Is Faith A Person?

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MA2444

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2 Corinthians 5:7
7 (For we walk by faith, not by sight:).../KJV

I watched an interesting video yesterday in which statements were made that Faith is a person, a spirit of the Lord's in His Kingdom. That many dont realize that when scripture says walk by faith, it means literally in faith and belief but also by faith, beside him.

That was very intriguing to me and I've been mulling it over and I think they may have been right! But I dont really know for sure so dont think I'm being dogmatic about it. I wondered if anyone else has ever heard such a thing?

Comments?
 

Ritajanice

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For me, as a Born Again, I’ve had to grow in spirit knowledge, it’s knowing in one’s spirit that the Spirit indwells us, he is also in every situation of our lives, I have learnt to trust his word and walk in faith.

For instance, I have had a terrible time with AF, I had the faith to believe that God will either heal me of it, or show me what is causing it.

He showed me what was causing it, I haven’t gone into AF for six weeks now,Praise Him for that.

My faith has had to grow / to be understood by me, on what faith is , it’s getting closer and closer to God, just completely trusting only in him and no other.

Just my thoughts.
 

Ritajanice

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I watched an interesting video yesterday in which statements were made that Faith is a person, a spirit of the Lord's in His Kingdom



I believe faith is the most precious gift we can receive, as the seed is planted in our hearts, there it will grow, as it was planted by God.

Seed imo, represents the heart / spirit....so yes, faith is in the spirit of the believers.

We most definitely are in the Lords Kingdom , our spirit belongs to him and him only.

Just my thoughts again, @MA2444
 

Ritajanice

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@MA2444

That was a great post, i understood it completely, isn’t it wonderful how we grow in faith......not an easy journey though, but, oh so worth it....keeping them eyes on the Lord and listening only to his voice.
 

Bob Estey

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2 Corinthians 5:7
7 (For we walk by faith, not by sight:).../KJV

I watched an interesting video yesterday in which statements were made that Faith is a person, a spirit of the Lord's in His Kingdom. That many dont realize that when scripture says walk by faith, it means literally in faith and belief but also by faith, beside him.

That was very intriguing to me and I've been mulling it over and I think they may have been right! But I dont really know for sure so dont think I'm being dogmatic about it. I wondered if anyone else has ever heard such a thing?

Comments?
No, I've never this before.

We are to have faith in the Lord.
 

MA2444

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For me, as a Born Again, I’ve had to grow in spirit knowledge, it’s knowing in one’s spirit that the Spirit indwells us, he is also in every situation of our lives, I have learnt to trust his word and walk in faith.

For instance, I have had a terrible time with AF, I had the faith to believe that God will either heal me of it, or show me what is causing it.

He showed me what was causing it, I haven’t gone into AF for six weeks now,Praise Him for that.

My faith has had to grow / to be understood by me, on what faith is , it’s getting closer and closer to God, just completely trusting only in him and no other.

Just my thoughts.

Do you mean AFib? I think you did. My brother has that. So I think you have to walk hand in hand in faith with the Spirit and that is a good thing!

I think that Faith is planted into our heart and it is up to us to embrace it so it will grow within us. Maybe Faith starts out beside us, and we welcome Him into the our heart at some point and so, the seed begins to grow.

I've seen 4(?) types or levels of faith spoken of in scripture. No faith, little faith, Faith, and great Faith. Perhaps this illustrates the groth of Faith within us. But that would also have have to agree with:

Romans 10:17
17 So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.../KJV

Now in that verse, "hearing" means a Rhema, the spoken word of God. That can be hearing a Pastor preach a sermon or receiving a revelation from God thru His Spirit while listening or reading His word, and it touches your heart and you are convicted (or Affirmed) within your heart and spirit.

Hebrews 11:1-6
1 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

2 For by it the elders obtained a good report.

3 Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear.

4 By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts: and by it he being dead yet speaketh.

5 By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death; and was not found, because God had translated him: for before his translation he had this testimony, that he pleased God.

6 But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him..../KJV

In verse 1 the word "substance" is taken from G5287 ὑπόστασις

The KJV translates Strong's G5287 in the following manner: confidence (2x), confident (1x), person (1x), substance (1x).

Outline of Biblical Usage [?]
  1. a setting or placing under
    1. thing put under, substructure, foundation
  2. that which has foundation, is firm
    1. that which has actual existence
      1. a substance, real being
    2. the substantial quality, nature, of a person or thing
    3. the steadfastness of mind, firmness, courage, resolution
      1. confidence, firm trust, assurance
Strong’s Definitions [?](Strong’s Definitions Legend)
ὑπόστασις hupŏstasis, hoop-os'-tas-is; from a compound of G5259 and G2476; a setting under (support), i.e. (figuratively) concretely, essence, or abstractly, assurance (objectively or subjectively):— confidence, confident, person, substance..../

G5287 - hypostasis - Strong's Greek Lexicon (kjv)

Well how about that! I dont think I've ever looked up substance in a concordance before but it defines the word substance as a person! That must be where the video got it from.

