February 22, 2012

Transliteration: charisma
Phonetic Spelling: (khar’-is-mah)
Short Definition: an undeserved favor
Definition: a gift of grace, an undeserved favor. The operation of grace (divine favor), i.e. a grace-endowment (natural gift ability or quality) to edify the Church.

Transliteration: pistis
Phonetic Spelling: (pis’-tis)
Short Definition: faith, belief, trust
Definition: faith, belief, trust, confidence; fidelity, faithfulness.

The topic this week is the ministerial Gift of Faith that Paul is referring to in

I Corinthians 12:9a
9) to another faith by the same Spirit…

Now we know that each person has been given a measure of faith or a seed of faith that will grow as we nurture and use it. That is for our own personal benefit and use.

Romans 12:3
For through the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think more highly of himself than he ought to think; but to think so as to have sound judgment, as God has allotted to each a measure of faith.

But what Paul is referring to in I Corinthians 12 is the ministerial gift of faith which is sometimes needed for the common good, or the benefit of others.

The word gift is the operation of grace or divine favor in our lives. This is not due to our perceived goodness, but because we have accepted Christ as our Savior and therefore are in Christ. Once we are in Christ our sins are paid for and we are washed clean.

Now this is something apart from our behavior. God sees us – in Christ. When he looks at us He sees us – in Christ. It is our position.

Let’s think of a royal family. When a prince is born, he is baby just like any other baby, but he is born in to royalty. It is his position which is separate from his behavior.

When we are born again we are positioned in Christ. That is our position and is separate from our behavior.

Now as that prince grows he will poop his pants, grow from diapers to being a curious toddler and then to a rebellious teen. All the while regardless of his behavior he is still a prince. Through the years his parents, grandparents and mentors are grooming him to be the prince in behavior as well as position.

When we are born again in Christ we receive the position even though we are infantile and our behavior does not match up. As we grow and are trained and study the Word hopefully our behavior will match our position.

God does not wait to bless us until our behavior matches our position. He sees us in our position as soon as we are born again.

Now in the natural as that young prince grows, he has the authority to command the servants. If he tells them to go get him something to eat, they must obey because of his position, not because of his behavior. He has that authority from birth.

We too have the authority of being in Christ from the day we are born again. But the enemy has infiltrated bad teaching and manmade doctrines into the church that tell us we must behave a certain way before we can ask or hope to receive from God, or that the better that we are, the more we can hope to receive. That is totally and completely false.

Since the beginning of the church the enemy has been on a mission to convince the church body that it has no power. If we could ever see just how much power is our right and at our immediate disposal, we would change the world and the enemy does not want that.

If you put together the definitions for today you get – a divine gift of favor to believe.

Contemplate today your position in Christ and the authority that position carries with it. You have the right to believe and receive! Exercise that position today.

 

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