Galatians 6:15 says that faith works by love. But it is not just the hope aspect of love that faith works by. The Greek word translated faith in the Bible is actually the noun form of the word believes or believeth in 1 Corinthians 13:7. Some Bible versions actually use the noun faith in 1 Corinthians 13:7, proceeded by a verb or preposition, instead of just using a verb. For instance, The New Living Translation says that love never loses faith.
Various modern translations, such as the New International Version, use the word trusts in this verse instead of believes. Faith works by believing and by trusting. Belief is often attributed to a thing such as a product or the circumstances of a situation. Whereas, trust in more personal in that it relates to a person or to God.
Jesus gave us one commandment in the New Testament. But that one commandment is actually divided into two commandments that work together:
34 "A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another.
John 13:34
37 Jesus said to him, "'You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.' 38 "This is the first and great commandment. 39 "And the second is like it: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' 40 "On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets."
Matthew 22:37-40
In a similar vein, faith works by believing and trusting. I would say that trust is a personal thing: we trust in a person or in God. Whereas belief is more attributed to God’s Word: we believe that God’s Word is true.
Prosperity teaching can become inbalanced to the point whereby it de-personalises the subject of prosperity by emphasising the believer’s efforts to confess scriptures that pertain to prosperity, rather than just simply trusting God. In a sense, this causes people to use Bible verses as a formula for prosperity. We really ought to consider using Psalms 84:11-12 as a formula for prosperity.
If you want to be blessed, instead of just confessing scriptures all the time, it would be better to take some responsibility and do what the Bible says we ought to do: walk uprightly and trust in God.
Anyone can read the Bible out loud, regardless of what his real beleifs and motives are. We should not expect to be blessed by God if our believing, thinking and expecting is not right.
Hope Facilitates Trust
I believe that the Biblical concept of hope, as an aspect of love, is a generic, broad-based expectation of good. It is only a state of despair, an absence of hope, which leads a person to insist on specific outcomes, and thereby, entertain fantasies.
This kind of hope comes out of peace and joy. When you have peace and joy you cannot help but expect good things to happen to you. It is only when a person lacks peace and joy that they will have a sense of foreboding about everything.
When a person has this kind of hope, they are more prone to just leaving things to fate. Hope will lead to a que sera sera kind of attitude, because although you might not know exactly what will happen in the future, you know that things will work out well for you in the end. This complies with what 1 Corinthians 13:8 has to say about love: Love never fails...
Faith Without Hope
There are many Christians who are trying to believe God for specific things, when they are still burdened by a sense of despair.
Without hope, a believer will struggle to be able to believe the promises of God’s Word and trust in Him for even a short period of time. Without hope, a person will never expect good things to happen, and therefore, will by nature be insecure.
Galatians 6:15 says that faith works by love. Without love a person will have no hope, and without hope, they will never expect anything good to happen. Without hope, a person will always be living in a state of dread and despair – even when circumstances aren’t really all that bad.
Fear causes people to exaggerate the challenges they face. Remember the ten spies who gave a bad report in Numbers 13:31-33.
31 But the men who had gone up with him said, "We are not able to go up against the people, for they are stronger than we." 32 And they gave the children of Israel a bad report of the land which they had spied out, saying, "The land through which we have gone as spies is a land that devours its inhabitants, and all the people whom we saw in it are men of great stature. 33 "There we saw the giants (the descendants of Anak came from the giants); and we were like grasshoppers in our own sight, and so we were in their sight."
Numbers 13:31-33
It is for these reasons that many Christians seek after the promises of God in such a short time frame. They are trying to implement faith without dispelling fear and implementing hope. Then they get frustrated when God does not bless them how they want, when they want. When this happens they get angry with God and those people who encourage faith in God’s Word. These people have a soul which is on the defensive, so they instinctively make up all kinds of doctrines to defend their position, provide an excuse when things go wrong in an attempt to make sense of what is happening in their life.
This creates a great deal of dissension in the Body of Christ, with some believing in prosperity, faith and healing and others being opposed to it. Unfortunately, there are many misnomers and extremes coming out of teaching on subjects such as prosperity, faith and healing. This further encourages those opposed to seeing the power of God moving in His people, on this earth and in this time.
Most of the time it is not faith teaching which is at fault, but the attitude and motives of fearful, insecure believers who try to make it work for them in a way that God does not intend.
Love as a Remedy for Guilt
The Concise Oxford English Dictionary describes the word "guilt" as:
a feeling of having done wrong or failed in an obligation. An obligation, according to the same dictionary, means: an act or course of action to which a person is morally or legally bound.
Love is motivation to action: we need love in order to fulfil the things that are required of us. Without love we are unable to do the things we are meant to do. If we fail to do what we are morally or legally bound to do, we end-up with a sense of guilt; or as the dictionary puts it: a feeling of having done wrong or failed in an obligation.
