CHAPTER TEN

Faith and Miracles

The Gift of Faith

THE BIBLE speaks twice about Faith as something which is a mark of a Christian. In Gal. 5:22, it is the faith which is the result of the New Birth, a natural growth from the spirit which has been quickened by the Spirit of God. This New Birth opens up the spiritual world to the child of God, and enables him to believe whatever the Bible says about the world, so that the wonderful stories of Old and New Testaments alike are easily accepted as facts.

In 1 Cor. 12:9, however, the Word speaks of a faith which is only possible to one who is not only quickened but also baptized in the Holy Spirit. There is the same contrast between the healing of James 5:15 and that of 1 Cor. 12:9. The former is open to any Christian, the latter only to one who has been baptized in the Holy Spirit. In the same way knowledge of all Christian truth, and wisdom to apply it, is open to all those who are born again, but "words" of knowledge or wisdom as mentioned in 1 Cor. 12, are only possible to one who has received the Spirit after his regeneration (Acts 19:6). In the same way, every Christian is enabled by his living spirit to believe all that is in the Revealed Word of God, but only one to whom the Spirit can impart a gift