“For what if some did not believe? shall their unbelief make the faith of God without effect? God forbid: yea, let God be true, but every man a liar; as it is written, That thou mightest be justified in thy sayings, and mightest overcome when thou art judged.” (Romans 3:2-3, emphasis mine.)
There are many that denigrate the message of faith from God’s Word. They call teachers of faith heretics, and say that we are teaching “name it and claim it” and “blab it and grab” messages. My pastor, Ed Taylor, once was confronted by a local minister that said, “All you Faith Preachers (saying it disdainfully) I just call ‘faith peddlers!'” Well, my friend, if you aren’t “peddling faith,” what, may I ask, are you peddling? Are we to teach unbelief and doubt? There are apparently those that believe so! Let me state categorically that I do “peddle faith!” I do “name it and claim it” and I “blab and grab” everything that God’s Word promises I can have! To do otherwise would be ungrateful to God for His magnificent provisions! There are many that say that faith teachers are arrogant and prideful.
That is because they don’t understand “where we are coming from.” What do I mean? Well, these ministers might say, “Oh, I am unworthy of this, and I am unworthy of that.” Well, in our own position outside of God, I would agree… indeed, I am unworthy in that regard. BUT, I am not outside of God! I am the righteousness of God, in Him! (1 Corinthians 5:17-21) In whom? In Jesus! I am righteous with His righteousness! For me to say I am now unworthy, or unrighteous, is to diminish what God has, through Jesus, done for me! What is a greater indication of pride? To graciously accept all that Jesus has done for me and “brag” on His righteousness, or to exalt and revel in my personal baseness and unrighteousness? To, in effect, say that what Jesus did by His death on the cross, burial, and resurrection is of NO effect. I say with Paul, “God forbid!”
No, pride is to take any stand OTHER than what God says about us! I humbly state what God says about us as believers:
I am the righteousness of God in Christ! (1 Corinthians 5:17-21)
I am more than a conqueror through Christ Jesus! (Romans 8:37)
I always triumph in Christ Jesus! (2 Corinthians 2:14)
He (Jesus) became poor that I might be rich! (2 Corinthians 8:9)
I am the healed of the Lord! (1 Peter 2:24)
And I could continue… but the important point is that if God says it about me, then THAT’S the way it is, whether is suits anyone else or not. Let God be true, and every man a liar! (Romans 3:4)
