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True Faith vs. Fake Faith

By David A. DePra

It is certain that all Christians – without conscious intent – practice

FAKE FAITH to some extent. W hat do I mean by, "fake faith?" I mean that
we take a position of belief when we really don’t believe. Or, to put it
another way, we give God the faith we think He requires so that He will do
what we want – or so that He will do what we think He ought to do. FAKE
FAITH is really the result of not seeing the Truth – but of acting as if you
do.

W e must remember three things about FAITH – and I’m talking about
real faith; the faith described in the Bible. First of all, faith is a
RELATIONSHIP word. It is not a FORCE you generate – as is wrongly
taught by the W ord of Faith crowd, such as heretic Kenneth Copeland. No.
Everything about faith is relationship. Thus, faith is not a mind set, an
emotional condition, or a mood. I cannot believe with my emotions.
Neither is faith created by us by positively confessing anything. No. Faith
is a relationship word. It is simply trust, reliance, and dependence upon
God Himself.

Secondly, faith is reliance upon God to do HIS W ILL unto HIS GLORY.
In fact, it is impossible for you and I to have true faith in anything that is
outside of the Truth. Or, to put it another way, I cannot have the faith of
Jesus Christ, or faith in Jesus Christ, for anything except what Jesus
Christ has faith for. In short, you and I cannot generate faith from out of
ourselves up to God in order to get Him moving. Rather, God must reveal
to us HIS will, and once we embrace Him, faith will be there. Thus, faith,
rather than move God on our behalf, is really a matter of God moving and
transforming us in accordance with Himself.

W hat we see here is that instead of seeing faith, we need to seek God
Himself. Instead of seeking THINGS from God, seek God Himself. The
fact is, through His Spirit God will always bring us back to this. Faith is
not a THING God gives as much as it is a FRUIT of abiding in Christ. God
does give us enough faith to turn to Him because He gives us enough
revelation to turn to Him. But from that point, faith is a fruit of the Spirit.
Spiritual fruits are the outcome of the growth process in the Vine – fruits
are not separate THINGS that we acquire. Fruits are all found in Jesus
Christ.

Thirdly, and this is closely related to the second point, faith is the
outcome of seeing and embracing the Truth that God reveals to you
personally. Instead of TRYING TO HAVE FAITH, or instead of asking God
for more faith, ask God to reveal to you Himself – and the Truth as it
pertains to your situation. If you are willing to see and surrender to the
Truth, God can reveal it – on any specific matter. Then once you embrace
that Truth, you will believe. Faith is the outcome of God taking initiative to
reveal Himself, and then us hearing or embracing Him. "Faith COMES by
hearing, and hearing comes by the W ord of God." (Rom. 10:17)

Seeing Jesus Christ and the Truth will always result in a discernment of
His will in any situation. Have we recognized that when we ask God to
reveal to us His will in any matter, that we are really asking Him to reveal
to us the TRUTH about Himself, and about that specific matter? Faith is
always based on the Truth. It is never separate. That is why faith is a rest
and certainty. And it is why it is always for God’s will and never for
anything else. That is why faith is a relationship word. Faith is first in
GOD HIMSELF, and God is the Truth; God is light.

Knowing the Truth about faith will set us free from FAKE FAITH. You
will note this term – "fake faith" – this is nothing more than UNTRUE faith.
UNTRUE faith is not real, and it is not based on seeing the Truth.
UNTRUE or fake faith is merely a façade – it is a religious position we
take before the Lord usually because we think He demands it. It is what
we do to achieve our desired end.

Fake or True

As mentioned, I don’t think most people get up in the morning and say,
"Today I will practice fake faith." No. Usually we think our fake faith is
real faith – our fake faith is probably all that we presently know. But you
can be sure about two things with regards to fake faith. First of all, God
isn’t going to honor it. And secondly, because TRUE FAITH is always the
outcome of a testing and proving process, if we want to walk with Christ,
all fake faith will be exposed for what it is. It cannot survive God’s
proving.

