Does True Biblical Faith Deny Reality?

In mid-2021, at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, I met a friend on his way back from the burial of a relative. As we engaged in small talk, I asked him for the cause of death, supposing it was COVID. His response was one of shock, sadness, and disappointment. His cousin died of AIDS, not because she couldn’t afford treatment, but because a pastor prayed for her healing and convinced her to stop taking her medication as a sign of faith. She complied with his request, thinking her actions demonstrated biblical faith.

Shortly afterwards, her condition deteriorated rapidly since she wasn’t taking her medication, ultimately leading to her death. She held onto a false hope until the end, in fear that if she took her medication, she would lose her healing. Unfortunately, she didn’t have it and paid the heaviest price of all.  

Sadly, such tragedies are not rare occurrences within the Church circles. So many professing Christians put themselves in such dangerous situations, believing that any admission of sickness, failure, or any acknowledgement of a condition they do not wish to be in is a lack of faith. Therefore, they do what I recently saw on social media (and what actually prompted me to write this article), “Faith it till you make it.”  

If you’ve been around church folk long enough, especially in a nation like ours that claims to be 82% Christian, one of the phrases you’re likely to be very familiar with is, “Just have faith,” especially when someone is trying to encourage you through difficult times. It seems like all you need to get out of whatever predicament you may be in is faith.  

For many, faith is the means by which Christians get what they desire or achieve a desired state. You will often hear pastors say that faith is the currency of heaven. If you have it, heaven will act on your behalf, and you can have whatever you desire. If you don’t get what you want, it’s because you didn’t have enough faith.  We have made the gospel about our desires, and faith is about achieving those desires.

Origins of this doctrine

This doctrine, commonly known as ‘Word of Faith,’ originated in the 20th century with E.W. Kenyon, who wrote several books emphasising the power of positive words and is considered the father of what is now termed ‘positive confessions.’  

His ideas were not new but rather based on the New Thought ideas of another man named Phineas Quimby, who believed that illness in the body originated in the mind and that bodily illnesses could, therefore, be overcome with the “Truth.” His idea was that, if the mind were corrected of wrong thinking, the body would be cured of its diseases and problems.   

New Thought is a movement which emphasises the power of thought and belief to influence one’s reality, health, and spiritual well-being. It is a mix of beliefs from various religions like Hinduism, Buddhism, Taoism, and ancient Greek, Roman, and Egyptian religions.   

E. W. Kenyon and his successor, the man best known for the Word of Faith teachings, Kenneth Hagin, adopted these ideas and introduced them into Christianity, cleverly using scriptures to support teachings from other religions. They were followed by other Word of Faith preachers, including Kenneth Copeland, Benny Hinn, Joel Osteen, Creflo Dollar, Jessie Duplantis, Joyce Meyer, and T.D. Jakes, among others.  

Bible passages like Proverbs 18:2, “the tongue has the power of life and death,” Matthew 21:22, “And whatever you ask in prayer, you will receive, if you have faith,” and many others have been used to promote these  New Thought ideas as doctrines taught in Scripture and lived out by the Church through the years.   

So, the New Thought “truth” becomes the faith that can change one’s reality, health, and spiritual well-being. If one has faith, then nothing is impossible. They have the power to change anything. It is why when things fail to change, the problem is always, “You don’t have enough faith,” because if you do, your circumstances will change.  But is this what faith is?

What is Faith?  

The most frequently cited verse in response to this question is Hebrews 11:1 (KJV), “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” However, when asked to elaborate on its meaning, the explanations provided are often ambiguous. The interpretation commonly associates it with individual aspirations and desires, often accompanied by references to scriptures such as Matthew 21:22 and Mark 11:23-24.   

Faith is often seen as a way to achieve our desires or persuade God to act. The belief is that if we have faith, our wishes will come true, making faith a guarantee of our desires.  

Biblical Faith

Biblical faith is not about our hopes or desires. It is about God’s purposes and His work in achieving those purposes, rooted in God’s revelation, which is the Bible. There are three components to biblical faith (3C’s): Content, Conviction, and Confidence.  

Content 

Content refers to the set of beliefs that Christians hold onto. Christianity is fundamentally centred on Jesus Christ – His life and His teachings. The historical accounts of Jesus and the doctrines articulated by Him and His apostles are found in the Bible. In the Bible, the Old and New Testaments, God reveals Himself to humanity and His plan for reconciling all creation through His Son, Jesus Christ. As such, the Bible constitutes the substance of the Christian faith, and anything outside its revealed truths cannot be considered part of Christian belief.  

Conviction 

This is our conviction or belief that the content of our faith, derived from the Bible, is truth, not falsehood, fiction, or mere legend. It is the fundamental belief in the absolute truthfulness of the Bible.  

Confidence

This is the personal act of trusting and depending on the truths  (content) one has embraced. Mere intellectual knowledge and belief in the truth of the Christian teachings are inadequate, as even demons possess that (James 2:19). Effective faith manifests when, upon understanding and acknowledging Jesus’ claims, an individual places their complete trust in Him for salvation.  

Faith, therefore, is a personal trust in God, His promises, and His work, as revealed to us in His word, the Bible. It is not a force or currency by which we get God to act on our behalf.  

What about Hebrews 11:1?

Hebrews 11:1 does not advocate for confidence or personal trust in God to do what we want Him to do or what we desire. It calls on believers to place personal trust in God based on what is revealed in Scripture.  

