FAITH FOR IMPACT (10)

“For with the HEART one BELIEVES unto righteousness, and with the MOUTH confession is made unto salvation” – Romans 10:10

FAITH for IMPACT is fundamentally a Heart-Mouth Matter: “For with the HEART one BELIEVES unto righteousness, and with the MOUTH confession is made unto salvation” (Rom.10:10). Verse 8 reads: “But what does it say? “The WORD is near you, in your mouth and in your HEART” (that is, the WORD of FAITH which we preach).” This text reveals the role of Faith in the process of Salvation. Faith for Salvation is first established in the Heart to produce righteousness, and then confessed with the mouth to receive salvation. This is the Model of Faith regarding all aspects of the Believer’s life: Sanctification, Spiritual growth, Healing, Deliverance, Provisions, Prosperity, or Spiritual Gifts.

Whatever the context, authentic Faith is Heart-based and mouth-affirmed. Genuine Faith is Heart Faith. It flows from and deals with the human spirit or the heart of man. Heart Faith belongs only to the New Creation in Christ Jesus, who have been born-again and have received the Gift of Salvation by Faith (Eph.2:8-9). Heart Faith is spiritual and supernatural. Heart Faith is the Victorius Faith: “For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is THE VICTORY that has overcome the world – OUR FAITH (1Jh.5:4). That’s why the world and the devil have no answer to this kind of Faith. Heart Faith is relationship-based. It centres on God and on things of eternal value!

God is a Spirit (John 4:24). God’s Word is spirit and life (John 6:63). Therefore, when God speaks, His Word addresses the spirit-man – the Heart. God’s Word, being spirit, can only be conceived by the spirit-man. Thereafter, the intellect, brain, and body can respond to the Word deposited in the spirit. Moreover, God’s Word always comes with the supernatural ability to impart Faith (Rom.10:17). His appeals to the heart, not the intellect. It is with the Heart – the core of man’s being or the spirit – that man believes. It takes listening to God’s Word with our Heart, to believe it. We cannot believe with the head. We can only think and process thoughts in the head or the brain.

Head Faith is brain-based and sense-centred. Every human being has a natural human ‘faith’ whether they are saved or not. Every human being can believe whatever they choose to. They may even know what the Bible says and assent to the Word of God mentally. Head faith is mere mental assent that may quote and confess with the mouth, but fails to believe from the heart. Head Faith resides in the ‘head’ – the reasoning faculty; it doesn’t emanate from the Heart. It centres on human experiences and focuses on carnal, earthly and mundane issues.

FAITH for IMPACT is a matter of the HEART and the Mouth, not of the HEAD. Faith is a non-transferable responsibility: “…The just shall live by HIS FAITH” (Hab.2:4b). We do not live by another person’s faith or by denominational dogmas!