THE DOCTRINE OF FAITH IN GOD

On By pastor Pedro MontoyaIn Kingdom of God

The doctrine of faith in God, although mentioned only once in all the writings of the New Testament, was in its beginnings – and is – a fundamental doctrine of the Gospel of the Kingdom, because through it all the deformed concepts of the pagan divinities widely established among the Gentile and barbarian communities are erased; and on the other hand, because through it the Hebrew communities are discipled about the messianism of Jesus.

The doctrine of faith in God is defined as a doctrine of the beginning.[1] This doctrine is based on the Mosaic Law, on the statutes set forth in the Ten Commandments, and mainly on the declaration of the Shema Yisrael.[2] The doctrine of faith in God is defined as the doctrine of the beginning.

Faith in God does not only consist in believing that God exists, for as the apostle James rightly states, even the demons believe and tremble,

19 Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble.

James 2:19

Faith in God is to understand God, to know His will, to know how He acts, to know His thought.

Now therefore, if I have found favor in thy sight, I pray thee, show me now thy way, that I may know thee, that I may find favor in thy sight: and behold, these are thy people. 

Exodus 33:13

Faith in God is to recognize that He is God, the only true God, and that apart from Him there is no one,

7 And who, as I, shall call, and shall declare it, and set it in order for me, since I appointed the ancient people? and the things that are coming, and shall come, let them shew unto them.  8 Fear ye not, neither be afraid: have not I told thee from that time, and have declared it? ye are even my witnesses. Is there a God beside me? yea, there is no God; I know not any.

Isaiah 44:7-8

Faith in God is to recognize that God is the Creator of all things, that by his hand all things subsist, and that nothing that exists was created without his consent,

16 O Lord of hosts, God of Israel, that dwellest between the cherubims, thou art the God, even thou alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth: thou hast made heaven and earth.

Isaiah 37:16

17 And he is before all things, and by him all things consist.

Colossians 1:17

10 For it became him, for whom are all things, and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons unto glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings.

Hebrews 2:10

Faith in God is to recognize that God intervenes in human activities, and He decides even on the governments of the earth,

32 And they shall drive thee from men, and thy dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field: they shall make thee to eat grass as oxen, and seven times shall pass over thee, until thou know that the most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will.

Daniel 4:32

Faith in God is recognizing that everything that happens on earth is because He allows it, that with everything that happens, divine purposes are established; …

9 Remember the former things of old: for I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like me,

Isaiah 46:9

…and that even under the circumstances He speaks to men,

6 And I also have given you cleanness of teeth in all your cities, and want of bread in all your places: yet have ye not returned unto me, saith the Lord.

Amos 4:6

The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork. 2 Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night sheweth knowledge. 3 There is no speech nor language, where their voice is not heard. 4 Their line is gone out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world. In them hath he set a tabernacle for the sun,

Psalm 19:1-4

Faith in God consists in believing that He is a rewarder of those who fear Him.

But without faith it is impossible to please God: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him. 

Hebrews 11:6

And when they arose in the morning, they went out into the wilderness of Tekoa. And as they went out, Jehoshaphat stood and said, Hear me, O Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem. Believe the LORD your God, and ye shall be safe; believe his prophets, and ye shall prosper.

2 Chronicles 20:20

3 He will not suffer thy foot to be moved: he that keepeth thee will not slumber.  4 Behold, he that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep.

Psalm 121:3-4

Faith in God consists in believing Him, believing that His Word is not in vain, that when He speaks He will fulfill all that He has spoken, and that He will not take away nor repent of the good that He has spoken,

4 And, behold, the word of the Lord came unto him, saying, This shall not be thine heir; but he that shall come forth out of thine own bowels shall be thine heir. 5 And he brought him forth abroad, and said, Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them: and he said unto him, So shall thy seed be. 6 And he believed in the Lord; and he counted it to him for righteousness.   

Genesis 15:4-6

Fully convinced that whatever He had promised, He was also mighty to do it. 

Romans 4:21

For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end. 

