Welcome!

 
Toggle

Study Center Banner

Articles    FreeDownloads 1    Daily Devotions    SalvationPrayer

 

Print

God Has No Favorites

God Has No FavoritesBy Kenneth E. Hagin

Why don’t some people believe their faith in God will work? I know from experience that a lot of people have faith in my faith and in the faith of others. But they don’t have confidence that their own faith in God will work. For some reason, they don’t believe in themselves. The reason for their unbelief is that they don’t know what the Bible teaches about who they are in Christ. They need to find out.

Some people think they’re not “good enough” for their faith to work. Some feel their faith is not strong enough. Some people are so acquainted with all of their own failings and weaknesses that they’re always willing to believe anything against themselves: their unworthiness, their unfitness, their weakness, their lack of faith, and so forth.

If we can get these people to let us pray and believe for them, we can get answers for them—temporarily. But Satan will rob them of the blessings God intended for them to have unless we teach them the facts of God’s Word.

A Bible fact that gave me faith was this: God, my Heavenly Father, does not have any favorite children. He loves every one of us with the same love.

Sometimes natural parents have a favorite child, but God doesn’t have any favorites. Get that fact down in your spirit by saying out loud, “God has no favorites.”

Every person born into the family of God has the same redemption. You are not any more saved than I am, and I am not any more saved than you are.

Somehow in people’s faulty thinking, they assume that another Christian has more than they do. Yes, someone else may have more light of the Word, and he or she is walking in that light, but everyone born into the family of God enjoys the same redemption.

The child of God has been redeemed from the hand of the enemy. Every one of us has. Satan was conquered for you per­sonally. Satan was conquered for me per­sonally. (When I say it like that, it buoys up my faith.)

The believer can say, along with the Apostle Paul, “. . . [Jesus] was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification” (Rom. 4:25). It’s ours—mine and yours! It belongs to us, so I can make that personal. I can say He was delivered on account of my offenses, and He was raised for my justifi­cation.

Redemption belongs to every one of us. Furthermore, I’m not any more justified than you are, and you’re not any more jus­tified than I am. (The same Greek word translated “justified” can also be trans­lated “made righteous.”) Jesus didn’t die for my trespasses any more than He died for your trespasses.

COLOSSIANS 1:13–14
13 Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son:
14 In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins.

The Christian, then, can confidently say, “He delivered us,” or to make it per­sonal, “He delivered me.”

The individual Christian can confi­dently say, “He delivered me out of the power (or authority) of darkness.” The Greek word translated “power” here is translated “authority” elsewhere in The King James. So we could say, “God delivered me out of the authority of darkness and has translated me into the Kingdom of His dear Son.”

Friend, this does not belong to just a few. This absolute redemption is the per­sonal property of every child of God, whether he knows it or not. (If he doesn’t know it, he can’t walk in the light of it—but it still belongs to him.)

This redemption is personal. It is an absolute redemption from the dominion of the devil. Satan doesn’t have dominion over us any longer. Satan has no right to rule over us with sin, sickness, or anything else that belongs to him. Satan is not our Lord or our Master; Jesus is our Lord and our Master.

This redemption belongs to every believer. It’s my personal property and your personal property. To increase your faith, repeat out loud: “It is my redemption. It is my personal property. It belongs to me.”Favorites

Colossians 2:15 says, “And having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a shew of them openly, tri­umphing over them in it.” This verse teaches us that Jesus put Satan to nought and triumphed over him. Another translation reads, “He stripped him.” What did Jesus strip Satan of? His authority over man.

When Jesus put Satan to nought and stripped him of his authority, Christ acted in your stead—in your place. He did it for you. Now, through Christ, you have overcome the enemy!

1 JOHN 4:4
4 Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome THEM: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world.

Who is the “them” we have overcome? We find from reading the first three verses of First John chapter 4 that John was talking about the devil and all of his cohorts.

Notice he didn’t say we are going to overcome them; he said we have overcome them. How could we have overcome these demons? Because what Christ did was marked to our credit. He did it as our Substitute. (He did it in our place, and God marked it to our credit as though you and I were the ones who did it!)

Someone may ask, “If we’ve overcome them, why are we having such a problem with them?”

Because we don’t know we have over­come them, or we aren’t walking in the light of what we do know. When you know what the Bible says and walk in the light of it, you don’t need someone else to exercise his faith for you.

I can understand the problems people have in this area, however. I can relate to people. I’ve stood where they are. At one time I didn’t know this, either. I hadn’t been taught. And I was afraid of the devil.

If the devil showed up anywhere, I ducked out of the way, trying to hide. I had heard preachers tell how powerful the devil is—and about all the evil he was going to do—and I didn’t want to meet him! If he stuck his head up anywhere, I darted out of the way and hid.

Why? Wasn’t I saved? Yes, I was saved. Wasn’t I filled with the Holy Spirit? Yes, I was filled with the Holy Spirit. I just didn’t know the truth.

I’d nearly quake in my boots when the least little thing—opposition or any­thing—rose up. But one day many, many years ago, I found out the truth from the Word of God. When I found out the truth, instead of hop­ing the devil wouldn’t show up, I went out looking for him!

I was no longer afraid of the devil. Instead of my darting down a back alley when I saw him coming, now he turned and ran when he saw me coming! He said about me, “Uh-oh. He’s found out the truth, boys. He’s found out the truth. We can’t defeat or devour him anymore. He’s learned the truth.”

If you just think you’ve learned the truth, the devil will put you to the test to see if you really believe what you say you believe.

Now can you understand why John said, “You have overcome them . . .” (1 John 4:4)? You have overcome them. Christ acted in your stead. He did it for you. You have overcome them because Jesus has over­come them (all these spirits). You’re not going to overcome them; you have overcome them.

No, we’re not bragging about what you are in the flesh. (You don’t amount to much in the flesh.) We’re talking about who you are in Christ.

You see, you now have the same eternal life Jesus has. The Bible says, “He that hath the Son hath life . . .” (1 John 5:12). You have the Son, so you have the life. That means you can say, “I have taken Jesus as my Savior. I have confessed Him as my Lord. God has given me eternal life—His own nature. I am a new crea­ture, created in Christ Jesus. I have God’s ability to perform the good works that were prepared beforehand for me to walk in” (Eph. 2:10).

You can say, “I have God’s ability, because I have God’s nature. I have dwelling in me the same great, mighty, wonderful Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead” (Rom. 8:11).

You can say, quoting First John 4:4, “Greater is He who is in me than he who is in the world.”

These are Bible facts that will build faith in you and help you grow to where you can believe God on your own and not have to depend on someone else.

And when you get to the place where you know your faith in God will work, you will become dangerous to the devil! You will make hell afraid of you, and you will make Heaven glad.Greater

Until you get to this place, even though you may be saved and filled with the Holy Spirit, the devil will have you at a disadvantage. He’ll hold high carnival in your body, and he’ll dominate your life.

Know the facts of God’s Word—what belongs to you and who you are in Him. Friend, spiritually speaking, you are born of God. You’ve got God’s nature. The life of God is in your spirit. You are His child. He is your Father. You can say, “He has declared me righteous. He has made me righteous. I am the righteousness of God in Christ” (2 Cor. 5:21).

Make this confession out loud: I am the righteousness of God in Christ. I know who I am! I’m a new creature in Christ Jesus. I’m a child of God. I’m an heir of God. I’m a joint-heir with Jesus Christ. I’m the righteousness of God. Hallelujah!





What Comes After Faith?

Get More on This Topic!

What Comes After Faith? discusses the spiritual qualities believers must add to their faith in order to grow to spiritual maturity.

$8.95 Buy Now!