Seven Steps to the Highest Kind of Faith

MMBC BOOK SUMMARIES

Title:  Seven Steps to the Highest Kind of Faith

An Adaptation from the book “Bible Faith Study Course” by Kenneth E. Hagin

By: Patience Mhlongo 

This article is a summary of the seven (7) steps to the Highest kind of faith as described by Kenneth E Hagin in His book “the Bible Faith Study Course second edition”. It deals in depth with the faith that takes God at his word and attains results. Being a time God is calling the Church to greater faith, this will help us in attaining to that which He wants for us.

What is faith? Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen[1]. It gives substance to things hoped for. Why then is faith important to a believer?. In the Epistle of James, James states that “… but let him ask in faith with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord[2]”.Meaning that when we have doubt we cannot receive anything from the Lord. So for us to receive from God we must have faith in his word and also be doers of the word.

Then how does faith come? it comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God[i][3]. Meaning, we build or grow our faith by reading the word of God.  Hebrews 11: 6 states that without faith it is impossible to please God, for he that cometh to God must believe that he is and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.

The following are the seven (7) steps to the highest kind of faith which I will be dealing with:

1. Know the integrity of God’s word
2. Know the reality of our redemption
3. Know the reality of the new creation
4. To know the reality of our righteousness in Christ.
5. Know the reality of the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit
6. Know the reality of our fellowship with the father
7. Know the authority in the name of Jesus

I will hereunder deal with the above seven (7) steps to the highest kind of faith in detail.

 

Know the integrity of God’s word

Matthew 24:35 states that heaven and earth will pass away but God’s Word will remain. Everything we see with our eyes is temporal, but His Word is forever.  It is interesting to note that in John Chapter 1- 2, John states that in the beginning the was the Word, the Word was God and the Word was with God. He was in the beginning with God. John 1:14 states that the Word became flesh and made His dwelling amongst us. In terms of the above, the Word is a person. the book of Revelation 19:13 refers to Christ who was clothed with a robe dipped in blood and his name is called the Word of God.

 

The first step to attaining the highest kind of faith is to settle on the absolute integrity of God’s word[4]. God and His word are one. This is well explained in the first verse of John 1 which states that “In the beginning was the word, and the word was with God and the Word was God”.

The word of God is what it declares itself to be, and it is a revelation from God to us[5]. God is revealed to us through scriptures.

The Bible is God-breathed, a God-indwelt, and God-inspired message. The people who wrote the bible were inspired by the Holy Spirit. God has transmitted his very substance into every Scripture, for it is God breathed[6].

Therefore, in light of the above, God’s promises are yes in Christ and so through him Amen[7]. His promises are never subject to our particular situations in life but to the promises of God. We read our bibles we need to do so in light of the integrity of His word as God is not a man that He should lie.

It is stated in the book of Hebrews that for the word of God is quick and powerful and sharper than any two edged sword piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit and of the joints and marrow and it is the discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart[8].

Based on the above it is clear that the word of God is a living thing, but it will only come alive and work in our life as we accept it and act upon it[9].

Therefore, the first step to attaining the highest kind of faith is to settle on the absolute integrity of God’s word.

 

Know the reality of our redemption.

We need to understand that in Christ we are redeemed from the authority of Satan (Col 1:13). For in the new birth, we have been translated into the Kingdom of God’s Son which is the Kingdom of God[10]. Col 1:12-14 states that we have been delivered from the power of darkness and have been translated into the Kingdom of His Dear Son in whom we have redemption through His blood even the forgiveness of sins. In Christ, we have been delivered from the power or authority of Satan’s Kingdom by virtue of the new birth.

The blood of Jesus is the basis of our victory. The book of Revelation[11] states that they overcame him (the accuser of brethren) by the blood of the lamb and by the word of their testimony. We have to add our testimony or confession to that. We need to stand our ground against the enemy with our confession of faith in God’s word. Satan as he is the god of this world will try and exercise his authority over you but you have to know that through the blood of Jesus you have been delivered from

We are more than conquerors in Christ Jesus because of the blood of the lamb and the words of our testimonies. Satan has no right to rule over you or the body of Christ.

• We have been redeemed from sickness. Healing is part of our inheritance as children of God. It is revealed to us in God’s word. The bible says that we have dominion and authority over the devil through the blood of Jesus which includes sickness and diseases. We have deliverance and redemption from the hand of Satan. We can overcome the enemy by the blood of the Lamb and the word of our testimonies which is our confessions.
• In Matt 8:17 which states that he took our sicknesses and bore our deceases.

Know the reality of a new creation

The Legal act of redemption was formed in Jesus death, burial and resurrection. It became a reality in our own life when we were born again. In the new birth, you have in your spirit the very life and nature of God. The new birth is the actual rebirth of our spirit. We are the sons and daughters of the Almighty God. He is our very own father. Satan no longer has dominion over us.

We are being born again not of a corruptible seed but of incorruptible seed by the word of God which liveth and abideth forever [12].We are begotten of God join equal heirs with Christ [13].In the new birth, we have as much freedom to fellowship with the Father as Jesus had in His earthly walk because God loves you as He loved Jesus[14].We are heirs of God  and joined heirs with Christ[15]

The bible makes us understand that we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus[16]. Therefore, we must be careful of the things we say about ourselves. We need to look at things the way God does and live in line with the epistles which were written to us as a body of Christ. We should not look at ourselves from a natural standpoint. We need to look at ourselves in Christ as God the Father sees us in Christ not like everyone else sees us. We need to look at things the way God does, and he tells us how he sees us in his word[17]. When we belittle ourselves, we are actually complaining about what God has done for us in the new birth, we are belittling His work in our lives and we are speaking contrary to the Word of God.[18]

• Repentance vs Doing Penance

Isaiah 43:25 states that “I, even I, am he that blotted out thy transgressions for mine own sake and will not remember thy own sins[19]”. When we have repented, God forgives us and he does not have any knowledge that we ever did anything wrong. I thank God that we are redeemed not only from the power of sin, but also from the penalty of sin which is the second death. Jesus became a substitute and took our place and suffered the penalty of sin for us. We need to stand in the place of authority against Satan and not allow the Devil to dominate us and keep us sick and beaten down, as God does not hold sin against us after we have asked for forgiveness. God cleanses us from all unrighteousness by the blood of Jesus[20] now the Devil does not have the right to dominate us.