Jeremiah 29:11

Faith in God means understanding that God is jealous, and that He does not share His glory with anyone.

I am the LORD: this is my name; and to another will I not give my glory, nor my praise to graven images.    

Isaiah 42:8

Faith in God makes us understand that idolatry is abominable to Jehovah-God and is considered as a human attempt to displace Him by a demonic being according to Satan’s attempt to be like Him.

Thou shalt not bow down thyself unto them, nor honor them: for I am the LORD thy God, the LORD thy God, the mighty, the jealous God, which visiteth the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, upon the third and upon the fourth, upon them that hate me,

Exodus 20:5.

For thou shalt not bow down thyself unto another god: for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God.

Exodus 34:14

Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the third, and upon the fourth, even upon them that hate me,

Deuteronomy 5:9.

For this ye know, that no fornicator, nor unclean person, nor covetous man, nor servant of idols, hath any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God. 

Ephesians 5:5

Faith in God is to believe that He IS one God, Almighty, Omnipotent….

And when Abram was ninety and nine years old, the LORD appeared unto him, and said unto him, I am the Almighty God: walk before me, and be thou perfect. 

Genesis 17:1

I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty.

Revelation 1:8

…a God who knows all things, who is Omniscient,

Behold, I am the LORD, the God of all flesh; shall anything be hid from me?

Jeremiah 32:27

O lord, thou hast searched me, and known me. 2 Thou knowest my downsitting and mine uprising, thou understandest my thought afar off. 3 Thou compassest my path and my lying down, and art acquainted with all my ways. 4 For there is not a word in my tongue, but, lo, O Lord, thou knowest it altogether.

Psalm 139:1-4

Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father in sanctification of the Spirit, to obey and to be sprinkled with the blood of Jesus Christ: Grace be multiplied unto you, and peace. 

1st Peter 1:2

…a God who is present everywhere, who is Omnipresent,

7 Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence? 8 If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there. 9 If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea; 10 Even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me.

Psalm 139:7-10

…an Eternal God,

33 And Abraham planted a grove in Beersheba, and called there on the name of the Lord, the everlasting God. 

Genesis 21:33

For thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is the Holy One, I dwell in the height and holiness, and with the meek and humble in spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the broken. 

Isaiah 57:15

Thy throne, O God, is everlasting and everlasting: the rod of righteousness is the rod of thy kingdom. 

Psalm 45:6

Blessed be the LORD God of Israel from everlasting to everlasting. And all the people said, Amen: and praised the LORD.  

1 Chronicles 16:36

Before the mountains were brought forth, And thou hast formed the earth and the world, And from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God. 

Psalm 90:2

…an immutable God, who does not change and in whom there is no shadow of variation,

God is not a man, that he should lie; nor a son of man, that he should repent: he hath said, and shall he not do it? he hath spoken, and shall he not perform it? 

Numbers 23:19

That by two immutable things, wherein it is impossible for God to lie, we may have a very strong consolation, which we have received to hold fast to the hope which is set forth:

Hebrews 6:18

Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, in whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning. 

James 1:17

…a Holy and Perfect God,

For I am Jehovah your God, therefore ye shall sanctify yourselves, and ye shall be holy, because I am holy: so that ye defile not your persons with any creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. 45For I am the LORD, which bring you up out of the land of Egypt to be your God: ye shall therefore be holy, for I am holy. 

Leviticus 11:44-45

God, his way is perfect: the word of the LORD is established: he is a shield to all them that wait for him. 

Psalm 18:30 

Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect. 

Matthew 5:48

…a God of truth, just, righteous, upright, there is no iniquity in Him, merciful, gracious, longsuffering, having compassion on the needy, and His wrath endures not forever,

He is the Rock, whose work is perfect, For all his ways are uprightness: he is a God of truth, and there is no iniquity in him: he is just and righteous. 

Deuteronomy 32:4

For the LORD your God is a merciful God; he will not forsake you, nor destroy you, nor forget the covenant of your fathers which he swore to them. 

