After believing to be saved by grace through faith in the Lord Jesus and His crosswork for us, we eventually realize that we yet lack the faith necessary to go on, to grow, and to totally abandon ourselves to the Lord.

But, how exactly does such faith grow? Paul here gives us insight as to what is involved.

“That …the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of Wisdom and Revelation in the Knowledge of him: ¹⁸The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance IN the saints (in every believer),” (Eph. 1:17-18)

Here we will consider the difference between two kinds of faith.

1. First in our experience there is ‘objective faith’ that was aroused in us when we first heard the grace gospel as word of our Salvation, as the Spirit drew us. We recognized our need and believed to receive Christ as Savior. We didn’t yet have understanding, but we knew we had a need and that Jesus was the answer.
2. Then later there is the ‘subjective (personal) faith’ that grows in believers over the years as we come to ‘see’ or ‘hear’ the Scriptures with Holy Spirit eyes and ears ... only the Holy Spirit can quicken or electrifies the ‘word of truth’ to us. This makes the words we’ve heard or read in Scripture inescapable to us ... producing ‘faith for living’ as it relates to one aspect of life or another. This is all ‘the work of God.’

“For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.” (Philippians 2:13)

Prayerful study of “the Word of Truth” with “revelation” by the Holy Spirit that brings us to spiritual wisdom and maturity in our understanding. The Christian life does not work on the basis of ignorance. This understanding is not based upon us having superior intellectual powers. The superior intellects among unsaved men are unable to appreciate even the “simple” truths of the Word and certainly not “the deep things of God” (1Cor. 2:10). Paul says these things “are spiritually discerned” (I Cor. 2:14) by ‘revelation’ that comes to us by indwelling Holy Spirit … unto our soul’s ‘mind.’

“The spirit of man is the candle [oil lamp] of the LORD, searching all the inward parts of the belly [soul].” (Proverbs 20:27)

“But when it pleased God, who separated me [Paul] from my mother's womb, and called me by his grace,
¹⁶ To reveal his Son in me, …” (Galatians 1:15-16a)

Paul (above in Gal 5:15) refers to the necessary great revelation of “Christ in you.” Our “spirit of man” was created to be the receptacle for “the [holy] Spirit of life in Christ Jesus” with whom we are “one spirit.”

“But he that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit.” 1 Corinthians 6:17

“To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory:” Col. 1:27

All genuine revelation flows from the believer’s regenerated “spirit” to search out and enlighten his soul. The light of the Holy Spirit reveals to us “the riches of the glory” of the “Mystery” of Christ in us. Christ in us is the “Glory (life expression) of God” placed in our spirit, within our earthly vessel.

The “mystery” (Grk, musterion, God’s secret plan) that Jesus in His celestial ministry from heaven made known to Paul declares that the former secret is now “revealed unto His holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit” (Eph. 3:5) and manifest to all of us as “the saints.”

The intricacies of the “mystery” are impossible for the unsaved to grasp intellectually. The Apostle Paul specifically states that it is “not the [human] wisdom of this world,” but “the wisdom of God” (I Cor. 2:6-7). The wisdom that comes by the scripture as the “the Spirit of God” unveils it to us can be understood and appreciated. This explains why many humble and lowly believers can rejoice in knowledge of “the mystery” and understand clearly, while so many great theologians and religious leaders fail to grasp it.

Most religious people bound by ‘religious tradition’ miss the truth; they confuse Paul’s ‘Mystery Program’ as applies to “the church, the body of Christ” with God’s ‘Prophetic program’ regarding Israel and Christ’s coming kingdom on earth. But God’s Grace Program for “the body of Christ” and His Prophecy Program for Israel represent two different programs for God’s two people groups – “the body of Christ” lives under grace and will co-reign with Christ in heaven (2Tim. 2:12), while Israel is under “the Law” and destined to co-reign with Christ on earth. (Rev 5:10, 20:6)

Paul says the “mystery” is not “hard to be understood” because men are slow of mind to understand, but rather because they are “slow of heart to believe,” because the devil “hath blinded the minds of them that believe not” often blinding men by their manmade ‘religious traditions.’

The devil also seeks to keep God’s people from ‘seeing’ and rejoicing in the liberating truth of “the mystery” with its riches of God’s grace, its “one body,” and its “one baptism” into that “one body” (1Cor. 12:13) This is why the Apostle prayed so fervently that the believers to whom he ministered might be given “spiritual understanding” to take in the glorious message that Christ commissioned him to proclaim (See Eph. 1:16-19).

“For this cause we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to desire that ye might be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; ¹⁰ That ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God;” (Col. 1:9-10)

After being saved, we eventually realize that we lack the faith to go on, grow, and abandon ourselves totally to the Lord. But, how exactly does our faith Grow? Paul gives us insight of what is involved.

“That …the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him: ¹⁸The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance IN the saints (believers),” (Eph. 1:17-18)

In this Study Series we will look into the difference between the ‘objective (general) faith’ necessary for Salvation and the “subjective (personal) faith” that grows as we come to see the Scriptures with Holy Spirit eyes... that electrify the words of truth and makes them inescapable... so as to produce faith for living.

Such honest, prayerful study of the Word of Truth brings us to spiritual maturity and understanding. It does not require superior intellectual powers to understand these “deep things of God” (1Cor. 2:10). The superior intellects among unsaved men are unable to appreciate even the “simple” truths of the Word, for “they are spiritually discerned” (I Cor. 2:14).

The “mystery” (Grk, musterion, God’s secret plan) that Jesus made known to Paul for us declares that the secret is now “revealed unto His holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit” (Eph. 3:5). The intricacies of the “mystery” is something difficult to grasp intellectually, for the Apostle specifically states that it is “not the wisdom of this world” but “the wisdom of God” (I Cor. 2:6-7), and that only by the Spirit of God can it be understood and appreciated. This explains why many of the humblest believers can rejoice in knowledge of “the mystery” and understand clearly, while so many great theologians and religious leaders fail to grasp it and confuse it with God’s prophesied program regarding Israel and Christ’s kingdom to come on earth.

The “mystery” is not “hard to be understood” because men are slow of mind to understand, but rather because they are “slow of heart to believe,” because the devil, who “hath blinded the minds of them that believe not.” He also seeks to keep God’s people from seeing and rejoicing in the truth of the mystery with its riches of grace, its “one body” and its “one baptism.” This is why the Apostle prayed so fervently that the believers to whom he ministered might be given “spiritual understanding” to take in the glorious message he was commissioned to proclaim (See Eph. 1:16-19; Col. 1:9-10).