Romans 1:17 For in the gospel the righteousness of God is revealed—a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: “The righteous will live by faith.”
One of the evidences of being a Believer is that we live by faith. In 1 Corinthians 12 faith is listed as one of the Gifts of the Spirit. The Greek and the Hebrew word for faith both refer to character and not intellect. The gift of faith therefore, is a characteristic not intellect. Faith according to the Greek, Hebrew understanding of the word, is a commitment to God. The Gift of Faith is a gift from God of a mustard seed size portion of His faith. It is not something we have nor is it something we claim, it is something we are given by God and it is only given to us when it is needed to suit God’s purposes. That is what makes the Fruit of Faith, which is one of the Fruits of the Spirit, different from the Gift of Faith. The Fruit of Faith is something we display in our daily lives and interactions as a Believer.
Mark 11:21-23 “Rabbi, look! The fig tree You cursed has withered!” 22 “Have faith in God,” Yeshua answered. 23 “Truly I tell you, if anyone says to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and does not doubt in their heart but believes that what they say will happen, it will be done for them.”
Yeshua answered, “Have faith in God” but the actual Greek says “Have the faith of God” Yeshua was saying that if you have God’s faith, in other words, if God imparts a mustard seed size of His faith to us, the words we speak, the things we do will be as effective as if God did or said it. But it’s not our faith, it is God’s faith given to us at that moment as a gift. It is not our faith that accomplishes it. All the Gifts of the Spirit come and go to and from us as they are needed and that is determined by God, not by us.
In verse 23 Yeshua says: “Truly I tell you, if anyone says to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and does not doubt in their heart but believes that what they say will happen, it will be done for them.” This verse applies to anything in our lives; there is nothing we cannot accomplish with God’s faith. However, we are not the ones in control; something like this only happens when God imparts His faith to us for the situation at hand, as His gift. We are not the ones in control of this Gift of Faith, God is because it’s His faith.
Matthew 17:20 He replied, “Because you have so little faith. Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.”
Here Matthew describes the same incident. What Yeshua is saying here is that if it is God’s faith, you don’t need a lot of it; a mustard seed size of faith, which is the smallest of all seeds, will move a mountain. In other words, it is not the quantity of our faith that moves mountains, it is the quality of our faith and seeing that the faith is God’s faith, it is perfect faith. When God gives us this Gift of Faith, or any other Gift of the Spirit, He only gives it as He deems it necessary. It is not something we turn on and off at will. God gives it whether it be for the purpose of moving a mountain in our lives or to accomplish a difficult or seemingly impossible task. However, once we use that Gift for the purpose God gave it, we no longer have it until God deems we need it again. Thinking that it is our Gift is pride.