Deuteronomy 4:31

I would have fainted, except I had believed that I should see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living.  

Psalm 27:13

But thou, O Lord, God, merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and truth;

Psalm 86:15

Go, and cry these words unto the north, and say, Return, O rebellious Israel, saith the LORD; I will not bring my wrath upon you: for I am merciful, saith the LORD, I will not keep anger forever. 

Jeremiah 3:12

…a God who is a savior, a deliverer, who rebukes the devourer, who gives life and breath, who strengthens and makes to sit on high,

For I the LORD your God, the Holy One of Israel, am your Savior: I have given Egypt for your ransom, Ethiopia and Sheba for you. 

Isaiah 43:3

Though I be afflicted and needy, yet the LORD will think of me, Thou art my help and my deliverer: O my God, delay not. 

Psalm 40:17

I will also rebuke the devourer for your sakes, and the fruit of the land shall not corrupt you; neither shall your vine in the field fail, saith the LORD of hosts. 

Malachi 3:11

Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me. 

Psalm 23:4

He giveth power to the faint, and increaseth strength to him that hath none… 31But they that wait for the LORD shall have new strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; they shall run, and not faint; they shall walk, and not be weary.

Isaiah 40:29-31

The doctrine of faith in God is more than a confession, more than a declaration, even much more than a body of doctrine.

The doctrine of faith in God is conviction, revelation, understanding, discernment; it is spiritual growth and maturity, ceasing to be spiritual children; it is exercising the senses in the discernment of good and evil, walking towards perfection; and this we shall truly do, if God permits….

And the LORD said unto Moses, How long shall this people vex me, and how long shall they not believe me for all the signs that I have done among them? 

Numbers 14:11

All biblical texts are taken from the King James Version Bible (KJV).

Learning Assessment Questions

For your own benefit, according to what has been presented in this lesson, answer:

What is the Doctrine of Faith in God?

What does the Doctrine of Faith in God consist of?

pastor Pedro Montoya

[1] Hebrews 6:1

[2] Deuteronomy 6:4

The openings of God’s Mercy for those who walk under the curse of their acts

On By pastor Pedro MontoyaIn Kingdom of God

The case of the Syrophoenician woman is not just another account of deliverance from demons in the Gospels.

Studying this account once again, the Lord made me understand that the case of the Syrophoenician woman is not a simple case of deliverance from demons; although the reason for the request of the Syrophoenician woman was because of a demon that tormented her daughter, in reality, it is an exceptional case of how God manifests His Mercy to people for whom the Gospel is closed because of the curses they have inherited from their past generations.

The story to which I refer is found in the Gospel of Mark, chapter seven, which reads:

24 And from thence he arose, and went into the borders of Tyre and Sidon, and entered into an house, and would have no man know it: but he could not be hid. 25 For a certain woman, whose young daughter had an unclean spirit, heard of him, and came and fell at his feet: 26 the woman was a Greek, a Syrophoenician by nation; and she besought him that he would cast forth the devil out of her daughter. 27 But Jesus said unto her, Let the children first be filled: for it is not meet to take the children’s bread, and to cast it unto the dogs. 28 And she answered and said unto him, Yes, Lord: yet the dogs under the table eat of the children’s crumbs. 29 And he said unto her, For this saying go thy way; the devil is gone out of thy daughter. 30 And when she was come to her house, she found the devil gone out, and her daughter laid upon the bed.

Mark 7:24-30

The way this deliverance story is presented is intended, in principle, to emphasize that for a person to receive deliverance from demons, he or she does not necessarily have to be present before the minister who exercises deliverance; a deliverance can be carried out from a distance.

The story also establishes teaching about deliverance from demons, in the sense that deliverance does have a condition, and that is that the person must first be a ‘son, daughter’ in order to merit it. A person who does not want to be part of the Kingdom of God cannot be worthy of the benefit of deliverance, because his very condition does not allow him to be free from darkness.

But as for the subject we have proposed, the Syrophoenician woman is the typical case of people for whom the Gospel is forbidden, and not because this is the Will of God, but because their acts have placed them within the list of curses that prevent their understanding from recognizing the dispensation of the Grace of the Lord.

