Christians what does this verse mean??

Question

The apostles said to the Lord, "Increase our faith!"
Jesus replied, "If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, 'Be uprooted and planted in the sea,' and it will obey you.Luke 17:5-6

Answer 1

It is fascinating, isn't it?

Most people just quote what Jesus said without ever knowing what He said it in response to - that is, what the Apostles requested!

There is a very common misunderstanding in the church today...a false teaching that is running rampant...

It is a teaching that "faith" is the "answer" to everything...in the sense that....
If you had enough faith...you'd be blessed
If you had enough faith...you'd be healed
If you had enough faith...you wouldn't suffer
If you had enough faith...you wouldn't have to take medicines
If you had enough faith...you wouldn't sin

They are following a "Gospel" that says salvation is BECAUSE of faith. Blessing is BECAUSE of faith. Healing is BECAUSE of faith.

However, that is NOT the Gospel!

Salvation is BECAUSE of grace, and grace alone!
The BASIS of salvation is grace.
The MEANS of salvation is faith.
The EVIDENCE of salvation is love (i.e. good works)

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An analogy:
Imagine a picture of Jesus playing a flute.
Jesus breathes through the flute and out comes glorious music.

The flute represents FAITH.
The breath of God represents GRACE.
The music represents WORKS (good works, Love).

And here is the BIG POINT:
God can and does make glorious music, even with the smallest of flutes!

In other words, the "size" of the flute is not the limiting factor.

Now then,
If there is no flute, there is no music.
If there is no faith, there will be no good works (no agape love).

And the contrasting point is this:
Even if someone has a HUGE flute, yet if God does not breathe...there still would not be any music!
That is, even if someone has great faith, it does NOT necessarily follow that God MUST or will respond to this person's "demands", petitions, or requests!

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In Romans 12:3, it is written:
For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you.
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HIS grace is sufficient. (2 Corinthians 12:9!)
And the measure of faith God has given is sufficient for good of man, the purposes of God, all to the glory of God and His perfect immutable will.
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If all was BECAUSE of faith, that would make US God...and God our butler. We would just "ring our bell of faith" and get what we 'want.' SORRY, but WE are not God. God alone is God. HE is sovereign; He is in control of blessings. He is the giver, we are the receiver. Yes, we receive from God through faith, but only that which He graciously gives!

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Answer 2

The verse is to be considered a parable and it indicates that even a very small amount of faith is needed.

On the other hand people do profess that everything in the Bible is absolutely true and literal.

I think that if the apostles had taken Jesus' word and had tested their faith they would have been grandly disappointed.

Perhaps the literal Christians should test themselves now.

Answer 3

It means if you just have the tiniest bit of faith. It will grow if you truly desire it to. Just like telling a tree to go into the sea. You can grow faith from something very small(mustard seeds are tiny). Back in the late 70's-early 80's when I was a kid we all wore them on a chain in a little bottle. It was an example to us.

Answer 4

A mustard seed is small and so Jesus is saying that ieven if you a small bit of faith and truly believe then God can accomplish great things within you.

Answer 5

Mustard seeds are small but develop into a great plant. do plants have faith? I believe so. Jesus also infered that lilies do not toil, they develop naturally without effort by "their nature."
It is our nature to make miracles, We can have the faith to do it. After all, we are sons of God.

Answer 6

Luke 17:5-6 is the address which the disciples made to Christ, for the strengthening of their faith. The apostles themselves, though they were prime ministers of state in Christ's kingdom, acknowledged the weakness and deficiency of their faith, and saw their need of Christ's grace for the improvement of it; they said unto the Lord, "Increase our faith, and perfect what is lacking in it." Let the discoveries of faith be more clear, the desires of faith more strong, the dependences of faith more firm and fixed, the dedications of faith more entire and resolute, and the delights of faith more pleasing. Note, the increase of our faith is what we should earnestly desire, and we should offer up that desire to God in prayer. Some think that they put up this prayer to Christ upon occasion of his pressing upon them the duty of forgiving injuries: "Lord, increase our faith, or we shall never be able to practise such a difficult duty as this." Faith in God's pardoning mercy will enable us to get over the greatest difficulties that lie in the way of our forgiving our brother.

Answer 7

some people say, if you have a little bit of faith, that means that you can move a mountain(but I dont know why yours say mulberry tree, planted in the sea???) But How I look at it, if you just trust God, about what he is going to do, you can move a mountain. (or if you believe God is ur saviour) so yah.

Answer 8

It seems that the amount of faith is not the issue with Jesus but rather to have some faith, in a sense we cannot really measure our faith or that of another as it is very difficult to quantify, we should not be so concerned about having a mountain of faith but rather use the faith we do possess already.

Answer 9

Yes, it does say that with great faith you can do great things, but the key is that it's not our faith that's so great, it's because of WHO we place our faith IN. You can't just have faith in anything, it has to be faith in our awesome God (with whom NOTHING is impossible!).

Answer 10

You can do great things with just a little faith