Positive thinking and positive confession is equated with being the same as having faith in Christ by some church teachings in our day. Positive thinking has its roots in the new age movement and philosophies. Positive thinking means that if you persist in thinking and proclaiming something as true, that it will manifest itself and be a reality in your daily life. This philosophy and thinking says ‘if you want healing and health proclaim these faithfully to yourself and others, even if you are sick, and you will be well’. Do this for whatever you need or desire.
Faith in Christ is something different. Godly faith is trust in a person, trust in God’s Word. There is some aspects of faith in Christ that are similar in stance to positive confession, but it is not the same thing . The Bible says that all men have a measure of faith with which to begin their journey with God. This faith is then strengthened through trust that God’s Word is true as the believer reads the Bible and through the work of the Holy Spirit. The believer puts what he understands in the Bible into daily practice in his or her life. The Holy Spirit works with the believer to strengthen his or her faith. The believer’s faith is tested to see what is lacking and work is begun by God to strengthen his or her faith as long as the believer is willing to be corrected.
So we see that positive confession is the work of men, the works of the flesh, and faith is the work of God through his Holy Spirit and his Word in the heart and mind of the believer. Where confusion comes in is when men, meaning church leaders, try to mix positive confession teachings with Bible scripture. Using God’s word in positive confession is not faith in Christ unless the believer knows that what he is doing is looking to the mercy and compassion of a person. He or she is not calling something into existence.