A Chiasm is when a passage of Scripture that mirrors itself pointing to it purpose found at the center.

In this study we will look at five points coming from two directions concluding at the center where X marks the spot. The central point in this study is the main meaning of the passage.

Point A. (To work the ground)

• A. God places man in the garden to WORK and GUARD IT (To work it)

Gensis 2:15  And Jehovah God took the man and put him into the garden of Eden to work it and keep it. (MKJV)

• A. God sends or puts him out of the Garden to work the land

Gensis 3:23  therefore Jehovah God sent him out from the garden of Eden to till the ground from which he had been taken. (MKJV)

Point one of the story starts and ends with man working the ground

Point B. (Eat from the Trees)

Gensis 2:17  but you shall not eat of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. For in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die. (MKJV)

• (B)         Man eats from the tree of knowledge of good and evil

Gensis 3:22  And Jehovah God said, Behold, the man has become as one of Us, to know good and evil. And now, lest he put forth his hand and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever, (MKJV)

(B)          Man is not to eat of the tree of life

Point 2 starts with man eating from the tree of knowledge of good and evil and ends with man being forbidden to eat from the tree of life but this leaves us with a question, “What is wrong with eating from the Tree of Life

God had passed judgment on sin so we can see if man had eaten of the Tree of Life he would never have to face any of his own actions. Finally, he would have no need of God.

Point C. Adam names his wife 

Gensis 2:23  And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh. She shall be called Woman because she was taken out of man. Gensis 2:24 Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave to his wife and they shall be one flesh. Gensis 2:25  And they were both naked, the man and his wife; and they were not ashamed. (MKJV)

  (C ) Adam names his wife Woman.

They were naked and felt no shame

Gensis 3:20  And Adam called his wife’s name Eve, because she was the mother of all living.  Gen 3:21  And for Adam and his wife Jehovah God made coats of skins, and clothed them. (MKJV)

(C ) Adam name his wife EVE and now they felt shame and needed God to cover them

Point D. Conversations

Gensis 3:6  And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasing to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make wise, she took of its fruit, and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate. Gensis 3:7  And the eyes of both of them were opened. And they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made girdles for themselves. Gensis 3:8  And they heard the voice of Jehovah God walking in the garden in the cool of the day. And Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of Jehovah God in the middle of the trees of the garden. (MKJV)

            (D ) Conversation between the snake and Eve

Conversation of deception starts with the snake. The snake talks to Eve and Eve talks Adam and gives him the fruit. Eve took the fruit to her partner Adam and showed it to him saying, “It is beautiful, good for food and good for gaining knowledge”. These desires don’t look wrong when taken out of this context. However, it was against God’s command. The serpent knew if he could get Adam and Eve to take their eyes off God and think of their own desires, he was in with a good chance.

Even though her husband had told her not to eat of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, she fell into another area and that was of manipulation of her partner. This was an act of her free will. She could have eaten by herself, but she wanted a partner in her disobedience. She knew that Adam was her partner in the Garden and, if she ate the fruit by herself, the outcome of her disobedience would have a consequence, which she didn’t want to face on her own.

Now we have Adam who came on the scene, having been told not to eat of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil by God Himself. This point in time has always been one of great meditation by me. Here Eve was telling him how great the fruit was, and she ate it and gave it to him and he ate. As we know, Adam has a free will, but he doesn’t say, “No, no, God has told us not to eat it,” But he made the decision to eat. It appears he made the decision more quickly than his wife. No discussion, just straight in.

               (D  ) Conversation between God and Adam

Gensis 3:9  And Jehovah God called to Adam and said to him, Where are you? Gensis 3:10  And he said, I heard Your voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I am naked, and I hid myself. Gensis 3:11  And He said, Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree which I commanded you that you should not eat? (MKJV)

Adam demonstrated his change of position or his new defiled spirit (a sinful nature). What is hidden will be uncovered. Adam said four things to God and God asked two questions, even though God knew the answer He was waiting for something and Adam still didn’t give it to Him.

• Firstly I heard you in the Garden
• Secondly I was afraid because I was naked; Accusations were to follow
• Thirdly The woman you put here with me he pointed the finger at God.
• Fourthly She gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it.”

Now Adam was pointing at Eve. Eve was pointing at the Devil

Still they were in God’s presence, so what was God waiting for?

Genesis 3:12 And the man said, The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I ate. (MKJV)

Now God moves His attention towards Eve and she points the finger at the serpent, “He deceived me and I ate.”