W hen God puts us in a trial of our faith, it is not to prove to HIM

whether we have real faith. No. He already has those answers. Rather, it
is to expose to US the Truth about our relationship with God – unto the
end that we might be established in the Truth. Fundamental to this trial of
faith is that all fake faith will be exposed for what it is, and we will be
shown the Truth, resulting in TRUE FAITH. Or, to go back to the idea of
relationship, a trial of faith will expose the lies about our relationship with
God, and will be God’s tool to guide us into all Truth.

The idea that we can walk in darkness and in great error – and yet
exercise great faith -- is nonsense. The fact that God is so merciful to
bless us, or go along with us, despite our errors, is a tribute to His grace,
but not an affirmation of our error. In the final analysis, if we are walking
in darkness we simply cannot believe – because faith is always centered
in the Truth; in the light.

I John 1 states it clearly: "If we say that we have fellowship with him,
and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth: But if we walk in the
light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the
blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanses us from all sin." (1 John 1:6-7)
Fellowship with God is in HIS LIGHT – because God Himself IS Light.
There is NO fellowship with God in areas of darkness. Thus, to say that
we can walk in darkness and believe the Truth at the same time is
contradictory.

Fake faith is often the result of walking in darkness and trying to drag
God along with us, "by faith." W e don’t know God or the Truth but we
know we need to have faith and so we try to, "have faith," "generate
faith," "feel like we have faith," or we, "take the position of faith." In
reality, there is no, "position of faith," to take. There is only the Truth. W e
either know or believe it or we don’t. If we do – then our faith is TRUE. IF
we don’t, then our faith is fake.

TRUE faith is the outcome of seeing and embracing the Truth. FAKE
faith is the outcome of lacking the Truth – and so we fill in the blanks with
some aspect of our soul life, such as emotions.

God Himself

It is not possible to overemphasize that TRUE FAITH is a relationship

that is the outcome of seeing God Himself. I say this because it is so easy
to get side tracked into thinking that faith is THING, or a FORCE, or a
STATE OF MIND. W e think that if we can somehow achieve these
conditions that we can drag out of God our request. This is error.

Most people, without even realizing it, actually base their faith upon
their emotions – or upon some aspect of THEMSELVES. Some of us even
have faith in our supposed ability to believe. This is an amazing
deception. For example, I have found myself, "monitoring," myself, "to see
whether I am believing." If I am, "believing," then I feel more certain that
God is with me. If my monitor says I am, "not believing," then I go to
pieces. But this is all a deception. It puts my faith, not in God, but in my
own ability to believe – and really, upon my ability to rightly, "monitor," my
supposed faith. If you really get to the basis of this deception, it is nothing
more than a religious routine that is going on completely within myself. It
has little to do with God. It is not a relationship with God. It is me trying to
maintain or generate what I think is faith. It is not me standing in the light
before the Lord. Rather, it is me trying to create what I think pleases God,
and then once I do, I approach Him and present my faith to Him.

Faith is never in anything about myself – it is not even a confidence that

I can generate faith. Faith is a fruit that is produced IN ME because of my
abiding in Christ.

Now note: True faith is the spiritual fruit – produced in my being – due
to my embracing the Truth in Jesus Christ. It is not OF ME – it is
produced IN ME because of my relationship with Christ. In contrast, fake
faith is OF ME. It is produced IN ME by ME in order to artificially construct
what I think is a right relationship with Christ.

W e might say this another way: True faith is the substance and
evidence of the Truth that God reveals in me – as the result of seeing and
yielding to Jesus Christ. Fake faith is not from God at all. It is self created
and generated. It is not substance and evidence of Truth – but of natural
man’s religion.

True faith is really my reaction or response to God Himself -- back to

Him. This is relationship. That is a bit of a mechanical description, but it
is valid. I cannot gather up the materials found in myself and generate
faith up to God. Rather, God reveals Himself to me, and if I receive and
embrace that light, faith will result – I will believe because I will see the
Truth and know it is the Truth.

