Debunking: Faith Can Fix Anything

Several years ago, I was informed that Benny Hinn was coming to town. The young man who gave me this information said to me, “If you go see Benny Hinn, I know you’ll be healed of your handicap.”
When I balked at this notion, he asked, “Do you believe God can heal you?”
I began to answer, “Yes, I believe He can heal me. But—“
He then cut me off with a sharp, “Thank you very much,” and he walked away, as if he had just won some kind of an argument.
This young man was insinuating that because God can heal me, He will heal me, if I just have enough faith to believe that I will be healed. He believed in the modern concept of faith in faith, which presents faith to us as some type of spiritual force by which we can change the outcomes of our circumstances.
This definition of faith is no different from Obi-wan Kenobi’s definition of the Force in Star Wars: “The Force is an energy field created by all living things. It surrounds us and penetrates us. It binds the galaxy together.” Later, he tells Luke Skywalker, “A Jedi can feel the Force flowing through him.”
At this, Luke asks, “You mean it controls your actions?”
Kenobi answers, “Partially. But it also obeys your commands.”
The faith teachers of today want us to believe that faith is a spiritual force that must obey our commands. They also teach that the “force of faith” is activated, positively or negatively, by the words we speak. If I speak positively, then good things will happen to me. If I speak negatively, then I can expect only negative circumstances to come into my life.
As just one example of where this kind of teaching can lead you, a man named Leroy Thompson often encourages his listeners to repeat the words, “Money cometh to me.” His belief is that by speaking these words, they can direct the spiritual entity that is called faith, so that it will cause money to flow into their bank accounts from unexpected sources.
However, this concept of faith, particularly the notion of “faith in faith,” is contrary to the biblical definition of faith. The Bible defines faith, most simply as trust. And trust has to have an object. In order for it to mean anything, our faith must be placed in someone to do something for us. It makes no sense to talk about trusting trust.
Allow me to give you a practical example. If you could speak to my boss right now, he would probably tell you he has faith that I am going to show up for work on time tomorrow. Does this mean he is going to use some supernatural power to cause me, whether I want to or not, to go to work? Not hardly. What it means is that he is trusting me to be disciplined enough to do what I need to do in order to get to work, and to get there on time. He is trusting me.
Within Christianity, the object of our faith is God. Our trust and our reliance is placed in and upon God and Jesus Christ, the God-man. And what are we trusting Him to do? We are trusting Him to do what He has promised to do. In particular, we are trusting Him to give us eternal life.
In John 11:25, as PJ pointed out this week, Jesus said, “I am the resurrection and the life. whoever believes in Me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in Me shall never die.” Similarly, in John 3:16, Jesus told Nicodemus, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.”
We must realize, however, that it is not the promise alone that prompts faith. Faith also depends on the confidence that a promise will be kept.
By virtue of the fact that I am an employee, I have promised my boss that I will show up for work on time every day. This promise is part of the basis of his faith that I will show up on time tomorrow. But what if I had a history of always showing up late, or not showing up at all? In that case, no matter how fervently I promise, the boss’s faith that I will show up on time tomorrow would be shaky, at best. On the other hand, if I have a good track record of always showing up on time, then the boss has a better reason for having faith that I will do so again tomorrow. Not just because I’ve promised to do it, but because I’ve proven myself capable of keeping my promise.
Within the Bible, we see, time after time, where God has kept His promises. He kept His promises to Noah, Abraham, Moses, David, the nation of Israel, and the list goes on and on. Throughout the entire Bible, and throughout history, God has always kept His promises. Hence, we can cite His faithfulness to His promises in the past as the basis for our trusting Him to keep them now.
Notice, both the promise and the ability to keep the promise must be present in order for us to have faith. Just as I would not be able to trust God to keep His promises if He had not proven Himself able to keep them, so I cannot trust Him to do something, even though He is able to do it, if He has not promised to do it.
If the young man I mentioned earlier had not cut me off, I would have told him, “Yes, I believe God can heal me, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that He will.” God has not promised to take away my cerebral palsy. Therefore, even though I know He’s got the power to heal me, I’ve got no solid basis for believing He will. That would not be faith, it would be presumption.

QUESTIONS FOR STUDY

1. Read Hebrews 11:1. How does this verse’s definition of faith relate to what Pastor John talked about on Sunday?



2. What have I been taught about faith in the past? Have I believed that it is the magic key to getting whatever I want from God? Has what Pastor John said this week changed my mind? Why or why not?



3. If God is not obligated to do something for us just because we are “believing” for it, is it wrong to ask for what we want? How should we interpret such verse as Psalm 37:4, John 14:13-14 and John 15:16?