Genesis 3:13 And Jehovah God said to the woman, What is this you have done? And the woman said, The serpent deceived me, and I ate. (MKJV)

Finally, we have Adam and Eve in a state of DENIAL. They wouldn’t say that they had weakened. What was God waiting for? He so much wanted for man to stay in the Garden to be in fellowship with Him.

When man sinned he lost his spiritual dynamic of direct communication with God and now the consequence of this is that all the descendants are spiritually inert or dead without spiritual inspiration. The veil of sin had been put between us and God. Adam had died or been defiled in the spirit reducing him to a defiled triune being, thus being defiled in the spirit bowing to the desires of the body and soul. “But” this does not mean that man has no conscience, but that his conscience is not impacted by the Holy Spirit as it is in the believer. By way of example; we could take some elements like a clear glass of water at room temperature and we can see though it, but if we drop another element in like some ink into the water it becomes cloudy and less transparent. The sin in man is like the ink clouding his thinking.

Point E. Eyes were opened X marks the spot

The central issue in this scenario is their Eyes were opened

Genesis 3:7  And the eyes of both of them were opened. And they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made girdles for themselves. Genesis 3:8  And they heard the voice of Jehovah God walking in the garden in the cool of the day. And Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of Jehovah God in the middle of the trees of the garden. Genesis 3:9  And Jehovah God called to Adam and said to him, Where are you? (MKJV)

  (E  ) Their eyes were opened and they hid from God ashamed and resisted taking responsibility for their actions. How can you hide from a omnipresent God?

God was waiting for a repentant heart from Adam, but it didn’t come because of their lack of responsibility for their actions. Through the entry of sin, plus the lack of repentance, we now have the fallen state of man, who would pass on the teaching and the spiritual sickness of sin to his offspring and a spirit that is dead to things of God.

Because of this new feeling of nakedness they tried to hide from God. However, God being God knew where they were but He still asked the question, “Where are you?”

At this point they had:

1. Eaten the fruit and the eyes of their understanding were open.
2. Succumbed to temptation.
3. Began building their self-justification.
4. Started fulfilling their desires.
5. Given way to manipulation.
6. Committed acts of disobedience.                  

Hebrews 4:13  Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in His sight, but all things are naked and opened to the eyes of Him with whom we have to do.  (MKJV)

Still God was looking for them and calling to them and finally He walked with them.

They were now in a fallen state. Adam and Eve knew that they had done wrong, and they knew of what they had to do to make things right, but still they chose to deny their action and not to take responsibility. Their hearts were hardened by their action, and they didn’t want to lose face.

Repentance is stronger than sin.

Repentance opens the door of restoration with God.

Repentance brings about the transformation of the New Creation in Christ.

Repentance brings about justification, the new legal position.

Repentance starts the process of regeneration, in our literal state.

The act of repentance by man and acceptance of Jesus as Lord and Saviour, we have passed from spiritual death to spiritual life. Our spirit can now eat of the Tree of Life in the form of Jesus and we can live forever. It is only a matter of time before our mind and body will follow.

Repentance is the only way to the Tree of Life once a person has seen the depth of his or her own sin.

        (E  ) X marks the spot

The central point in this scenario and the whole purpose of this encounter with God was “Their Eyes were opened and they felt shame”.

They resisted taking responsibility for their actions and they were trying to hide from an omnipresent God?

We believe in teaching students a firm foundation of the Word of God and in this process many become saved. Therefore we have a suggested reading order for beginners to help with the understanding of the Bible.

The Bible is not a storybook it is an account, reading from the front to the back can be heavy going. Please follow this order and you will grow quickly in the understanding of God.

A suggested reading order

Start in the New Testament with:

1,2,3, JOHN

JOHN

Matthew, Mark, Luke

Then the remaining books in the New Testament except Revelation. Leave it till last.

Old Testament all books inclusive

New Testament, the book of Revelation

Explanation of reading order

1/ Epistles of 1,2 & 3 John

These letters portray Gods nature, a nature of love

2/ Gospel of John

By reading John you get an account of Jesus the Lamb of God, the Son of God, that He is God, that He is the King and He is I AM. John takes great effort to portray Jesus in the divine John starts of by dealing with the Deity of Jesus

3/ Gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke

Matthew and Luke put a human face on Jesus then Mark puts a superhuman face on Jesus. This all helps to develop a picture God with us.

4/ The remaining books of the New Testament.

