Since the Kingdom of God is based on relationships, it is very important that we understand what oneness means, and how it is attained. Oneness has to be an expression of God’s love in us. We know that. But when you stop to consider love—human or divine—it has one characteristic about it that seems to be paralleled on both the natural as well as the spiritual plane.
NOT FAITH IN BUT FAITH FOR
In our relationship to God. Hebrews talks about the very basic foundation of faith toward (on) God (Hebrews 6:1).
You must have a faith that is beamed toward God. This does not mean that you believe that He is always going to do this or that, because sometimes God does things that you do not understand or cannot explain; but you still have faith toward God.
You can have faith in a person, too—or love for a person. But when you have faith for that person in a relationship, it takes on a little more certain note. Lest this sound confusing to you, let’s go a little further in an explanation of it.
I can have faith in a person, or I can have faith for that person. If I have faith in them, and they stumble or fall or becomes angry at me, I am shaken up in it.
But if I have faith for that person and for a relationship with that person, then I am not moved from that oneness of spirit or faith for them by any erratic behavior or by some circumstance that happens which seems to deny that love. I can treat it as an isolated or a passing incident, because I have faith for that person and faith for the oneness with that person.
This is the thing that the brothers and sisters in the Lord Jesus must have. They may need that constant reassurance in the beginning: “Well, the brothers and sisters love me, and I love them, and my Pastor loves me—I think he does, but he just walked by me and didn’t say anything. I don’t really know whether he loves me or not.” It cannot be that way; there cannot be any question about the oneness that is coming, or the love that is involved in that oneness.
We must come to the place where we know that that oneness exists—even if everybody gets up and goes to a meeting where they all start raising their voice at each other, and it looks as if there is nothing but division and confusion. All of that does not alter the fact that we have entered a time of oneness, and that is the Kingdom.
The Kingdom is based upon relationships together. We must believe for that oneness of spirit and have faith for oneness rather than faith in our oneness. I am making the distinction clear here.
If I have faith for the oneness, then it becomes not only reality, but it becomes an unalterable target that I never lose my focus on. I am never turned away from it. My faith in the oneness is not the basic issue. It is my faith for that oneness. It exists and I believe for it.
If people adopted that strategy, they would not only fall in love with each other, but they would also say, “Not that we believe in our love; but we believe for our love? We start in some mystical, wonderful way; and as we go along, we keep believing for that love to grow stronger—because we are believing for love. We are believing that nothing is going to change it; we are not open for anything to change it. We have set our course.”
It is a wonderful thing when you find a couple who are so secure in their love because they have faith for it; they believe for it; they know that nothing will come to separate them. They say, “Who shall separate me from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus?” (Romans 8:38–39.)
You have faith for that love. You have a faith for that love that you have for God—faith that it will grow stronger. That focus stabilizes everything!
Our oneness or love then is not an issue to be raised every day. Circumstances will not challenge it. You have set yourself on this course, and that is what you will do. If there is a disappointment, you still believe in that oneness, inasmuch as you have faith for that oneness.
It is better to believe for something than in something.
Faith in a relationship may be presumptuous and disappointing.
Faith for a relationship expresses confidence in God’s Word instead of confidence in a person.
We should look at oneness the same way. The problem now is that while the brothers and sisters everywhere are coming into oneness, they still are in a phase where they question their relationship and their oneness. You must come up to a higher level where you have faith for that oneness as well as faith in the oneness.
NOT FAITH IN BUT FAITH FOR
In our relationship to God. Hebrews talks about the very basic foundation of faith toward (on) God (Hebrews 6:1).
You must have a faith that is beamed toward God. This does not mean that you believe that He is always going to do this or that, because sometimes God does things that you do not understand or cannot explain; but you still have faith toward God.
You can have faith in a person, too—or love for a person. But when you have faith for that person in a relationship, it takes on a little more certain note. Lest this sound confusing to you, let’s go a little further in an explanation of it.
I can have faith in a person, or I can have faith for that person. If I have faith in them, and they stumble or fall or becomes angry at me, I am shaken up in it.
But if I have faith for that person and for a relationship with that person, then I am not moved from that oneness of spirit or faith for them by any erratic behavior or by some circumstance that happens which seems to deny that love. I can treat it as an isolated or a passing incident, because I have faith for that person and faith for the oneness with that person.
This is the thing that the brothers and sisters in the Lord Jesus must have. They may need that constant reassurance in the beginning: “Well, the brothers and sisters love me, and I love them, and my Pastor loves me—I think he does, but he just walked by me and didn’t say anything. I don’t really know whether he loves me or not.” It cannot be that way; there cannot be any question about the oneness that is coming, or the love that is involved in that oneness.
We must come to the place where we know that that oneness exists—even if everybody gets up and goes to a meeting where they all start raising their voice at each other, and it looks as if there is nothing but division and confusion. All of that does not alter the fact that we have entered a time of oneness, and that is the Kingdom.
The Kingdom is based upon relationships together. We must believe for that oneness of spirit and have faith for oneness rather than faith in our oneness. I am making the distinction clear here.
If I have faith for the oneness, then it becomes not only reality, but it becomes an unalterable target that I never lose my focus on. I am never turned away from it. My faith in the oneness is not the basic issue. It is my faith for that oneness. It exists and I believe for it.
If people adopted that strategy, they would not only fall in love with each other, but they would also say, “Not that we believe in our love; but we believe for our love? We start in some mystical, wonderful way; and as we go along, we keep believing for that love to grow stronger—because we are believing for love. We are believing that nothing is going to change it; we are not open for anything to change it. We have set our course.”
It is a wonderful thing when you find a couple who are so secure in their love because they have faith for it; they believe for it; they know that nothing will come to separate them. They say, “Who shall separate me from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus?” (Romans 8:38–39.)
You have faith for that love. You have a faith for that love that you have for God—faith that it will grow stronger. That focus stabilizes everything!
Our oneness or love then is not an issue to be raised every day. Circumstances will not challenge it. You have set yourself on this course, and that is what you will do. If there is a disappointment, you still believe in that oneness, inasmuch as you have faith for that oneness.
It is better to believe for something than in something.
Faith in a relationship may be presumptuous and disappointing.
Faith for a relationship expresses confidence in God’s Word instead of confidence in a person.