But if we are made aware of what love is from the Bible, and the fact that it must be received from God, we can be set free from guilt. A proper knowledge of what love is, sets us free from trying to do what love is, and does, in our own effort. A failure to walk in love can be attributed, at least in part, to a failure to understand that God is love (see 1 John 4:16) and that only God is good (see Matthew 19:17). Love is not something we do, but moreover, something that we receive.
An understanding of righteousness also sets us free from a sense of guilt. Righteousness means that we are accepted by God as we are without condemnation.
The Old Testament asserted that we had to try to adhere to God’s perfect standards – something that mankind could never do. The sacrifice of Christ paved the way for the New Testament which, for those who believe, makes God our Father and we His children.
In the same manner as an earthly father-son relationship, our Father in Heaven is longsuffering towards us and accepts us as we are, knowing that we grow in His grace as we learn more about Jesus.
As we transition our thinking from an Old Testament perspective to the New – the way we see God changes: we no longer see God as a harsh taskmaster, keen to punish the most minor slip-up. Now we see God as being our loving Heavenly fathe - kind, gentle and loving towards us, eager to see us grow and develop, only punishing us in order to correct us.
A major part of this development is the knowledge of what love is and that it is not akin to sheer willpower alone. As soon as you begin to really understand a particular aspect of God’s love by studying the Word, you gain a sense of relief as you realise that it is something that you can never achieve in your own effort.
The Bible says in 1 John 5:3 that His commandments are not burdensome. In Matthew 11:30, Jesus Himself said, My yoke is easy and My burden is light. If love was something that we could do ourselves, then it would be burdensome. But love is something that we receive from God, and as such, it is not burdensome.The knowledge of love brings a relief to those people who feel utterly weighed-down by the demands of religion and other people.
The knowledge of love, what it is and its true Source - exposes self-righteousness for what it is and debunks the kind of religion pioneered by the Pharisees, scribes and chief priests of Jesus’ time. The knowledge of love exposes fraudsters and highlights self-righteousness for the sham that it is.
Hope Versus Dread, Fear and Despair
Hope is the opposite of despair. The Concise Oxford English Dictionary says that despair means: The complete loss or absence of hope.
The word despair only appears once in the King James Version of the Bible. Although the Greek word used is also translated as despaired in another verse of the New Testament.
According to Strong’s Dictionary of Greek Words, the Greek word exaporeomai translated despair and despaired in the King James Version, means:
Middle voice from G1537 and G639; to be utterly at a loss, that is, despond: - (in) despair.
According to Thayer’s Greek Definitions, this Greek word means:
1) to be utterly at loss, be utterly destitute of measures or resources, to renounce all hope, be in despair
Joseph Thayer uses the term to renounce all hope in his description of despair. So despair is the opposite of hope. It stands to reason that if a person has this hope aspect of love in their life, they will be unable to succumb to despair.
Despair comes when a person seems to have no other option than to trust in their own limited ability, other people, or the circumstances of life. Despair is always the result of an absence of God or simply not being made perfect in love.
The word dread is closely related to the word despair; the Concise Oxford English Dictionary describes the word dread as: great fear or apprehension. Dread is fear and often manifests itself as a vague sense of foreboding – as if something bad is going to happen, although you do not quite know what.
This is the total opposite of the Biblical concept of hope, which is the Greek word elpizō (G1679) (verb) or elpis (G1680) (noun). Hope is the expectation of good, whereas, fear is the expectation of bad. Fear or dread, just like hope can be either vague and generic or it can be specific.
Fear is caused by an absence of love, and therefore, is separation from God. Fear is the result of spiritual death. Fear, therefore, can be seen as encompassing a whole range of negative attributes, such as anger, bitterness, pride, envy and so on. More specifically though, fear is usually a negative expectancy of a future event. Fear is a projection of past, negative experiences into the future. I would therefore say that fear, the strictest sense of the word, is despair.
We see despair in action in story of the disciples in the boat during a storm at sea in Matthew 8. Jesus put a demand on His disciples for love that would rise above despair. Jesus knew precisely how they would respond. But the fact that He acted as if they should have been calm, suggests that through Him it is possible to maintain peace even when it seems that your life is in danger. Obviously, something supernatural is required here. See John 14:26-27.
If the disciples had the peace that Jesus promised in John 14:27 – they would not have reacted the way they did; it would have been impossible for them to do so, because John 4:18 says that perfect love casts out fear.
If fear is despair or dread and if hope is the attribute of love that is the closest equal opposite of despair or dread, then we could read John 4:18 as:
There is no despair in hope; but perfect hope casts out despair, because despair involves torment. But he who despairs has not been made perfect in hope. We could also read that verse, substituting the word "fear" with "dread".
It seems rather difficult for the mind to grasp spiritual concepts such as love. Only the recreated spirit of man can receive the things of God as the Holy Spirit reveals them. Too many Christians are still living according to a works mentality: they take the responsibility of love upon themselves without knowing how to access it.