The remaining books of the New Testament except Revelation, because the metaphoric language of Revelation is difficult to understand at first. The remaining epistles descried how the Church and the believer are to act and how to live as a Christian.

5/ The Old Testament

The Old Testament outlines the type of the Christ to come, Once the reader has read the previous steps 1 through to 4, they will see Jesus foretold in the Old Testament.

6/ Revelation

Once a reader has read the rest of the Bible they will see that Revelation is an encoded account of the Kingdom of God. (Past, present and future.)

This is only a suggestion to help the reader in giving a starting point.

Hebrews 10:23 Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering (for He is faithful who promised), 24 and let us consider one another to provoke to love and to good works, 25 not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.

We are called by God to help in the development of the new Christians so they don’t wander back to the World. Therefore, we have developed a set of teachings, which can also help in understanding the Bible for you to use and follow with the hope you will continue your study in the word of God and grow in strength.

God hates and loves the sinner

You may say, “You are mad Ian, or You are just wrong”. Now you may not read any more of this article, but I would encourage you to read the whole article.

Sin does not get a chance to get into heaven, on the other hand, the sinner who turns from evil to a belief in Jesus accompanied with repentance will gain grace thus fulfilling God demand that sin must be paid for.  

God does not want us to be fearful. He wants us to read and understand His Word to gain assurance in the knowledge of our salvation. Thus in 2 Timothy 1:⁷ For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind. (New King James Version)

Assurance should be the state of every Christian, but sadly many are still in the state of insurance just in case Christianity might be right.

What is the fear of the Lord for the Christian

Proverbs 9:¹⁰ “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom,
And the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding. (New King James Version)

Wisdom comes from the assurance brought about by the infilling of the Holy Spirit and as we read God’s words of instruction found in the Bible.

The fear of the Lord is based on a guarantee of belonging to God.

The fear of the Lord is not a state of believing in doom and destruction for the Christian. It is knowing the power of a loving God whom you do not want to be isolated from, because of your own actions.

The Christian who is led by the Holy Spirit when he or she sins knows the urgency in the heart to repent to maintain the lines of communication with God.

The repentant believers having known the void that is felt in the heart by all unbelievers because of their sins before salvation, will do everything to avoid this state of hollowness in their Christian Walk. The remedy being repentance!

We all need to obey God this side of the resurrection to avoid loss.

What is the fear of the Lord for the unbeliever

An unbeliever has very little or even no knowledge of God, or the outcome of an ungodly life, thus having no fear of God, or that there is a heaven or hell. But if you want a sinner to think about eternity, ask a simple question. “Are you afraid of death? Then you can introduce the Bible and show Scriptures like the ones below.

Ecclesiastes 12:13  Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter. Fear God, and keep His commandments. For this is the whole duty of man. 12:14  For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it is good, or whether evil. (MKJV) 

1Peter 4:17  For the time has come for the judgment to begin from the house of God. And if it first begins from us, what will be the end of those disobeying the gospel of God? (MKJV) 

Matthew 13:48  which, when it was full, they drew to shore, and sat down and gathered the good into vessels, but threw the bad away. 13:49  So it shall be at the end of the world. The angels shall come out and separate the wicked from among the just, 13:50  and shall cast them into the furnace of fire. There shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth. (MKJV)  

As I have already said, “We all need to obey God this side of the First Resurrection to avoid demise.” But for the person who does not repent while living and then dies he or she will wait in the grave until the Second Resurrection (Revelation 21:8) where they will be judged along with some who think they are Christians.

Christian Misunderstanding of Scriptures

It is truly amazing how people misunderstand scriptures when it’s clearly written in black and white.

1Corinthians 1:18 For the preaching of the cross is foolishness to those being lost, but to us being saved, it is the power of God. (MKJV)

Much of palatable teaching is brought about the lack of understanding the full encompassing content of scripture found in the whole Bible.

Palatable preaching is the removal of Scriptures or teachings which may offend some who may be listening. It is the softening of hard sayings found in the Bible in the hope of getting more people to join the local church. When we the Church lowers the standards just to get commitments, we fail to get converts. It is a sin and failure of the contemporary church when we do this.

It could be said another way, and that being should we preach or teach people that they need to accept Jesus, or be accepted by God?

Both! We need to say to the lost they are lost in sin and in need of accepting Jesus through repentance so that they will be accepted by God.

Christians when preaching or witnessing say to other Christians or unbelievers, “God hates the sin but loves the sinner” to make the Gospel of Jesus the Christ more palatable which is not a true understanding or interpretation of God’s Word.

