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The Ingredients Of Great Faith

by Dale Linton  
9/02/2010 / Bible Studies

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What Are the Ingredients of Great Faith ?

We are given a definition of "great faith" in the following verses. The son of God marvelled at something in this story and then defined it, as to give us a clue to how we might access such faith.
So, what does Jesus marvel at and cause Him to label as "great faith"?

Mat 8:5 And when Jesus was entered into Capernaum, there came unto him a centurion, beseeching him,
Mat 8:6 And saying, Lord, my servant lieth at home sick of the palsy, grievously tormented.
Mat 8:7 And Jesus saith unto him, I will come and heal him.
Mat 8:8 The centurion answered and said, Lord, I am not worthy that thou shouldest come under my roof: but speak the word only, and my servant shall be healed.
Mat 8:9 For I am a man under authority, having soldiers under me: and I say to this man, Go, and he goeth; and to another, Come, and he cometh; and to my servant, Do this, and he doeth it.
Mat 8:10 When Jesus heard it, he marvelled, and said to them that followed, Verily I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel.

What Is Great About This Faith?

The answer to this question is very easily answered by saying great faith was the centurions proclomation that Jesus need not go to his house. That is exactly correct, but leaving the definition there doesn't explain the heart of the story. Lets break it down:


2Co 5:7 (For we walk by faith, not by sight:)
Rom 10:17 So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.

Considering these two verses, which one must come first? The answer is if we walk replacing faith for sight then we must have faith in order to do that. So if faith comes by hearing then we must hear first and then have the ability to see using faith as our vision.

This point is comfirmed by looking at Gen 3: 9,10,11:

Gen 3:9 And the LORD God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou?
Gen 3:10 And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself.
Gen 3:11 And he said, Who told thee that thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat?

Gods question , "who told thee", brings the hearing aspect into order with Adams eyes being opened.

Here is a more accurate question, What did the centurion "hear" or reason within himself that was so totally dependant on a divine transfer of knowledge, that it caused Jesus to marvel as to the fact that he had knowledge of this truth? The answer is that the centurion was able, by inwardly hearing and then seeing, to interpret natural events to describe and define a spiritual operation that was impossible for him to have knowledge of. He was able to correlate the activities within his job title and life style to the activities in the spiritual world to pin point accuracy. He detailed not only the status Jesus had in this unseen world of the spiritual, but accurately quoted out of a spiritual rule book the way it was! Lets say it this way, he was able to describe, in detail, a two sided coin by only using one side.
This ability to hear and see these depths of truth leads us to levels of understanding that motivate us into action. This would appear to be the case in this story. It's as if this Roman guard had to, or felt compelled to, tell Jesus what he knew. Again, this centurion first heard and then saw a truth that wasn't given to him by flesh and blood: causing Gods son to marvel at His Fathers grace.

I have a desire to see the body of Christ edified. Within the broad spectrum of edification I feel there exists a great need and opportunity for spiritual education at foundational levels. Please contact me about speaking at your church. Dale Linton 410-378-5035 or [email protected]

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