When a believer develops knowledge of what love really is and that it only comes from God, it sets him free from the burden of having to live right by his own strength and his own understanding. A works mentality spurns God’s love and welcomes guilt.
The word despair only appears once in the King James Version of the Bible. Although the Greek word used is also translated as despaired in another verse of the New Testament.
According to Strong’s Dictionary of Greek Words, the Greek word exaporeomai translated despair and despaired in the King James Version, means:
Middle voice from G1537 and G639; to be utterly at a loss, that is, despond: - (in) despair.
According to Thayer’s Greek Definitions, this Greek word means:
1) to be utterly at loss, be utterly destitute of measures or resources, to renounce all hope, be in despair
Joseph Thayer uses the term to renounce all hope in his description of despair. So despair is the opposite of hope. It stands to reason that if a person has this hope aspect of love in their life, they will be unable to succumb to despair.
Despair comes when a person seems to have no other option than to trust in their own limited ability, other people, or the circumstances of life. Despair is always the result of an absence of God or simply not being made perfect in love.
The word dread is closely related to the word despair; the Concise Oxford English Dictionary describes the word dread as: great fear or apprehension. Dread is fear and often manifests itself as a vague sense of foreboding – as if something bad is going to happen, although you do not quite know what.
This is the total opposite of the Biblical concept of hope, which is the Greek word elpizō (G1679) (verb) or elpis (G1680) (noun). Hope is the expectation of good, whereas, fear is the expectation of bad. Fear or dread, just like hope can be either vague and generic or it can be specific.
Fear is caused by an absence of love, and therefore, is separation from God. Fear is the result of spiritual death. Fear, therefore, can be seen as encompassing a whole range of negative attributes, such as anger, bitterness, pride, envy and so on. More specifically though, fear is usually a negative expectancy of a future event. Fear is a projection of past, negative experiences into the future. I would therefore say that fear, the strictest sense of the word, is despair.
We see despair in action in story of the disciples in the boat during a storm at sea in Matthew 8. Jesus put a demand on His disciples for love that would rise above despair. Jesus knew precisely how they would respond. But the fact that He acted as if they should have been calm, suggests that through Him it is possible to maintain peace even when it seems that your life is in danger. Obviously, something supernatural is required here. See John 14:26-27.
If the disciples had the peace that Jesus promised in John 14:27 – they would not have reacted the way they did; it would have been impossible for them to do so, because John 4:18 says that perfect love casts out fear.
If fear is despair or dread and if hope is the attribute of love that is the closest equal opposite of despair or dread, then we could read John 4:18 as:
There is no despair in hope; but perfect hope casts out despair, because despair involves torment. But he who despairs has not been made perfect in hope. We could also read that verse, substituting the word "fear" with "dread".
It seems rather difficult for the mind to grasp spiritual concepts such as love. Only the recreated spirit of man can receive the things of God as the Holy Spirit reveals them. Too many Christians are still living according to a works mentality: they take the responsibility of love upon themselves without knowing how to access it.
When a believer develops knowledge of what love really is and that it only comes from God, it sets him free from the burden of having to live right by his own strength and his own understanding. A works mentality spurns God’s love and welcomes guilt.
Faith Works by Trust and Hope
I am convinced that faith will not work without love, because faith requires the two vital ingredients of love that we have just studied: belief (or trust) and hope. According to the Concise Oxford English Dictionary, the word hope means:
1 A feeling of expectation and desire. A cause or source of hope. Grounds for hoping.
2 Archaic: a feeling of trust.
Again, we are directed towards trust, as hope is a feeling of trust in archaic terms. The modern sense of hope is an expectation and desire. We often say thing like, “I hope things will go well at my job interview next week.” Kenneth E. Hagin and E.W. Kenyon have both written about the difference between faith and hope. Hope says, “I’ll have the promise someday.” Whereas, faith says, “I have it now.”
1 A feeling of expectation and desire. A cause or source of hope. Grounds for hoping.
2 Archaic: a feeling of trust.
Again, we are directed towards trust, as hope is a feeling of trust in archaic terms. The modern sense of hope is an expectation and desire. We often say thing like, “I hope things will go well at my job interview next week.” Kenneth E. Hagin and E.W. Kenyon have both written about the difference between faith and hope. Hope says, “I’ll have the promise someday.” Whereas, faith says, “I have it now.”
Faith and Love Are Interdependant
The Theologian John Gill suggests that faith and love are interdependant, as his description of 1 Thessalonians 5:8, in John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible, includes the following statement:
Faith may answer to the former, and love to the latter: these two graces go together, faith works by love, and love always accompanies faith; as there can be no true faith where there is no love, so there is no true love where faith is wanting.
We know that faith works by love because of what Galatians 5:6 says. But we also know that faith or trust is an aspect of love, because of what 1 Corinthians 13:7 says. I believe that all the components of love are interdependent: you cannot be kind to someone, for instance, unless you are longsuffering towards them; neither can you believe God for a miracle if you do not forgive a person, and therefore, are not longsuffering towards them.
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