Let us look at God and hate in the Bible

God is fundamentally a God of love, but He also has the capacity to hate as you will see in the next four Scriptures.

Psalm 5:4  For You are not a God that enjoys wickedness; nor shall evil dwell with You. 5:5 The foolish shall not stand in Your sight. You hate all doers of iniquity. 5:6 You shall destroy those who speak lies; Jehovah will despise the bloody and deceitful man. (MKJV)

Proverbs 6:16-19   These six Jehovah hates; yea, seven are hateful to his soul: 17  a proud look, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, 18  a heart that plots wicked plans, feet hurrying to run to evil, 19  a false witness who speaks lies, and he who causes fighting among brothers. 

Psalm 11:5  Jehovah tries the righteous; but His soul hates the wicked and the one who loves violence, 11:6  On the wicked He shall rain snares, fire and brimstone; and a horrible tempest shall be the portion of their cup. 11:7  For the righteous Jehovah loves righteousness; His face looks on the upright. (MKJV)

Malachi 1:2  I have loved you, says Jehovah. But you say, In what have You loved us? Was not Esau Jacob’s brother? says Jehovah; yet I loved Jacob, 1:3  and I hated Esau and made his mountains a desolation, and his inheritance to be for the jackals of the wilderness. (MKJV)

Rev 2:6  But you have this, that you hate the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.

Rev 2:15  So you also have those who hold the teaching of the Nicolaitans, which thing I hate. Rev 2:16  Repent! But if not I will come to you quickly, and will fight with them by the sword of My mouth. 

Literally, “God hates all evildoers and their sins,” However, His plan to send Jesus shows His loving benevolence towards His creation.

Romans 5:8 But God commends His love toward us in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us. (MKJV)

God knew all the sins we were going to commit before we did them, nevertheless His plan was to show us amazing grace and love through and by His son Jesus the Christ.

God’s love

1 John 4: 8 The one who does not love has not known God. For God is love. (MKJV)

This makes it clear that God is love. However we do have a problem when reading our English Bible as it only has one word for love when in fact there are Eleven different loves in the Old Testament and then in the New Testament there are another eight different loves mentioned, however in the Greek there are another two words used to describe certain types of love, storge and eros love, but these are only alluded to.

For the purpose of this study, we are only looking at two forms of love, agapao and Phileo to see the slight change in our positional standing with God.

1. Agapao Love G25

In John 3:16, God’s action to love (agapao[1])everyone as a prize and desiring them unconditionally. The unconditional aspect of this love is simply directed towards all mankind because God delightfully made us. This does not conflict with Scriptures that say, “God hates the sinner”. The lost sinner is a servant of Satan therefore can be used by Satan to lead others astray.

Agapao love does not equate to happiness. God is not happy with everyone, because not everyone is calling on His Son’s name. This does not stop Him from showing agapaō love to all of His creation.

Some may say agapaō love is the most powerful Divine love as it is unconditional, but that definition is limited as we will see in 1 John2:15 when man operates in this type of love to get or own something. 

1 John 2:15  Do not love the world, nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him, 2:16  because all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. 2:17 And the world passes away, and the lust of it, but he who does the will of God abides forever. (MKJV)

John 3:16 For God so loved (agapao) the world that He gave His only-begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. (MKJV)

In a Spiritual sense of God’s agapao love says He loves everyone, but in the corrupted human sense man’s agapao love can be based on an understanding of God’s agapao love which may be good or bad. But it may also be based on a worldly desire for objects, which is not good when it is out of balance. Therefore to say agapao love is only a divine love it not totally correct.

The dynamic of trust is not necessary for the one showing agapao love, but the one receiving this love must grow to trust in order to believe so that they can grow towards a deeper love.

• Phileo Love G5368

Phileo in the Greek is to approve, like, sanction; to treat affectionately or kindly, to welcome, befriend and show signs of love. God is pure. If we believe in Jesus, God loves (phileo) Jesus (1 John 5:2) and us completely (John 16:27) and we are treated affectionately, romantically sanctioned. The phileo love is conditional as we receive it and by maintaining the relationship with Jesus.

John 16:27 for the Father Himself phileo loves[2] you, because you have phileo loved Me and have believed that I came out from God. (MKJV)

In John 16:27 the Father’s love is “phileo” in Greek, which is a love with strong emotions, to treat affectionately. God phileo loves us tenderly, because we are committed disciples who love His Son (John 5:20; 11:3; 11:36; 12:25; 15:19; 20:2; 21:15-17). He calls us sons and friends with whom He shares warm and friendly love (Galatians 3:26, 2Corinthians 6:18, John 15:15). God saves us and if we respond to the call then He is happy. God may well be pleased with other actions we do out of this love, but His phileo love is complete.

