Living by the Power of Faith, part 3

Characteristics of Faith

• Faith is related to belief- Belief is the beginning process of acquiring faith
• Faith is related to hope- We cannot have one without the other
• Faith is not associated with doubt and fear- It is evident that a man who has continual doubt cannot exercise faith, for where doubt is, there faith as no power. In order not to fear, we must look unto the Lord in every thought. Ask yourself: Am I striving to believe in God and to cast out my doubts, fears, and negative thoughts?
• Faith makes people sure and steadfast- Not the way of the world in being sure, but being spiritually sure
• Faith does not come by signs- Signs come by faith, but signs must come in the Lord's way. Each of us is guilty of sign-seeking, to a degree. We might even be seeking for a sign and not be aware of it. Some people think that if an angel appeared unto them, they would believe and have faith, and that after he left they would keep all of the commandments. Those are the teachings of the natural man, and they are not true. Faith is born inside!
• Don't confuse gifts of the Spirit with signs- Spiritual gifts can come by the will of man through faith. Signs come by the will of God and follow faith.
• Faith is not a perfect knowledge- Joseph Smith left the Sacred Grove with a sure knowledge that the Father and the Son lived. If he KNEW that, he no longer had faith in it. Faith is something we know very little about. The Lord says that if we have the faith of a mustard seed, we can move mountains. It is evident that just about all of us have something less than that.