Titus 3:12-15 When I shall send Artemas unto thee, or Tychicus, be diligent to come unto me to Nicopolis: for I have determined there to winter. Bring Zenas the lawyer and Apollos on their journey diligently, that nothing be wanting unto them. And let ours also learn to maintain good works for necessary uses, that they be not unfruitful. All that are with me salute thee. Greet them that love us in the faith. Grace be with you all. Amen.
Neither mental faith nor mere assent to truth and dependence upon feelings is enough. The individual must come to life and action before he will realize the benefits of active, living faith that refuses to know defeat and failure. A man must learn to fight the fight of faith and lay hold of God and His Word. He must learn that he is surrounded by an unbelieving world and an atmosphere of doubts, that demons and fallen angels and men have lived for centuries in unbelief and wickedness creating currents of doubt and mistrust that are very subtle, and that effects of the Fall have left in the lives of fallen men deep wounds of doubt and wavering that must be healed. He must learn that he has to wrestle with powers of darkness and currents of mistrust and unbelief which make it a struggle to exercise active living faith for things that are not seen. He must not only learn how to do this, but he must do it in order to get results.
We must have strong faith (Rom. 4:20) – the kind that refuses to be defeated. It refuses to take no for an answer. It laughs at circumstances, symptoms, all outward appearances, and what is seen, heard, or felt, and it doggedly holds to the fact that what has been asked of God is granted. This is the kind of faith all men should have and could have if they would only persuade themselves that God is true to His Word. Most men claim that they have faith in God to this extent, and no one wants to say boldly that He is a liar and that He will not do as He said, but when it comes to exercising faith that will not doubt or waver in prayer, very few will maintain such a strong faith and thank God for the answer even before it is realized. Very few will simply refuse to question or waver in the least when it seems that things are going contrary to what has been asked of God. This is exactly why they do not get definite answers from God.
Great faith (Matt. 8:10; 15:28) is the true, unwavering faith that will always move God to answer according to His abundant promises (Heb. 11:6).
Unfeigned faith (1Tim. 1:5; 2Tim. 1:5) is the kind that knows no hypocrisy, sham, or counterfeit. It is the kind that does not brag or put on an outward show that it is real. It is simply genuine and real and sincere in every aspect. It proceeds out of a pure heart and from a good conscience, as stated in these Scriptures. It is not hereditary, although in 2Timothy 1:5 Paul speaks of it as being in three successive generations. It is the kind that all honest, pure, and sincere men have. It is the unselfish, holy, and godly kind that naturally increases in the life of every true child of God, as he grows in grace and knowledge (2 Pet. 1:4-9; 3:18).
Living the Word 