1Corinthians 16:22 If anyone does not love (phileo) the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be accursed. The Lord comes! 16:23 May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with you. 16:24 Let my love (agape) be with you all in Christ Jesus. Amen. (MKJV)

Revelation 3:19 As many as I love “phileo”, I rebuke and chasten; therefore be zealous and repent. (MKJV)

We may conclude that phileo love is for family, group, companionship, relationship and of the same type members. This type of love may grow and develop into a powerful way of life.

In Phileo love, trust is a key component; it must be gained and maintained with integrity as we walk in the process of sanctification. Because God shows this intimate love we will find it is conditional based on the quality of the relationship with Jesus.

God’s perspective of love can be adjusted as He views us in the new light after salvation. He changes our position and our names by calling us sons. It is true to say our love must grow from agape love to phileo love so that we will reproduce out of an intimate relationship with God in a spiritual realm.

In Genesis 3:5 for God knows that in the day you eat of it, then your eyes shall be opened, and you shall be as God, knowing good and evil. Then when the scriptures say God hates the sinner it is because He knows what sin can do to us. That being sin can destroy His beautiful creation and then to cause more destruction on and with others.

This is an extract from my book Augustine’s Error – It’s Not Sin it’s Repentance

Part of the problem of mankind is denial and the inability to take responsibility for one’s actions. After being placed outside the Garden, man couldn’t face the fact that he had brought this upon himself. He had eaten of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. This was too much for his small brain to handle and man set about justifying himself (“the not me syndrome”). It is in the mind of man where the battle takes place!

The mind-exploding experience of man gained through the act of disobedience, has brought about an inability to deal with his problems and the lack of taking responsibility. Man could have taken responsibility for his actions. He could have repented and therefore we would still be in the Garden. Man couldn’t bring himself to this point, so God needed to step in and bring about His redemptive plan. God’s grace is the marriage of the redemptive plan and man’s action.

God, in His wisdom, always shows His plan as a precedent in the Old Testament and then in the final outworking in the New Testament. I believe this is to prove to all of mankind that it was no apparition.

We are not to hold back on the truth found in the Word of God by making it more palatable as this has not as effective as some would think. We are the sons of God therefore we are to minister the truth to the lost and dying world letting them know God hates the sinner and their sins too. It is sad to say that many in and out of the Church are unaware that their eternity will be in hell. They need to hear that they can avoid hell by grace through the act of repentance and believing in Jesus.

We need to get back to what the Bible says.

Psalm 5:4–6, Psalm 11:5 –7, Malachi 1:2 

Nature of God

This is a list that shows the nature of God with all characteristics in Him running at 100% holiness.

We are created in the image and likeness of God however in us these characteristics in likeness, which are in a state renovation because they are below 100% of God’s standard.

The variances of His likeness has caused us to misunderstand some Theological perspectives where God can act in various characteristics simultaneously without being in conflict.

1. Holiness  
2. Righteousness
3. Graciousness
4. Truthfulness
5. Life giver
6. Loving    
7. Eternal
8. Merciful
9. Faithfulness
10. Goodness
11. Sovereignty
12. Wisdom
13. Jealous
14. Glorious
15. Trinity
16. Volition
17. Hate

Our all-powerful God can demonstrate hate, judgements and love simultaneously. He can hate the sinner but through His divine love which is expressed through Jesus on the cross to save us, that He can show His love too.

[1] Strong’s, Hebrews and Greek Dictionaries G25 agapaō, to love (in a social or moral sense):

[2] Strong’s, Hebrews and Greek Dictionaries G5368 phileō, From G5384; to be a friend to (fond of [an individual or an object]), that is, have affection for (denoting personal attachment, as a matter of sentiment or feeling;

Before my Christian life I was a Powerlifter.

One time I had won the Oceania and Asian Championship. I was interviewed by the papers and TV while there was a short break between interviews a guy in the gym came over to try and pick up my medals but this drew a stern look from me. However, he didn’t pick them up and said, “You’re lucky”.

I responded by saying, “I train one to five hours a day for five to six days of the week and you call that luck, where you come into the gym and talk to people for ten minutes and lift some weights for 15 Minutes and then go home. If you had won these, I would say that was luck. Hard work is not luck”

The Christian Walk is not about luck but is about spending time with God to learn to be like him. This is surety found in Him by faith.