Everyone is given the measure of faith at birth I guess, and all have it. But perhaps at that time (before being born again) Faith walks beside them. The if an unbeliever who never even heard of Jesus is in a foxhole with bombs falling all around them will suddenly believe in "God" and cry out to Him, Help me God! (which is probably Faith the person beside them whispering to them, cry out to God for help!
So the man does and his heart is opened to the Lord thru Faith and the seed is planted.
He gets saved from the death and destruction and then Faith whispers ome more into them because He has a foothold now in their heart?! So the man meets Jesus later and begins the process of becoming a Child of God.

That soldier man went from no faith in his heart to little Faith?
Next step, Faith (standard faith, everyday.) how does the man get there fromlittle faith?

I'm glad you asked! By exercising his faith and walking in it. IOW, trusting in the Lord thru his actions and speech, right? Walking in Faith they call it I think. A situation in life will crop up, guarenteed! We make a choice how to handle the situation, to trust in the Lord, or not to and we make our own decision because (We are smart and can Handles This!, Lol) (Not!) So when we "choose" to trust the Lord, we are standing on His word and having Faith in Him...This puts the ball in the Lord's court I believe!

It's been my experience that the Lord doesnt miss a shot to respond to faith in some way! That's what He does for us! He doesnt always answer those prayers the way that we think He should, but the Faith is upheld and answered nonetheless.

And so I would venture to say that to go from Faith to Great Faith is also done in the same manner, by trusting Him and making the choice which dictates our actions (like praying to Him for help instead of handling it ourselves). So we would continually walk in greater Faith than we had before. Consciously! (Getting to know Faith as a person within us?)

But you have to be careful because (In my experience :sotired) we will receive bigger and more complex situations that Will test our faith in greater ways than before. And you have to be ready for it! I made the mistake(?) one time of praying and asking God for more Faith, Lord increase my Faith! And I got so dumped on with bad situations, bad people, and whatseemed like a never ending parade of tribulations upon me in life!
Oh I did come out of it with more Faith, but it wasnt fun! So be sure you really want what you ask for before you ask for it! I havent asked for more Faith since then! I exercise my own Faith that I have and try to walk in a greater faith, and let it come progressively and not all at once!

Whoa, this got long fast. Sorry about that, I guess the Lord has it on my heart to understand Faith better today. It's like in a way, the Lord builds a Resume of Trust with us as we go along. (I think that neccessitates us building a resume of trust with Him at the same time). And we should be able to do this by exercising our Faith and walking in more and more Faith. When we trust the Lord, we hand the situation over to Him which means, we are obeying so He would know that He can trust us a little more. He needs our cooperation and actions in the world to reflect out trust in Him.

I'm almost positive that I receives an unction to raise someone from the dead in the hospital one time. Now I had nowhere near that level of Faith and had not even ever laid hands on anyone, so I chickened out and it didnt happen. I was of little faith back then. I had never exercised my Faith in any way back then. But since then, I have so I have more Faith than I did before. I might be up to "Faith" now instead of little Faith.

This all kind of makes sense to me now. (I think I've been talking to myself as much as you, lol) Are the rantings of a mad man, or perhaps something more?
 

MA2444

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No, I've never this before.

We are to have faith in the Lord.

You never heard that before? Me either until yesterday, and apparently the Lord woke me up to it again today to ponder!

We are to have faith in the Lord. But according to that video (and the concordance), Faith is a person. A Spirit perhaps? To walk with us, encourage us and reassure us?

No Atheists in Foxholes!
Is anything too hard for God?
 

MA2444

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What a great commentary from you regarding faith @MA2444 .

Full of insight, Amen!

I dont think all those words were mine, lol! Some were my thoughts because I have been pushing my boundries in this area more than before and so paying attention and maybe sometimes when I thought I was speaking to the Lord, I was really speaking to Faith?

Nevertheless, I'm not trying to be dogamtic. I'm merely tryong to wade thru it all and figure it out like everyone is doing!So I'm open to comments and criticisms about any part of it. Who am I? Nobody special, except to the Lord for sure. Like everyone.
 
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Bob Estey

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You never heard that before? Me either until yesterday, and apparently the Lord woke me up to it again today to ponder!

We are to have faith in the Lord. But according to that video (and the concordance), Faith is a person. A Spirit perhaps? To walk with us, encourage us and reassure us?

No Atheists in Foxholes!
Is anything too hard for God?
What concordance told you faith is a person?
 

MA2444

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What concordance told you faith is a person?

Hebrews 11:1 and I looked up the word substance in the concordance (which I posted above)


Love that blue letter bible, so easy to use.
 

Wrangler

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Faith is a person, a spirit of the Lord's in His Kingdom. That many dont realize that when scripture says walk by faith, it means literally in faith and belief but also by faith, beside him.
No. Personification.

There was not literally a women present when God made the universe whose name is Wisdom.

