"to another faith by the same Spirit..." (1 Cor 12:9) A lot of people believe faith to be the greatest gift of the Holy Spirit. The Bible seriously and comprehensively discusses faith and its importance in Hebrews 11. We are well informed that without faith it is impossible to please God. But are there different types of faith? Isn't everybody supposed to have faith? So why does the Holy Spirit give another faith to some people as a gift and what exactly is this faith used for? Today's lesson centers on faith as a gift of the Spirit. .
I strongly believe and teach that there are two if not three kinds of faith. There is "generic" faith or what I call faith as a belief. This faith is what enables people to receive salvation. You believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you are saved. It is this faith that enables people to accept and believe God's word even though they have not seen God. It is this faith that is discussed in Hebrews 11. It is this faith that is referred to as the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen. Then there is the "special" faith or what I call faith as a gift. This is the kind of faith that enables an individual to alter the affairs of nature. This kind of faith produces miracles. Let me put it this way. Generic faith believes God in such a way that it results in salvation, and obeying of God's command even though the person has not seen God. But special faith believes God in such a way that God honours a person's words as His own and miraculously brings it to pass. Question is usually do we all possess this gift? The answer will always be no. Generic faith can be attained whether or not the person is filled with the Holy Spirit. But Special faith can only come when a person is already filled with the Holy Spirit and is in constant fellowship with the Holy Spirit. Jesus believed in the two kinds of faith and taught about them as well. But at most time When He teaches about faith, He usually refers to the special faith (Mark 11:20-23, Luke 17:6)
The gift of faith is used for direct supernatural fulfillment of human utterances, personal protection in evil circumstances, raising of the dead, supernatural sustenance in famine and fasting, supernatural victory in spiritual and physical battles. Some scriptural references of the use of this gift includes: Gen 27:28, Heb 11:20, Dan 6:17-30, Mark 1:13, Acts 28:5, Luke 4:30, I kings 19:4-8, Rom 4:20, Exo 17:11
The gift of faith is the application of active faith that passively expects a miracle.