cure for a troubled heart. We are not to let our heart become troubled. We do this by believing in Jesus Christ.

There is a second issue. Every child of God should understand this. If we are harboring 'wrongness' in our hearts, this must be brought to the Lord for forgiveness and cleansing.

By wrongness, I mean if we are harboring or expressing ill feelings towards others, if we are holding unforgiveness and resentments toward others, or if we are involved in letting our mouth run loose against others, then we cannot expect the peace of God to simply overlook these things on our part.

This is why the first thing we should always do in our prayers is to present our heart to the Lord for cleansing. These troublesome areas will be cleansed away and the peace of the Lord can replace them.

The Psalmist said, "So teach us to number our days, that we may present to You a heart of wisdom." (Ps 90:12)

And remember what Peter wrote: "The one who desires life, to love God and see good days, MUST keep his tongue from evil and his lips from speaking guile. He MUST turn away from evil and do good."

There are things we MUST do in order to walk in the peace of God.

The high side in all this is that God's children have the Holy Spirit in residence to guide them through whatever needs to be dealt with. This is the why the apostle instructed us not to grieve the Holy Spirit with bad behavior or bad attitudes.

Think about it.

If you are in faith you are also in peace. If you are not in peace, this means something needs to be corrected. In many cases it may simply be a belief readjustment.

Yet the fact remains -- Faith and peace cannot be separated. They will always be together. Great faith means great peace. Another way of saying this is that the faith we receive from the Lord will always be packaged in God's peace.

The answer? Don't leave home without it. : )

"Scripture taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE, Copyright 1960,1962,1963,1968,1971,1972,1973,1975,1977,1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission."

This study was written by Pastor Buddy Martin, a former United Pentecostal Church minister, who founded and pastors Christian Challenge International. The rest of this series of articles are found here. Writings are the copyright of Buddy Martin and reprinted on this site by permission.

Page added March 23, 2007

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