Faith gets a lot of publicity. Everyone, in Christian circles, is thinking and talking about faith. For many, it is a mystery. There is a vast difference between what one group says and means about faith, and another. These differences exist regardless of denomination affiliation.

The mystery centers around the very nature of faith itself. What exactly is faith? How does one get it? What power does faith have? Does it have any power? What are the degrees of faith? How much do I need?

One thing is for sure, everyone agrees you have to have it.

There is a difference in the way faith is defined and understood. A misunderstanding that could very well lead from a living faith to a well disguised substitute. The enemy is always promoting his very close look-a-likes, for the real things of God. The goal of Satan is always the same… to get our eyes off of Jesus, and what God has done for us, onto anything else. In this, he is extremely talented and very clever. In the non-Christian world his job is simple, he has employed the world system, to do just that. In the Christian world, he is extremely subtle. He uses ruses, feelings, and human logic, to do the job. An improper understanding of faith is one of his main tools to urge us to take our eyes away from God, and what he has graciously done in Christ.

Because faith is necessary, it is critical to properly understand the nature of true faith. We must know what it is, and what it is not. We must know what role it plays in our eternal destiny, as well as its role in our everyday lives.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Performing Faith   Faith: A Push-button to God?   Having Enough Faith   Asking in Faith or God’s Will?   Faith Does Not Earn a Reward   A Bear in the Woods   Faith a New Law?   How Much Faith Must I Have?   True Perception: Hoped for— not Seen Faith and Sight   Law and Grace   Mixing Law and Grace —Jesus Plus         Legalistic Religious Activity         Legalistic Spiritual Activity   The Desire for Evidence: Signs and Wonders

Saved by Grace Through Faith   The Phases of Grace   The Cross   The Resurrection   The Purpose of the Plan: New Life Faith and Emotion   Conditioned Responses   Faulty Perceptions   Cognitive-Emotive Dissonance Living by Faith   The First Dimension: Little Faith   The Second Dimension: Living Faith   The Third Dimension: Loving Faith   The Simplicity of Faith: The Thieves of Golgotha