Let us review in more detail the case of the woman Syrophoenician; the words that Jesus addressed to her were: it is not good to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs. With these words he was declaring to her that for her request to be fulfilled, it was first necessary for her to become a ‘daughter’.

The Syrophoenician woman was not a ‘daughter’, however she received deliverance from the demon that tormented her daughter, and it is here where the story becomes important for cases of people where the process of Grace is reversed; the case of the Syrophoenician woman cannot be seen only as a case of deliverance from demons, the case of the Syrophoenician woman is a case where God opened an opening of Mercy for this woman, in the region of Tyre and Sidon, and she took advantage of it.

The woman could not receive deliverance from the devil for her daughter because she was not a ‘daughter’, the very words of Jesus confirm it: Let the children first be filled, for it is not good to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.

Not that she could not receive deliverance, but not at that time, for Grace had not been poured out on the Gentiles not converted to Judaism; in the Words of Jesus the possibility of receiving the requested deliverance remained open, but until the children had been fed, which meant waiting until the time of the resurrection of Jesus, the time of Grace for everyone who believes, to the Jew first of all, and also to the Greek.[1]

The case of the Syrophoenician woman establishes for us a forceful teaching about the openings of God’s Mercy for our times; many cannot understand it because we are so accustomed to the religious proclamation that the Gospel, Eternal Life and Salvation is for everyone, and that all they have to do is to ‘accept’ Jesus and congregate in a church.

However, when we read texts in the Holy Scriptures like the ones I am going to quote below, we discover that there are people for whom the access to the Gospel, to Salvation, and therefore, to Eternal Life, is closed.

Matthew 13:14-15: 14 And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias, which saith, By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive: 15 for this people’s heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them.

Mark 4:11-12: 11 And he said unto them, Unto you it is given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God: but unto them that are without, all these things are done in parables: 12 that seeing they may see, and not perceive; and hearing they may hear, and not understand; lest at any time they should be converted, and their sins should be forgiven them.

John 12:39-40: 39 Therefore they could not believe, because that Esaias said again, 40 He hath blinded their eyes, and hardened their heart; that they should not see with their eyes, nor understand with their heart, and be converted, and I should heal them.

Romans 1:24-28: 24 Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies between themselves:  …   26 For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature:  …   28 And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient;

2 Thessalonians 2:11: 11 And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie:

In short, there are men and women for whom access to the Gospel, to Salvation, and to Eternal Life is closed; for these people there is no possibility of salvation. How can this be possible? 

The writer of the Gospel of Mark highlights a very important detail that is the foundation of understanding how God operates in our times. The writer takes time to describe the multiracial ancestry of the woman; the writer details that the woman was a Greek, a Syrophoenician by nation. What is the significance of the woman being a Syrophoenician by nation, raised in the Greek way? It is very important, because it explains the reason for the harshness of Jesus’ words.

The case of the Syrophoenician woman is also the case of a woman for whom the Gospel was closed. The Syrophoenician woman did not have access not only to liberation, which is what the account highlights; for the Syrophoenician woman access to the Gospel, to Eternal Life, to Salvation, was closed, for she was not a ‘daughter’; the account even highlights that Jesus identified her with a ‘little dog’, thus identifying that what God was available to her consisted only of the leftovers of the food left by those who were seated at the table, that is, of the children of Israel. In the story of Jesus’ encounter with the Samaritan woman, Jesus established that Salvation comes from the Jews.[2]

The demonic possession in the body of the woman’s daughter was due to the religious practices in which the woman had developed since her childhood. Of Syrian father, of Phoenician mother, of Tyre or Sidon, but brought up in the Greek manner, it was all religious syncretism that she professed, to her normal for she had been brought up in them, and surely so she was bringing up her daughter also; but the Holy Scriptures specify that the gods to whom the heathen nations prostrate themselves, all of them are demons.[3]

