I don't know what some people think it is, but Faith teaching is simply believing the Word of God to matter what it looks like!
I don't know why Trophimus was not healed (at that time - the healing still could have come, but may have been delayed for some reason); does that change the scripture, does that bible say "by His stripes some are healed" or "by His striped you might be healed?" No! Jesus took all sickness, pain, weakness on the cross; and healed you by His striped, plus redeemed you from the curse of the law, that is ALL sickness!
To say that God will heal some, but might not heal all would be to call God a liar, when He said that He is no respecter of persons, what He has done for one, He WILL do for another!
There are things that block healing, not having faith for it, unforgiveness, to name a couple.
I know that God does not lie; I know His Word does not lie.... so if I am not healed, it is not God, nor his Word that is the issue. The issue lies in me, and it is up to me to find what the blockage might be. Sometimes there is no blockage, we are just to continue the stand on the Word of God until the healing comes.
Just because a person/persons are healed or a person/persons see many miraculous events that the True Go does, doesn't mean that person/persons had or have true faith.
Consider the Israelites Korah, Dathan, and Abiram. The Bible shows that they were eyewitnesses of the awe-inspiring miracles from God such as: the ten plagues upon Egypt, the escape of the nation of Israel through the Red Sea, and the annihilation of the Egyptian Pharaoh and his military. (
Exodus 7:19–11:10; 12:29-32; Psalm 136:15) Korah, Dathan, and Abiram also heard Jehovah speak from heaven at Mount Sinai. (
Deuteronomy 4:11, 12) Yet, not long after these miracles occurred, the three men instigated a rebellion against Jehovah and his appointed servants.—
Numbers 16:1-35; Psalm 106:16-18.
there was a prophet named Balaam who witnessed a miracle, yet even angelic intervention did not deter him from siding with God’s enemies, the Moabites. That miracle notwithstanding, Balaam went ahead and took a stand against Jehovah God and His people. (
Numbers 22:1-35; 2 Peter 2:15, 16) Balaam’s lack of faith, however, pales alongside that of Judas Iscariot. Despite having been a close companion of Jesus and an eyewitness to an extraordinary array of miracles, Judas betrayed Christ for thirty silver pieces.
Matthew 26:14-16, 47-50; 27:3-5.
The Jewish religious leaders were also aware of Jesus’ many miracles. After he resurrected Lazarus, they even admitted: “This man performs many signs.” But did the sight of the now-living Lazarus soften their hearts and give them faith? No, indeed. Instead, they schemed to kill both Jesus and Lazarus!
John 11:47-53; 12:10.
Even direct intervention by God failed to produce faith in those wicked men. While Jesus was in the temple precincts on one occasion, he prayed aloud: “Father, glorify your name.” Jehovah replied in a voice out of heaven: “I both glorified it and will glorify it again.” Yet, this miraculous event did not produce faith in the hearts of those present. Says the Bible: “Although he had performed so many signs before them, they were not putting faith in him.”—
John 12:28-30, 37; compare
Ephesians 3:17.
Rejection of Jesus by Jewish religious leaders seems especially puzzling when you consider that at the very time that Jesus began his ministry, the Jews as a whole were “in expectation” of “the Christ,” or the Messiah. (
Luke 3:15) They all saw the miraculous things that Jesus did and still they didn't believe him to be The Messiah.The problem lay in what those expectations were. The jews especially the religious leaders, we're expecting a king who would destroy the Roman Empire and free the Nation of Israel and they would be independent of any and all gentle nations. They were not expecting the humble, nonpolitical Jesus of Nazareth, who appeared in their midst as the true Messiah in 29 C.E. The religious leaders also feared that Jesus’ teachings would upset the existing state of affairs and jeopardize their prominent positions. (
John 11:48) ,
As we can see that true faith has to do with who you truly are. Ambition, pride, and greed are factors that have moved many to shut the doors of their hearts. This appears to have been the case with Korah, Dathan, and Abiram, mentioned earlier. Jealousy, fear, and a host of other hurtful attitudes have hindered others. We are reminded, too, of the disobedient angels, the demons, who once had the privilege of looking upon the very face of God. (
Matthew 18:10) They do not doubt the existence of God. Indeed, “the demons believe and shudder.” (
James 2:19) Yet, they have no faith in God.
Faith is more than mere belief. It is also more than a momentary emotional reaction to some miracle.
Hebrews 11:1 says : “Faith is the assured expectation of things hoped for, the evident demonstration of realities though not beheld.” An individual having faith is convinced in his heart that everything Jehovah God promises is as good as fulfilled. Moreover, the undeniable proof of unseen realities is so powerful that faith itself is said to be equivalent to that evidence. Yes, faith is based on evidence. And in times past, miracles played a role in the development of faith or the building of it. The signs performed by Jesus served to convince others that he was the promised Messiah. (
Matthew 8:16, 17; Hebrews 2:2-4) Similarly, such gifts of God’s holy spirit, or active force, as miraculous healing and speaking in tongues proved that the Jews no longer had Jehovah’s favor but that his approval now rested on the Christian congregation, established by his Son, Jesus Christ.—
1 Corinthians 12:7-11.
Jehovah God did not intend that miracles be a permanent feature of Christian worship. Accordingly, the apostle Paul wrote: “Whether there are gifts of prophesying, they will be done away with; whether there are tongues, they will cease.” (
1 Corinthians 13:8) I believe these gifts ceased with the death of the apostles and those who had received such gifts by means of them.
True faith comes from studying the inspired word of God and living by it, putting it into practice. 2 Timothy 3:16,17; Romans 12:1,2 Those who truly have true faith know that miracles have nothing to do with having true faith in God. Many have seen miracles from the True God and his Christ and still they rejected God and his Only Begotten Son. Those with true faith know that God still gives a witness that he exists and that he is a merciful God. Acts 14:17 Romans 1:20
