Natural and Spiritual Faith

Question: What is the difference between ‘natural’ faith and ‘spiritual’ faith?

Answer: None. There is only one God-given faculty of faith; it’s the object of faith that makes the difference.

Jesus taught that God is spirit (John 4:24) and Paul added that He is the Father of spirits (Hebrews 12:9). The scriptures declare that God created man to be a spiritual being (Genesis 1:27). In other words, the things of the Spirit were meant to be natural to man; his normal environment. With the fall, man lost his spiritual sight, become blind to the Kingdom, and was made to rely on his physical sight in the natural realm.

With faith, what we see is important. The example we used when discussing natural faith concerned a man seeing pleasant food when he was hungry. Recall that love and desire for the food moved faith to act upon that desire. The faith was in the understanding that the food would taste good and be nourishing for the body. The man acted, taking the food and eating it.

Before accepting Jesus’ gift of salvation our options for resolving our problems are limited to the physical, natural realm – because that’s all we can see. We lost our spiritual sight to the devil at the fall. In and of ourselves we cannot regain our spiritual sight, so God Himself entered the human arena by the one act of matchless grace in sending His beloved Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as a sacrifice for sin.

Now, let’s watch this process of faith as it passes from its exercise in the natural to the supernatural.

1. Every unsaved person has by nature built around themselves some working philosophy of life.

This philosophy can take many forms. We might believe that we are okay because we’re as “good” as other people. We might believe in a Creator who is love therefore hell is unthinkable, and in the end everything will work itself out. Maybe we have a point of view that is frankly materialistic and hedonistic, or agnostic, or even atheistic. Anyhow, to this philosophy of life is attached our faith. We are believers all right – in our own particular point of view. It may be a false faith, a perverted faith, but it is our faith.

2. The Spirit of God brings conviction of sin by penetrating the thick walls of our self-righteousness.

Now, conviction of sin knocks that flimsy, false faith out from under us. The old philosophy of life is seen for what it is. Our righteousness is as filthy rags; our sins are ever before us.

3. The Spirit points to Jesus and we see him and all that he has done.

The Word speaks its message, “Look unto Me and be ye saved”. “Him that cometh unto Me I will in no wise cast out”: “He that believeth on Me hath everlasting life.” Here is the rock of ages – Jesus, the Son of God. At last, we have found faith’s sure resting-place.

Here is the point: Our faith in Jesus is not a new faculty of faith, but rather a new content for faith. That’s all. The very same faith which was once centered in our own righteousness is now torn from the old false premise and devoted to “the way, and the truth and the life.” (John 14:6) A natural faculty has been purified, redirected, possessed and controlled by the Holy Spirit.

Salvation could be considered as the meeting point of human faith and God’s grace. “Without this, not all the conviction in the world, not all the sorrow for sin, the change of mind, the prayers and tears and resolutions, could bring the sinner to the enjoyment of grace. The central faculty of faith had to be exercised, that faculty which is personality in action.”^[1] Faith could not save. Only the Father’s grace could do that. But, faith was the decisive action of a free person, seeing, believing, receiving, and opening their being to the control of Jesus Christ, their Lord.

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1. The Law of Faith, by Norman P. Grubb, Zerubbabel Press, Blowing Rock, NC, 1970, pages 30