The Faith of Jesus

 

 

I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.

—Galatians 2:20 KJV

 

The preposition “of” is very important in this King James Version of Galatians 2:20. Paul clearly declared that he was living by the faith “OF” Jesus. Paul said this same thing twice just a few verses earlier in Galatians 2:16: 

 

“Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified.”

 

Where did Paul get the faith of Jesus? The same place every born-again believer gets it. He got it from God’s Word (Romans 10:17). After hearing the Word, faith resides in the born-again spirit of every believer (Galatians 5:22-23). Our awareness of whether or not we have faith may vacillate, but the truth is this fruit of faith is always in our spirits. The faith of Jesus we have received from hearing the Word has to be drawn out and utilized. 

 

The article “the” is also very important in the King James Version of Romans 12:3. This verse says every believer has been given “the” measure of faith:

 

“For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith.”

 

There aren’t different measures of faith. There is only “the” one measure of faith. Since Paul said in Galatians 2:20 that the faith he was living by was “the” faith of the Son of God,” then that must be “the” measure given to every believer. This measure of faith God gave each believer resides in our born-again spirit. This faith can’t be observed with the natural mind. Born-again believers must trust the Holy Spirit to give life to God’s spiritual revelation of His Word (John 6:63, 16:13). 

 

When Christians think they lack faith, they really don’t because God has given every believer the same measure. What they actually lack is knowledge of the faith they have received.

 

2 Peter 1:3 in the AMPC says: 

 

“For His divine power has bestowed on us [absolutely] everything necessary for [a dynamic spiritual] life and godliness, through true and personal knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence.”

 

Paul said everything necessary for life comes through personal knowledge of Jesus Christ.

 

In Galatians 2:20, Paul preached a death to self, but it is very important to notice how this death occurred. Paul was dead through what Jesus did.

 

“Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Romans 6:11). 

 

There are people today who have taken “dying to self” to an extreme. Instead of being free of “self,” they constantly think of themselves. Their thinking may be all in negative terms, but it is still self-centered.

 

“Dying to self” is not a self-hatred but rather a love of Christ more than self. There are those like the legalistic Pharisees that teach an outward denial of self. Paul preached against that. Paul was not just dead to himself. He was alive to God!

 

Paul’s “old man” died through Christ (Romans 6:2-11). He was truly free to live, but it wasn’t actually Paul who was living. It was Christ living through him. Paul had learned the secret of victorious Christian living. It is not found in us living for Jesus, but rather, it is found in Jesus living through us. Failure to understand this simple truth can bring a performance mindset and legalism.

 

The Law focuses on the outer man and tells it what it must do. Grace focuses on the inner man and tells it what Christ has already done. Those who are focused on what they must do are under the Law. Those focused on what Christ has done for them walk under grace. The Christian life is not just hard to live. It is impossible to live in our human strength. The only way to walk in victory is to let Christ live through us.

 

Remember, Paul said in Galatians 2:20 that he lived by the faith of the Son of God. We, humans, were so spiritually broken that we couldn’t even believe in salvation with our human faith. We had to utilize God’s supernatural faith (Ephesians 2:8), which came to us as a gift through hearing God’s Word (Romans 10:17). 

 

There is a human faith that is limited to believing only what can be perceived through our human senses. But God’s kind of faith supersedes the natural. It goes beyond what we can see, taste, hear, smell, and feel. God’s kind of faith calls those things that do not exist as though they did (Romans 4:17).

 

I have received the same measure of faith as every other believer. It is God's kind of faith. What difference has the faith of Jesus made in my life? 

 

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