![]() ![]() Luke 17:6 And the Lord said: If you had faith like to a grain of mustard seed, you might say to this mulberry tree: Be thou rooted up and be thou transplanted into the sea. Mark 11:23 Amen I say to you that whosoever shall say to this mountain, Be thou removed and be cast into the sea, and shall not stagger in his heart, but be believe that whatsoever he saith shall be done it shall be done unto him. ![]() Matthew 21:21 And Jesus answering, said to them: Amen, I say to you, if you shall have faith and stagger not, not only this of the fig tree shall you do, but also if you shall say to this mountain, Take up and cast thyself into the sea, it shall be done. Hebrews 3:19 And we see that they could not enter in, because of unbelief. Matthew 14:30,31 But seeing the wind strong, he was afraid: and when he began to sink, he cried out, saying: Lord, save me. Matthew 17:17 And Jesus rebuked him, and the devil went out of him, and the child was cured from that hour. You must act according to the will of God as He reveals it to you by His Word and through His Spirit.But this kind is not cast out but by prayer and fasting. When you try to misapply the Scriptures this way, you are treating God as if He were a genie in a bottle, and as you experienced, nothing will happen. Therefore, no believer can issue commands “in faith” as you described expecting the Lord to carry them out. The disciples knew the Lord was inclined to grant them the capacity to forgive because He commanded it! They only needed to place their trust in the word of Jesus when He commanded them to forgive, and the Lord would do the hard part of granting them the capacity to forgive. Likewise, Jesus' disciples did not need faith to learn how to forgive. Out faith allowed us to be in the right place to see it happen. If we act in faith and speak that word and the mountain moves, it was not our word or even our faith that moved the mountain. We only need the faith to trust God at His word. We do not have to find the power within ourselves to accomplish it. So when Jesus says we only need a little faith to move a mountain, He means that if God reveals to us that He is willing to move a mountain by our word, then we only need a little faith (i.e., trust in His word) to see that mountain moved. God must tell us what He will do before we can place our confidence in that word. If the Lord has not told us of His future plans, there is nothing in which to place our faith. ![]() So faith means holding to a confident expectation concerning something God will do in the future, but such faith is only possible when the Lord reveals HIs plans to us. 11:1 Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. Therefore, faith is merely believing in God’s ability and inclination to do that thing. Rather, God must do every good work in His own power: James 1:17 Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow. He says that faith isn’t a means of increasing personal strength such that we may carry out the commands of God. In response Jesus uses hyperbole to explain how they have completely misunderstood how faith works. To this request the disciples respond, “Increase our faith!” They are so astounded by Jesus words that they question their abilities to keep His command, so they ask the Lord to grant them more ability (i.e., more faith) to carry it out. Individually, Jews commonly withheld forgiveness from one another as a means of securing financial concessions, etc.īut now Jesus tells His disciples to extend forgiveness without preconditions and without limit. Jewish religious leaders offered God’s forgiveness to the people only after they had met the Pharisee’s expectations for contrition and atonement. Forgiveness was a powerful source of leverage in Jewish society, and it was granted only after gaining as much benefit as possible from extending it. For a 1st century Jew, this would have seemed like an impossible standard. The Lord tells His disciples that He expects us to extend limitless forgiveness to our brothers and sisters in faith. Luke 17:6 And the Lord said, “If you had faith like a mustard seed, you would say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and be planted in the sea’ and it would obey you. Luke 17:5 The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith!” ![]() Luke 17:4 “And if he sins against you seven times a day, and returns to you seven times, saying, ‘I repent,’ forgive him.” The full context of the quote you mentioned is: Luke 17:3 “Be on your guard! If your brother sins, rebuke him and if he repents, forgive him. You have misunderstood Jesus’ teaching, and as a result you are expecting things to happen which Jesus never promised. ![]()
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