The key here is not to find some secret key as to how to HAVE FAITH.
No. The key here is to SEE and KNOW Jesus Christ. It is simply NOT
possible to see and know Jesus and then lack faith. But in contrast, it is
not possible to have great faith if you don’t see and know Christ. Our faith
is based in HIM – in the Person.

Another mistake we often make is to separate THINGS we want from

God from God Himself. W e try to HAVE FAITH for this or that – thinking
that if we can muster it up then God will give it to us. No. God is not
making things up as He goes along. He is not up in heaven waiting for us
to generate the faith necessary for anything. Rather, something is either
the will of God or it is not. Something is either the Truth or it is not.
Nothing we do or believe will change whether something is God’s will or
the Truth. Thus, the necessity is for God to reveal to us the Truth – not for
us to create, change, or manipulate the Truth by generating some sort of
FAKE FAITH.

If you want to know the Truth about something – if you want the will of
God in some particular matter – you will likely never see it come to pass
unless you come to know God Himself. God has wrapped up all things in
His Son. He won’t usually give us THINGS to the disregard of revealing to
us Christ.

This is why God is often silent to us. It is why it sometimes seems like
He won’t answer prayers. W e may be asking God for things, or for
information. God has said that these things and information are hidden in
Christ. Get a revelation of Christ and you will see and know and receive
all the things and information God desires you to have. It works this way
more often than not.

But why? Because it is an unalterable fact that a person cannot function

in a relationship with God without a knowledge of Jesus Christ. Indeed,
our entire relationship with God is BASED on the knowledge of His Son.
This, again, is a matter of light vs. darkness. W ell, if God handed out
things and information to the disregard of His Son, we would settle for
them. W e would have THINGS, but in relative darkness to His Son. W e
would never come to know Christ – indeed, we would not even KNOW to
go farther. This would be contrary to God’s purpose.

Only if we are rightly related to Christ by faith can we be rightly related

to ALL ELSE. In contrast, if we are not rightly related to Christ by faith,
everything else will suffer. The key is therefore to SEEK FIRST GOD
HIMSELF. And if we do, all else will fall into place. If we see the Truth
about God, we will discern all else in the light of knowing Him. If we
embrace the Truth about God, the outcome will be a true faith that cannot
be moved.

God’s Faithfulness

God knows we all have fake faith in many matters. W e have our will,
instead of His, and often cannot tell the difference. That is why Jesus
promised that the Spirit of God would guide us into all Truth. W e need
help.

Now, of course, if you think that the Truth into which the Spirit will
guide us is merely Biblical doctrine, you will never understand any of this.
Certainly nothing the Spirit of God does will depart from Bible doctrine.
But THE TRUTH is not academic Truth. It is really the Truth about
everything – as to its relatedness to God. Thus, if you want to be guided
into all Truth, you can expect the Truth to be exposed about your personal
faith.

If you ask God to show you the Truth, you are asking Him to show you
Jesus Christ. But as He does, then everything that is contrary to Christ –
everything that is UNTRUE to God – must be revealed as such. If there is
one thing that is certain it is that TRUTH will always expose that which is
UNTRUE. And personally, all of our fake faith must be exposed.

Can we see that this primary to the promise that the Truth will set us
free? W hat could be a greater freedom than to have our untrue faith
exposed so that we can walk with God in a real and true faith? If God can
get me to the place where I see the Truth in Christ and actually believe
and walk with Him in TRUE FAITH – isn’t this what the Christian life is all
about? It is about little else.

The Bible says that faith is our victory. It says that without faith it is
impossible to please God. It says that faith is the evidence and substance
IN US of the real. It says that we walk by faith. It says that faith is our
relationship with God. Do we want TRUE FAITH or will we settle for some
sort of deluded FAKE faith?

The good news is that no matter where we are in our faith, God is
ALW AYS seeking to bring us into the Truth – central to which will be a
TRUE FAITH. The purpose of the Spirit of God is to reveal Jesus Christ
TO us, IN us, and THROUGH us. This cannot happen except to the extent
that the true faith of Jesus Christ abide as the fruit.

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