Faith of Christ !
Its the same kind of Faith that was given to Abraham, the Father of the Faithful !
Gal 3:7
Know ye therefore that
they which are of faith, the same
are the children of Abraham.
God promised to bless and Multiply this Abraham
Gen 17:5
2And I will make my covenant between me and thee,
and will multiply thee exceedingly.
3And Abram fell on his face: and God talked with him, saying,
4As for me, behold, my covenant is with thee, and thou shalt be a father of many nations.
5Neither shall thy name any more be called Abram, but thy name shall be Abraham; for
a father of many nations have I made thee.
We know God was speaking to the regenerated Abraham by what He said to him in vs 1
Gen 17:1
1And when Abram was ninety years old and nine, the LORD appeared to Abram, and said unto him, I am the Almighty God;
walk before me, and be thou perfect.
This was not instruction to a unregenerated dead in trespasses and sins sinner. So His offspring that God promised him in vs 2 would also be regenerated. Of course not born regenerated, but that they would be regenerated, as children of promise.
Now, we know that the Faith that Abraham possessed as the Father of the Faithful, was not a Natural Man's Faith. God made he and his wife a promise that was not all possible to believe and trust God for. Lets look at proof of this
Gen 18:9-11
9And they said unto him, Where is Sarah thy wife? And he said, Behold, in the tent.
10And he said, I will certainly return unto thee according to the time of life; and, lo, Sarah thy wife shall have a son. And Sarah heard it in the tent door, which was behind him.
11Now Abraham and Sarah were old and well stricken in age; and it ceased to be with Sarah after the manner of women.
Now by natural Faith Sarah did not believe this promise, lets look at her reaction to the Promise of God vs 12
12Therefore Sarah laughed within herself, saying, After I am waxed old shall I have pleasure, my lord being old also?
That was a Laugh of disbelief, or unbelief ! It had ceased to be with Sarah after the manner of women vs 11 Meaning she was too old naturally to bear children. Naturally her reproductive years had ceased !
And not only so, but even Abraham, his first reaction was unbelief
Gen 17:15-17
15And God said unto Abraham, As for Sarai thy wife, thou shalt not call her name Sarai, but Sarah shall her name be.
16And I will bless her, and give thee a son also of her: yea, I will bless her, and she shall be a mother of nations; kings of people shall be of her.
17Then Abraham fell upon his face, and laughed, and said in his heart, Shall a child be born unto him that is an hundred years old? and shall Sarah, that is ninety years old, bear?
Again, unbelief, because it was natural. But God's Promises are not thwarted by the Natural Man's unbelief
2 Tim 2:13
If we believe not, yet he abideth faithful: he cannot deny himself.
So consequently, if its impossible for God to be unfaithful to His Promises made to anyone, God gives them Faith to believe His Promises.
After God given Faith is given, It is written of Sarah
Heb 11:11
11Through faith also Sara herself received strength to conceive seed, and was delivered of a child when she was past age,
because she judged him faithful who had promised.
Now that was not her first reaction, but after God gave her Faith, a Faith that is above the Natural mans ability, She believed God for the promise based upon His Faithfulness.
Same with Abraham, Paul writes of Him
Rom 4:19-20
And
being not weak in faith, he considered not his own body now dead, when he was about an hundred years old,
neither yet the deadness of Sarah's womb: 20He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God;
Now we know initially Abraham with Natural Faith and reasoning did consider Sarah's womb, for it is recored right here
Gen 17:17
All these lessons are important to consider, God has not contradicted Himself, nor scripture, but an lesson is being Illustrated,That Faith to Believe God is a Gift, and not something conjured up by the freewill of man and its at his control. Its a Gift to His Elect
Titus 1:1
1Paul, a servant of God, and an apostle of Jesus Christ,
according to the faith of God's elect, and the acknowledging of the truth which is after godliness;
It was a Gift given to Abraham,whom we know was His Chosen, if not read
Isa 41:8
But thou, Israel, art my servant, Jacob whom
I have chosen,
the seed of Abraham my friend.
And of course its given as promised to Abraham's seed of descendants
Gal 3:7
Know ye therefore that
they which are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham.
This Faith gives God the Glory,not the freewill of Man..