Many use the term “dead faith” as a way to attack fellow believers. To be honest, this term is mostly a way for a person to elevate themselves. To profess that another person’s religion/faith is dead, is somehow to state their own faith is alive and vibrant. Further, to prove their faith is alive, they will typically talk about their works/signs, and when you hear this, you wonder if your church is missing something!
Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?
-Matthew 7:22
An ironic thing about people who claim signs and wonders as proof that they are “living the Gospel” or “their faith is alive” is that Pharaoh’s mystics also performed signs:
Then Pharaoh summoned the wise men and the sorcerers, and they, the magicians of Egypt, also did the same by their secret arts.
-Exodus 7:11
We have a clear warning in Scripture not to view signs as proof that your faith is alive and well, but to view God’s word as true.
For false christs and false prophets will arise and perform great signs and wonders, so as to lead astray, if possible, even the elect.
-Matthew 24:24
A preacher that performs zero signs but is faithful to proclaiming God’s Word is a sign of walking in the Spirit. Anything else is just a magic show.
Brethren, do not fall for the deception that another is more holy or more indwelt by the Holy Spirit because they speak in tongues, “claim” to have prophecy, or their church “claims” to have more healing power than yours. If you notice, all of these examples are nothing more than believers pointing to themselves and not to Christ. There is something fundamentally wrong with that! When God used the apostle Peter to heal the lame beggar in Acts 3, Peter points the people to the cross and Christ alone (Acts 3:12-16).
The truth of the matter is that nothing is possible without Christ. Christ does not promise to be present one hundred percent of the time in revivals, where signs of wonders are, but he is present one hundred percent of the time when God’s Word is preached, at baptism, and during Communion. If dead faith is just my hearing God’s Word and relying on God’s promises through his means of grace, then so be it. I will not place my faith in “glory clouds” or “gold flakes falling from sky.” Rather, I will stay in his Word.
Grace, Peace, and Mercy!
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- A Response to Darrell Harrison: Is the Gospel No Longer Enough for Black Christians? - January 13, 2018
- Brown Eyes: Revealing Traits in Myself that I Cannot Escape - March 31, 2017
- The Fear Of God - September 13, 2016
Thank you for your kind words. I think decades worth of ear tickling has led to this problem. Many now seem to subtlely think that “solely” hearing God’s Word is not enough, and they want God to come down and prove something to them. As if we are the ones that dictate what God is required to do and should be doing.
I can rant on and on and on about this. But I will keep it short.
God Bless
Thank you for this. Fighting this fight in my own church, and it hurts so much to see people who love God enamored with their own dreams and emotions. I love the clear and logical way this is done.
Thank you for your kind words. I think decades worth of ear tickling has led to this problem. Many now seem to subtlely think that “solely” hearing God’s Word is not enough, and they want God to come down and prove something to them. As if we are the ones that dictate what God is required to do and should be doing.
I can rant on and on and on about this. But I will keep it short.
God Bless