God is good and His grace and mercy are upon each one of those who call upon His name. We give thanks to the Eternal God, the Almighty, for one more day of life that He extends to us. Life itself is the greatest mercy that God has for each one of us.
In the book of Genesis, chapter two, when God warned man and eventually woman, Adam and Eve: “In the day that you eat of it you shall surely die,” the Word established that they would inevitably die. However, this did not happen immediately, and it is precisely because God does not want man to perish, but that all should come to repentance. The first work of God was developed in the Garden of Eden, when God extended life to man and woman. Life is the most notable sign of God’s grace and mercy.
The Subject of the Weak in Faith
It is necessary to study about the weak in faith because we have to understand why there are weak in faith. In the Holy Scriptures, it is precisely the apostle Paul who uses this term and presents it in his epistles, establishing that there is a sector of the body of Christ that are weak in faith.
In Romans 14:1-2, we find: “Receive one who is weak in the faith, but not to disputes over doubtful things. For one believes he may eat all things, but he who is weak eats only vegetables.” In these verses, the apostle uses the word “weak” twice.
In Romans 15:1, Paul again uses these terms: “We then who are strong ought to bear with the scruples of the weak, and not to please ourselves.”
The Measure of Faith
It is crucial to understand that although God gives a measure of faith to each person, as established in Romans 12:3: “For I say, through the grace given to me, to everyone who is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, as God has dealt to each one a measure of faith,” this measure does not necessarily mean a fraction of faith.
The measure, although it is a measure, means that this measure is complete. God gives it complete to those to whom He delivers it. A clear example we find in the parable of the talents in Matthew 25, where to one he gave five talents, to another two talents, and to another one talent. Each one received a complete measure, not fractions.
The Causes of Weakness in Faith
The weak in faith are constantly exposed to sin. As Romans 14:23 establishes: “But he who doubts is condemned if he eats, because he does not eat from faith; for whatever is not from faith is sin.” Therefore, it is fundamental to identify the causes that lead to being weak in faith.
First Cause: Contaminated Conscience
The first cause of why a person can become weak in faith is because of a contaminated conscience. In First Corinthians 8:9-12, we find: “But beware lest somehow this liberty of yours become a stumbling block to those who are weak. For if anyone sees you who have knowledge eating in an idol’s temple, will not the conscience of him who is weak be emboldened to eat those things sacrificed to idols? And because of your knowledge shall the weak brother perish, for whom Christ died?”
Conscience is a spiritual virtue that God places in the spirit of man and woman. As Romans 1:19-20 establishes: “Because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse.”
Conscience is nourished by the knowledge we have received from our elders and from the experiences we accumulate in life. It is the knowledge we have recognized as valid, upon which we base all our actions.
First Timothy 1:19 clearly establishes the relationship between faith and conscience: “Having faith and a good conscience, which some having rejected, concerning the faith have suffered shipwreck.” Faith is founded on a conscience, in such a way that if conscience becomes contaminated, faith is weakened.
Second Cause: Past Acts Kept Hidden
The second cause is having deliberately kept past acts hidden. In Joshua 7:11-12 we find: “Israel has sinned, and they have also transgressed My covenant which I commanded them. For they have even taken some of the accursed things, and have both stolen and deceived; and they have also put it among their own stuff. Therefore the children of Israel could not stand before their enemies, but turned their backs before their enemies.”
These are hallway comments, bedroom actions, actions that were done and sworn to be taken to the grave. They are actions deliberately hidden that provoke weak faith.
It is important to understand that it is not enough to have asked God for forgiveness. The Word does not tell us that we must ask for forgiveness; it teaches us that we have to come in repentance before Him. A person who has not repented before God, even though he may have said “Lord, forgive me,” will try to keep it well hidden.
Ephesians 5:11-13 establishes: “And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose them. For it is shameful even to speak of those things which are done by them in secret. But all things that are exposed are made manifest by the light, for whatever makes manifest is light.”
Third Cause: Satanic Bondages
The third cause of weakness in faith is satanic bondages. In Luke 13:16 we find: “So ought not this woman, being a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan has bound—think of it—for eighteen years, be loosed from this bond on the Sabbath?”
When the Word speaks of “daughter of Abraham” it is speaking of a woman of faith. Jesus the Christ recognizes her as a daughter of Abraham, not only by nationality. However, she had been bound by the demon for eighteen years. She was a woman of faith but weak in faith.
Bondages can manifest at different levels: emotional, sentimental, mental, physical, of conscience, in economic and financial areas. That is why many people can even have two or three degrees and not have developed economically in life, because there are bondages in their hands that prevent their work from advancing or prospering.
The Importance of Bringing Things to Light
In Mark 5:25-34 we find the account of the woman with the flow of blood: “Now a certain woman had a flow of blood for twelve years… If only I may touch His clothes, I shall be made well… And He said to her, ‘Daughter, your faith has made you well. Go in peace, and be healed of your affliction.’”
It is significant that Jesus the Christ, knowing that the woman had been healed, did not leave it at that, but took time for what had happened to be discovered. This teaches us that we not only need to be healed of something, but to bring to light that which led us to that situation.
Conclusion
One who is weak in faith is exposed to sin all the time, because as Romans 14:23 establishes: “Whatever is not from faith is sin.” Their faith does not allow them to advance, grow, develop, or mature.
Although it is admitted and in some way permitted to be weak in faith, it is not to remain in that state or condition, but to come out of there and be able to be men and women firm in faith. It is necessary to identify what is the cause that has led us to be weak in faith and come out of it to constitute ourselves as pillars of the Lord’s house.
Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God, but for it to grow effectively, it is necessary to:
- Decontaminate our conscience from erroneous knowledge and past experiences
- Bring to light all those actions that we deliberately keep hidden
- Break the satanic bondages of our lives
Only then can we walk in that to which the Lord has called us and develop a firm and mature faith.
