Matthew 25:14-18 My Version (as I understand it)

The Parable of Operation of Faith

14 “For it will be like the Lord Jesus Christ going on a journey, who called his servants[everyone] and entrusted to them his property. 15 To one he gave five units of faith, to another two, to another one, to each according to his ability. Then he went away. 16 He who had received the five units of faith went at once and traded with them, and he made five  more. 17 So also he who had the two units of faith made two more. 18 But he who had received the one went and dug in the ground and hid his master’s faith.

The Operation of Faith is found in where we place faith. There is only one place that any of us can place our faith and are immediately changed. The idea that faith is not given out equally is derived through the scriptures.

Romans 12:3 English Standard Version (ESV) For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned.

As we noted yesterday grace comes through faith and here we discover that faith is measured out by God according to our abilities to handle it, Matt. 25:15

Ephesians 3:16-17 English Standard Version

16 that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, 17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love,

According to the scripture we are changed because Christ abides in us by faith. Putting our faith In Him puts Him in us and we become a new creation. The Operation of Faith is to change those of us who believe in Jesus Christ from the inside.

What of the one who buried his faith in a hole that he dug for himself?

They are placing faith in anything other than Jesus Christ. That could be in pride, property,  the stock market, buying futures, bonds, securities, or anything that one might trust that is not God’s promises. What did Jesus say to that one servant?

27 Then you ought to have invested my faith in the church/religion, and at my coming I should have received what was my own with interest. (My Version again)

1 Corinthians 15:10 English Standard Version (ESV) But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me.

2 Corinthians 1:12 English Standard Version (ESV) For our boast is this, the testimony of our conscience, that we behaved in the world with simplicity and godly sincerity, not by earthly wisdom but by the grace of God, and supremely so toward you.

Hebrews 2:9 English Standard Version (ESV) But we see him who for a little while was made lower than the angels, namely Jesus, crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone.

The three graces here are seen from a humanities standpoint.

Grace was extended to individuals to create this new creation in Christ. It is individual.

Grace was extended from those individuals towards others in the family of God.

Grace was extended to all mankind regardless of circumstances, beliefs or conditions.

As individuals grace works in us to accomplish the will of God.

As family members, grace works to promote unity of mind and will according to God’s plans.

Grace was extended to all mankind through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ so that anyone might accept that grace to obtain a new life, one worth living.

Ephesians 2:8 English Standard Version (ESV) For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God,

Grace is not an independent operation. It only comes through faith. Faith has to operate first in order for grace to have its full effect.

Since grace is offered to everyone, then faith has to be that agent of change for everyone. The question is how does faith operate?