John 14:26
Before this sermon, I had a hard time thinking about Faith as a Spiritual Gift. We have to have faith to accept Christ, but we don’t receive Gifts of the Spirit until we accept Christ, so how is faith a gift of the Spirit.
The best way I can explain it is that everyone who comes to Christ has personal faith that brings salvation. But remember, Spiritual gifts are given for the common good, for the edification of the Church, and used to reach others for Christ. The faith that brings a person to Christ is for them; it is personal.
The Spiritual Gift of Faith is a supernatural endowment of the Spirit that gives a person complete confidence in God’s promises, power, and presence.
The gift of Faith brings far more than simply confidence; confidence can come naturally. Nonbelievers can have courage and confidence, and everyone can do things to build up their confidence. However, believers gifted with supernatural faith believe God for big, huge, unbelievable things before they ever see evidence of God at work.
Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 12:9 when he is talking about Spiritual Gifts that while some receive wisdom or knowledge, others receive faith by the same Spirit. This faith is different from the faith that brings us to Christ and the faith that gets us through the day. This faith doesn’t work a miracle; it gives a miracle. It’s the faith that comes on us and assures us that everything will be all right. It’s the faith that provides us with the ability to pick up our feet and continue to put one of them in front of the other despite the dumpster fire that is our lives at that moment.