There are men and women for whom the access to the Gospel, to Salvation, and to Eternal Life is closed. These are men and women who are walking under the curse that their ancestors earned for themselves and for their generations; curses that have closed their eyes, their ears, their hearts so that they do not repent, as Jesus taught in his teachings. Let us review just a few cases of men and women who walk under the curse:

Deuteronomy 27:15-26:  15 Cursed be the man that maketh any graven or molten image, an abomination unto the Lord, the work of the hands of the craftsman, and putteth it in a secret place. And all the people shall answer and say, Amen. 16 Cursed be he that setteth light by his father or his mother. And all the people shall say, Amen. 17 Cursed be he that removeth his neighbour’s landmark. And all the people shall say, Amen. 18 Cursed be he that maketh the blind to wander out of the way. And all the people shall say, Amen. 19 Cursed be he that perverteth the judgment of the stranger, fatherless, and widow. And all the people shall say, Amen. 20 Cursed be he that lieth with his father’s wife; because he uncovereth his father’s skirt. And all the people shall say, Amen. 21 Cursed be he that lieth with any manner of beast. And all the people shall say, Amen. 22 Cursed be he that lieth with his sister, the daughter of his father, or the daughter of his mother. And all the people shall say, Amen. 23 Cursed be he that lieth with his mother in law. And all the people shall say, Amen. 24 Cursed be he that smiteth his neighbour secretly. And all the people shall say, Amen. 25 Cursed be he that taketh reward to slay an innocent person. And all the people shall say, Amen. 26 Cursed be he that confirmeth not all the words of this law to do them. And all the people shall say, Amen.

Deuteronomy 28:15-19:  15 But it shall come to pass, if thou wilt not hearken unto the voice of the Lord thy God, to observe to do all his commandments and his statutes which I command thee this day; that all these curses shall come upon thee, and overtake thee: 16 Cursed shalt thou be in the city, and cursed shalt thou be in the field. 17 Cursed shall be thy basket and thy store. 18 Cursed shall be the fruit of thy body, and the fruit of thy land, the increase of thy kine, and the flocks of thy sheep. 19 Cursed shalt thou be when thou comest in, and cursed shalt thou be when thou goest out.

Contemporary religious proclamation does not explain this to us, but takes for granted that the Gospel is available to all, that if they only confess the name of Jesus it will suffice; in reality, many have not been able to enter to enjoy the benefits of Grace, in spite of their efforts to remain members of a church.

The case of the deliverance of the daughter of the woman Sirofenisa is not just another case of deliverance of demons, it is a singular case of the opening of the Mercy of God for her in her own region; the forcefulness of this story is to show how she took advantage of it, and how she entered to enjoy the Grace of Jesus.

God opens spaces of Mercy for all men and women who walk under the curse of the pagan practices of their ancestors, and He does it not in the religious frameworks that we have around us, He does it in the daily life of our environments, through the daily needs, through the sentimental, emotional, and even moral conflicts that we confront daily, He does it through the situations that confront us every day where we see apparent injustices, discriminations, insults, rejections, disdain, etc. The unfortunate thing is that in these situations we do not come to Jesus to solve them, but we try to solve them by our strengths, abilities and/or alternative resources, entangling ourselves more in the bonds of curse that our ancestors wove over us.

If the Syrophoenician woman had seen in the words of Jesus discrimination, contempt, offense and/or repudiation, she would surely have left the place without having received what she was looking for her daughter.

The Syrophoenician woman succeeded in accepting Jesus’ openness for her, and entered into Grace together with her daughter, and obtained deliverance from the demon, which means that on that day she and her daughter were free from the kingdom of darkness.

Thank God for the Syrophoenician woman, but what about those who, no matter how open God opens His Mercy, turn around and leave? How sad and regrettable.

The story of the Syrophoenician woman opens our eyes to understand the Work of God’s Mercy. May this story confront us and make us ready to accept the Grace of Jesus. Our decisions in the face of the things that confront us will determine it.

Pastor Pedro Montoya

[1] Romans 1:16

[2] John 4.22

[3] Leviticus 17:7