Investing time in God is a sure thing. The deeper you dig into His Word the higher you can take yourself and others.

2 Timothy 2:15  Study earnestly to present yourself approved to God, a workman that does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the Word of Truth. 

2Ti 2:16  But shun profane, vain babblings, for they will increase to more ungodliness. 

Before salvation we can have a certain amount of faith with a belief in something or someone, but this is different to the Christian faith which comes after repentance followed closely by a belief in the works of Jesus.

Sinners are commanded to “repent” and “believe” (Matthew 3:2; 4:17; Acts 3:19; 1 John 3:23) in the New Testament.

We are saved by the faith OF Jesus and not by our faith or we could brag about our salvation. Faith of Christ underscores the faithfulness of Jesus in the act of our salvation where the faith in Christ emphasizes the believer progressive efforts in progressive salvation as we are being sanctified.

Galatians 3:22  But the Scripture shut up all under sin, so that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe. (MKJV) 

Salvation is a work of God’s grace, but without the humbling of our sinful nature in an act of repentance, grace is not activated. It takes a synergy between God and man in God’s plan for salvation.

Does faith grow or does our understanding of the gift grow?

Some say both faith and our understanding of it can grow. These two aspects can strengthen our walk with Jesus.

Let us see where the gift comes from and to whom it is given

Faith as a gift.

Romans 12:3  For I say, through the grace given to me, to every one who is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think. But set your mind to be right-minded, even as God has dealt to every man the measure of faith.  (MKJV)

The gift of faith comes from God given to man after salvation to avoid man taking credit for his own salvation Ephesians 2:8-9 and Galatians 3:22 

Ephesians 2:8-9  For by grace you are saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, Eph 2:9  not of works, lest anyone should boast. (MKJV)

In Romans 12:3 does it say A measure of faith or does it say THE measure of faith.

A measure of faith refers to a set amount depending on the will of God to deal with everyone differently as He sees fit.

THE measure of faith deals only with the full amount for everyone.

Act 10:34  Then Peter opened his mouth and said, Truly I see that God is no respecter of persons; (MKJV)

Act 10:34  Peter began to speak: “I now realize that it is true that God treats everyone on the same basis. (GNB) Good News Bible

Here is the point of conjecture.

Faith as a gift and as a portion or a full amount will have an influence on the boldness we think and walk with.

Do you think God would give an incomplete gift that you have to work on to make it grow?

How can faith grow?

1. Growth through learning, understanding coming from studying Scripture and teaching.
2. Growth through personal experiences based on the teaching mentioned in point one.
3. Communal dialogue as we share personal experiences with each other.

The full measure given at the beginning of our walk

1. The full measure of Faith given to all believers and noting the 3 points above which are valid learning methods and should be followed. Then you may ask the question about A measure of faith verses THE measure of Faith.

If we receive only A measure of faith then God is showing favouritism which conflicts with Scripture. Then you can study, have personal experiences as well as sharing with each other but then after all this you will not grow in your faith once you reach the limit set for you.

• In Romans 12:3 it says “… … … But set your mind to be right-minded, even as God has dealt to every man the measure of faith.”  This brings us to the conclusion that all believers are treated the same in regards to the Gift with a full measure.

Now you may disagree with me and say we are all different with different measures.

Let me say it this way, We are all given the full measure of faith because God treats us all the same. We should all follow the three valid points of learning as mentioned previously but with a noted difference and that being that instead of thinking that is our faith growing that we should adopt an attitude or thinking pattern that it is our understanding of faith that is growing as we walk in the full measure of faith.

Simply OUR understanding of faith, grows as we walk in it believing for great things.

When we follow Jesus, it is like us stepping into His footprints, even though His footsteps are great and powerful we can grow in our understanding as we follow and reach out with an unquenchable hunger to be more like Him.

The measure of faith is an unlimited reservoir given to us by God and His belief in us. Although at times we may limit how far we can grow in our understanding by allowing our fears and rationalisation to override the Spiritual truths found in our Bibles. Nevertheless, we should reach out for the stars in the cosmos to bring God’s promises into ours and others lives. We need to continuously try to not limit God’s working through us as we were created to walk in His wonderous unlimited cosmos.

God moves through faith and through the faithful steward. God welcomes the faithful servant into heaven with these words “enter in thou good and faithful servant”.