There has been a long trend in Christiandom to over-spiritualize Scripture. This is just another example of that. Not everything is mystical and has duality. As Freud said, sometimes a cigar is just a cigar.

One can have faith, just like any characteristic virtue like courage, punctuality, perseverance. How can faith be a person if another person can have it? Are all virtues and vices a person? If not, why not?
 

Bob Estey

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Hebrews 11:1 and I looked up the word substance in the concordance (which I posted above)


Love that blue letter bible, so easy to use.
Hebrews 11:1:
Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. Hebrews RSV
Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. NIV
Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. KJV
Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. NKJV
Now faith is assurance of things hoped for, a conviction of things not seen. ASV
Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. NRSVUE
Faith shows the reality of what we hope for; it is the evidence of things we cannot see. NLT
Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. ESV
Now faith is the reality[a] of what is hoped for, the proof[b] of what is not seen. CSV
Now faith is the certainty of things [a]hoped for, a [b]proof of things not seen. NASB
 
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MA2444

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No. Personification.

There was not literally a women present when God made the universe whose name is Wisdom.

How could you possibly know that? Scripture talks about how many Angels there are and that amounts to a staggering amount. Plus other spiritual entities are mentioned in scripture, so who are we that we can say that God didn't give some identity and personification? We have little clue because we see through a glass darkly.

When God created us, we all have personification, so why not others? He is a God of Creation, that's what He does!

There has been a long trend in Christiandom to over-spiritualize Scripture. This is just another example of that. Not everything is mystical and has duality. As Freud said, sometimes a cigar is just a cigar.

One can have faith, just like any characteristic virtue like courage, punctuality, perseverance. How can faith be a person if another person can have it? Are all virtues and vices a person? If not, why not?

Freud was stupid I think, I read a couple of his books and came to that conclusion, lol. I was surprised to see you quote him, lol. You dont hear that too much anymore.

Nevertheless, somtimes a cigar is just a cigar. Other times, there can be more to it than what is on it's face at first glance. Like a computer for instance. Computers are way more than on/off switch, point, click, and so forth. We know that comuters are way more than point and click, they are made up of a lot of other things (which make it work) way before we get to point n click,

And what is really going on? Oh a spiritual war, with unseen forces and entities, Like God, Jesus, Lucifer, spirits of dark and evil deeds. WHat was that old song? Anything you can do I can do better? That was a catchy tune. That was God talking to Satan the enemy! Satan is full of Counterfeits, you know that.

So satans power is real and it has a name, mystical. A counterfeit of Spiritual Power and Might which belongs to the Lord. But that doesnt mean that we should disregard Gods power and might as something weird or dangerous. It is not over spiritualizing it it is recognizing it and embracing it as a part of our Lord.

When I first got saved and didnt know anything yet, I didnt say Faith has a name. I had no clue. Now fast forward an eon or two (sic) until now, and I hear He is Personified, and the Strongs Concordance backs it up. So it does make sense. At least, I think it does.

One time in years past, I was wondering aloud on a Christian Forum that I was ready to embrace the Lord spiritually, in spirit and in truth like is written. And I had a couple well meaning Christians say to me, Oh dont do that Brother, it's dangerous to go astral projecting and stuff! You can get into some real trouble for yourself... and so forth and I had to set them straight that, the Kingdom of God is at hand, I am in Christ, Christ is in me, the Holy Spirit (which is very much personified) is a constant indwelling of me, and Jesus is in me also and Jesus said, He is in the Father and the father in me, So I prolly am getting crowded (lol) inside me with all these different spirits, not to mention Guardian Angels and Scibe Angels and all that. So it isnt about being over-spiritualized...it's about becoming spiritualized...In Spirit and in Truth.
 

MA2444

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If the Holy Spirit is the very essence of our Lord and has His own personification, then why cant Faith have a name? The Holy Spirit has multiple names, Comforter, Teacher, Guide and so forth.

It wouldnt surprise me a bit if Faith is personified also. Havig his own personification and yet being one with the Lord at the same time. And Faith has a specific job with us.
 

Ritajanice

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@MA2444 ..I like to read how open minded you are...

Short commentary.

What does the Bible say about being open-minded?
Thus, for Jesus it's not a matter of being open-minded. It's a matter of being made open-minded to understand the Scriptures. This is not something you work at being. Verse 45 of our text says: Then He opened their minds to understand the Scriptures


I have always waited on him to open up the scriptures to me.
 
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WalterandDebbie

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2 Corinthians 5:7
7 (For we walk by faith, not by sight:).../KJV

I watched an interesting video yesterday in which statements were made that Faith is a person, a spirit of the Lord's in His Kingdom. That many dont realize that when scripture says walk by faith, it means literally in faith and belief but also by faith, beside him.

That was very intriguing to me and I've been mulling it over and I think they may have been right! But I dont really know for sure so dont think I'm being dogmatic about it. I wondered if anyone else has ever heard such a thing?

Comments?
No Sir, But Interesting, Galatians 5:22-26 KJV

Love, Walter And Debbie
 
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