 

Know the reality of our righteousness in Christ

We have been made righteous through Christ Jesus. God, Himself is righteous and has become our righteousness when He imparted to us His nature – eternal life when we were born again in the new birth[21]. He is the righteousness of all who believed in Jesus[22]. As believers, because we are in Christ the bible says I am righteous and we are light as Christ is the light. In John 8:12 Jesus said that He is the light of the world he who follows Him shall not walk in the darkness but have the light of life. 1 John 4:12 (NKJV) states that Love has perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness in the ay of Judgement, because as He is, so are we in this world. Based on this scripture as Christ is the light as we are in Him, as he is so are we in this world

Jesus who knew no sin was made to be sin for us that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him[23].In Christ, believers are the righteousness of God. The blood of Jesus does not cover our sins as in the Old Testament where the blood of innocent animals atoned/covered the people’s sin, however, the blood of Jesus under the new covenant cleanses us from our sins.

Revelation[24] says that “unto him, that loves us and washed us from our sins in His own blood”. As born again Christians, all our sins were remitted in the sight of God. When we do in the book of John 1:9 makes us understand that if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. This refers to believers, not sinners.

 

Know the reality of the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit.

The bible makes us understand that we are the temple of God and God no longer dwells in the temple made by man. Through the new birth, our bodies have become His temple. God dwells in us through the person of the Holy Spirit.

1 Corinthians 6:19-20[25] what? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit which is in you, which ye have of God and ye are not your own.

John 4:4 says that “greater is He that is in you than he that is in the world”. Meaning, God Himself, after He created us and made us new creatures and made us His own, is actually making our bodies His own[26].

John 14:16 makes us understand that once we have received the Holy Spirit; He will abide with us forever. God did not send the Holy Spirit as a guest. At no point would he leave us, no matter what we are facing He is with us.

John 14;16[27] Jesus said “I will pray the Father and he shall give you another Comforter, that he might abide with you forever”

As believers we are the body of Christ and Jesus is the head of His Church[28]. God dwells in us not only as the body of Christ but also in us as individuals. What agreement can therefore be between a temple of God and idols? For we are the temple of the living God; even as God said, I will dwell in and with and amongst them and I will walk in and with and among them and I will be their God and they shall be my people[29]. God is our bodies His home.

On the cross when Jesus said” it is finished” he was referring to the fact that the old covenant was finished. When he cried with a loud voice it is finished[30] the temple that separated the Holy of Holies was torn into two from top to bottom. The presence of God moved out of that manmade Holy of Holies and he never dwell in the Holy of Holies anymore.[31]The Holy Spirit indwells in us in the new covenant. Under the new covenant we have a better covenant based on better promises[32]. God dwells in us under the new covenant and our bodies are God’s temple.

 

Know the reality of our fellowship with the father

We were called unto fellowship with God, Jesus Christ[33]. The very heart reason for redemption is fellowship. Fellowship is the very mother of faith. 1 John 1;3 states” That which we have seen and heard declare ye unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ”. We have been called individually to have an intimate relationship with His son. If we have fellowship with God and we are walking in the light as He is light.

Therefore, for one to reach the highest kind of faith we need to first know the integrity of God’s word and understand the reality of our redemption and the reality of the new creation. We further need to understand that when we accepted Christ we attained the righteousness of Christ. We further need to understand the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit in us, that we are the temple of God and in us dwelleth the Holy Spirit. We further need to understand the ministry of the Holy Spirit in our lives and understand the reality of our fellowship with the father and the authority that we have in the name of Jesus.

 

References

[1] Hebrews11:1

[2] James1:6-7

[3] Romans 10:17 KJV

[4] Hebrew 6:18

[5] Bible faith Study Course by Kenneth E Hagin chapter 13 pg93

[6] 2Timothy 3:16 TPT

[7] 2 Corinthians 1:20 NKJV

[8] Hebrew 4:12

[9] Bible faith Study course by Kenneth E Hagin pg 93

[10] Bible faith study course by Kenneth Hagin pg 93

[11] Revelation 12:11

[12] 1 Peter 1:23

[13] Romans 8:17

[14] John17:23

[15] Romans 8:17

[16] Ephesians 2:10

[17] The bible faith by Kenneth E. Hagin pg 97

[18] The bible faith by Kenneth E. Hagin pg 97

[19] Isiah 43:25 King James version

[20] 1 John 1:9

[21] Bible faith study course by Kenneth E. Hagin

[22] 2 Cor 5:21

[23] 2 Cor 5:21

[24] Revelation 1:5 NKJV

[25] 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 NKJV

[26] Bible faith Study guide by Kenneth E Hagin pg 104

[27] John 14:16 NKJV

[28] Col 1:18

[29] 2 Corinthians 6:16 AMPC

[30] Mark 27:50

[31] Bible faith study guide Kenneth E Hegin pg 106

[32] Bible faith study guide Kenneth E Hegin pg108

[33] 1 Corinthian1 :9

 

To be part of the Mighty Men Book Club, register using the link below;

Mighty Men Book Club