The epistle is set at a time when persecution because of faith in Jesus was high (Hebrews 10:32-39) and calls on believers to have faith in God, who has promised that there is coming a time when He will do away with all sin and pain. The people listed in Chapter 11 are commended for putting their personal trust in God to do what He promised, not based on their personal desires.

Chapter 11 concludes by saying, “And all these, though commended through their faith, did not receive what was promised,…” showing that the manner and timing of God fulfilling His promises is entirely up to Him. This does not mean that God is not faithful, but rather that the fulfilment of His promises is according to His timing. Our faith won’t cause God to act out of His desired will or timing.

One temptation that is common among Christians is to think that the gospel is about health, wealth, prosperity, etc., and that all the promises of God apply in this present age/world. The Gospel is not about these things (see: What is the Gospel?), but our salvation from the wrath of God, which is due to every sinner. The Bible is also clear that there is a salvation to come for believers when Christ returns (1 Peter 1:5), where they will be delivered from the present condition of sin, death, satan, and even self, for our battle with the flesh works against us (Galatians 5:16-25). Therefore, not all the promises in the Bible are to be fulfilled on this side of eternity. 

Also, our personal desires and aspirations are not part of God’s revelation in Scripture. Your desire to get married, get out of poverty, or get a promotion is not found in the pages of Scripture. Therefore, you cannot claim that God will do what He has promised, or expect that God is obligated to fulfil these desires. The Bible calls Christians to come to God in prayer with their anxieties and desires, but Scripture does not promise that when we do, we shall receive the desired answer (James 4:3).  

The reality of living in a fallen world, a result of the fall in the Garden of Eden, is that the World we live in is broken. Sickness, poverty, shame, persecution, miscarriages, suffering, natural disasters, accidents, death, etc., are all consequences of the fall. God has promised in His Word that He will do away with all these things, but He says that He will do that at His second coming. Then, and only then, will He wipe away all tears, and there will be no more sin, pain, and death (Revelation 21:1-4).  

The example of the apostle Paul should serve us well. When buffeted by a messenger of Satan (2 Corinthians 12:7-9), he did not deny the reality of his condition or make positive confessions about it but prayed to God to help him. God did not take the problem away, but revealed to him His grace to endure.

The other sad reality is that while Christians have been saved and are being sanctified, they are not perfect. They also contribute to the issues we face in this World. Christians sin through anger, jealousy, disobedience, lust, etc., contributing to the pain and brokenness in the World. It is, therefore, unrealistic to expect to live in a perfect world in which our sin contributes to the problems in it.  

So what are Christians to do?

1. Pray to God. Philippians 4:6-8 tells believers not to be anxious about anything but to pray to God about everything. We have no reason to be anxious because the World and everything (yes, everything) that happens in it is ordained and governed by the sovereign God we worship.  
   We should also ask God for wisdom (James 1:5). We need wisdom not only to navigate life’s situations but also to learn from them. Many of our problems are caused by our sins, while others are opportunities to learn about the character of God (Job in the Bible). 
2. Trust God in difficult times. Proverbs 5:3-5 calls believers to trust in God and not lean on their understanding. The truth is that, in all situations, we have a very limited understanding, if any, of the situation. God knows it all because He has ordained it all. Therefore, trust that God is aware of your problem or situation, and knows what He is doing.
3. Know that all things are working for your good (Romans 8:28). God, being the sovereign Lord, all-knowing and all-powerful, knows what is best for us. Our earthly parents, knowing what is best for us, withheld some things, forbade others, and, at times, disciplined us for doing things we shouldn’t have done. How much more a loving God, who loves us more than our parents ever will? Therefore, we should live confident that whatever God allows into our lives, no matter how painful, uncomfortable, or undesirable it may be, is working for our good.   
4. Rejoice at all times and give thanks in all circumstances. 1 Thessalonians 5:16 calls on believers to rejoice always and to give thanks in all circumstances. All circumstances certainly include painful and undesirable ones. Yet, the Bible does not instruct Christians to deny them or make positive confessions about them, but rather to rejoice in them. Rejoicing in them is not a form of denial but a recognition that God, who works through all things, is working in these for our good. Therefore, knowing this, we ought to give thanks to God, not only for His goodness towards us but also for His grace to help us to endure all things.  
5. Look towards the coming King. Titus 2:11-14 calls on Christians to look towards the coming of our blessed hope, our saviour Jesus Christ. One thing suffering does is prevent us from becoming comfortable with this World. We have a home prepared for us by our returning King. Even more, we shall be in the presence of the Almighty God, something that far surpasses anything we can imagine (1 Corinthians 2:9). Therefore, amid our suffering, we ought to look towards the day when He returns.  

“Faith it until you make it” is deception, something Christians are instructed to turn away from. The Bible teaches Christians to put away all falsehood and speak truth to one another (Ephesians 4:25). Making claims about our condition or about our state of being that are not true, in the name of positive confession, is not speaking truth to one another. It is disobedience to our Lord and Saviour, whom we claim to love.  

True biblical faith does not deny one’s circumstances but seeks God amid trials. They are works of grace that God has lovingly provided to help us in our spiritual growth. We may not understand how they are working to achieve that purpose, but we don’t have to. We simply have to trust in God, who works ALL things according to the counsel of His will and for our good.