Faith is an Action Word

What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that? So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.
(James 2:14-17 ESV)

Over the last few posts, we have been looking at faith and action. There are lots more verses and examples we could look at! But today we will wrap up with this – faith is an action word.

Those who have faith, will live according to that faith. If we truly believe that Jesus is the Son of God, and Lord of our lives, then we will take steps to bring our lives into line with that belief. It is not going to happen immediately. In most cases, it is not going to be a miraculous change that will turn us from sinner to saint in a moment. But the evidence of change will be there.

Day by day, little by little, changes will happen as we look at our lives, and act according to our faith. Sometimes our actions will be internal – we might stop doing something we are convicted about.We might start doing something that brings us closer to God (like read our Bibles daily). Sometimes our actions will be external – we might see a need, and know that we can do something about it. We may share our faith with a friend or family member. We might start being regular in going to church, or pack our whole family off to go to the mission field we are called to.

For each one of us, in all of the stages of our lives and walk with God, the actions will be different. But the motivation will be the same – it is the outworking of our faith in Jesus Christ.

For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.
(Ephesians 2:10 ESV)

So in the end, faith is an action word. If we have faith – we will act in accordance with that faith. Sometimes it will be hard, sometimes we might fail to act. Sometimes we may have no idea what to do – but in every case God is with us, and He will guide us and strengthen us to act out our faith, both in our internal lives and in the world in which we are called to live right now.

The Voice of Jesus – Faith and Action

Over the last couple of posts, we have been looking at faith – and our response to faith, which is our actions. Before we wrap this one up, I just want to take a quick listen to the voice of Jesus.

“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.”
(Matthew 7:21 ESV)

I think that is pretty clear! We can’t just proclaim with our mouths that Jesus is Lord (for many do so). We must then follow that through by obedience to God!

“What do you think? A man had two sons. And he went to the first and said, ‘Son, go and work in the vineyard today.’ And he answered, ‘I will not,’ but afterward he changed his mind and went. And he went to the other son and said the same. And he answered, ‘I go, sir,’ but did not go. Which of the two did the will of his father?” They said, “The first.” Jesus said to them, “Truly, I say to you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes go into the kingdom of God before you.”
(Matthew 21:28-31 ESV)

This again is Jesus speaking at another time and another place. Words mean nothing – my writing here indeed means nothing – it is my obedience before God to do His will that is what matters! It is not me proclaiming with my lips that I have faith – but me showing through my actions that same faith.

“Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do what I tell you? Everyone who comes to me and hears my words and does them, I will show you what he is like: he is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock. And when a flood arose, the stream broke against that house and could not shake it, because it had been well built. But the one who hears and does not do them is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. When the stream broke against it, immediately it fell, and the ruin of that house was great.”
(Luke 6:46-49 ESV)

And those of you familiar with your Bibles were probably wondering when that parable would come up. Yes, we need to build our foundation on the Rock of Jesus – but doing what we are called to do!

A short post today, but take some time to meditate and hear the voice of Jesus. Read through those passages again, and let the Word of God work in you. In our next post we will wrap this one up with some final comments!

Overcoming Inaction

In our last post we talked about Faith and Action. We looked that if we really believed something is true – our actions will be in line with that belief. If I believe that I am about to be hit by a car – my action will be to move.

I was reading Psalm 1 the other day, and I think even here, we can see some more of what I am talking about. If we were to just take Psalm 1:1, we would get -

Blessed is the one
who does not walk in step with the wicked
or stand in the way that sinners take
or sit in the company of mockers

Taking just this verse, we can see that by not doing the wrong things, we are ‘blessed’. But no! That is stopping half way through the sentence. What does Psalm 1:2 say?

but whose delight is in the law of the Lord,
and who meditates on his law day and night.

So it is not enough to just avoid sin – to hide in a corner and say ‘no, I don’t do that’. We have to take the next step, and ‘delight in the law of the Lord’. We have to come before Jesus, and submit ourselves to Him, and then the actions of our faith will be those of verse 1 – out of our submission to Jesus we will not walk in step with the wicked, we will not stand with the sinners.

You may wonder if I am wandering off topic…. But we get a direct example of this, related to faith and action, in Mark 10:17-27. We meet a ‘rich young ruler’. He begins well – he runs up to Jesus and ‘falls on his knees before Him’, and asks ‘Good teacher,what must I do to inherit eternal life?’

When he is presented with the law, he claims to have kept it since he was a boy. He is a Psalm 1:1 man – he hasn’t walked in step with the wicked. But then the real call of Jesus is placed on his life – will he give up all in this world that has a hold on him (in this case, his riches), and follow Jesus? Will he take the next step and truly believe in God, and then act in accordance with that belief?

And we know the result – he ‘went away sad’. He wasn’t in his own strength able to give up what he loved, and he wasn’t willing to submit to Jesus to find the help he needed to give it up.

For though not many of us are rich – we all have things in this life that hold us back. We all have things that we hold onto ourselves – that we don’t have the strength to overcome, so we can fully serve God. But Jesus answers his disciples, the rich man, and even us.

The disciples were even more amazed, and said to each other, “Who then can be saved?”
Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but not with God; all things are possible with God.”
Mark 10:26-27 (NIV)

So back to our original questions – what do you truly believe? Do you believe that Jesus saves? Do you believe that the Bible is the Word of God? Then we need to start acting in accordance with that belief. We need to first recognize that even in ourselves there are things that hold us back – there are things in our lives which stop us from acting in faith, despite knowing the truth.

So firstly, be challenged. I know there are things in my life that do not fully reflect my faith in God (and I am sure you are with me much of the time). So we all need to come to God and repent of the things that hold us back, and pray for strength to overcome – because with God, all things are possible.

And secondly, be encouraged. Jesus never said that faith would be easy. He never said that once we have submitted to Him, that all our problems would magically disappear. But He did say He would be with us, to guide us, protect us and strengthen us so that we would be complete in His timing.

If you believe something is true…

If you believe something is true – you will usually act in accordance with that belief.

If I am standing on the corner and believe I am about to be hit by a car, without question I will move from where I am standing!

If I believe I might be about to lose my job, I will no doubt touch up my resume and start looking for a new one!

If I have something broken and believe my friend can help me fix it, I will probably call my friend for help!

Over the next few posts, I will be looking at faith. Faith is our belief in God. We have faith in God. We have faith in Jesus Christ. We believe that through the work Jesus did for us on the cross, we can be saved.

Furthermore, I think that if I truly believe something, I will act on that belief!

And they came, bringing to him a paralytic carried by four men. And when they could not get near him because of the crowd, they removed the roof above him, and when they had made an opening, they let down the bed on which the paralytic lay. And when Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven.”
(Mark 2:3-5 ESV)

Most of you will have read or heard about these guys. I still remember the drawings in the childrens Bible I had showing the guys pulling roof tiles to get their friend in front of Jesus! Spend any time thinking about it, and it is a crazy scene.

You see, these guys believed something – they believed that Jesus could heal. And not just heal a common cold, or a skin rash, or even a minor disability – but that Jesus could make a paralytic walk. That is not a minor thing, not something that will be fixed by a skin cream or an antibiotic. It is still something that our medical profession now, 2000 years later, is trying to achieve – take someone who cannot walk and help them.

And it wasn’t just a passing belief either. They tried to get to Jesus the ‘normal’ way, but the crowd was too much, too thick, too numerous to carry their friend through. So they thought through the problem and came up with a solution. Can you imagine the conversation?

“Hey, if we climb up to the roof, and tear open the tiles right above Jesus head, maybe we can lower him through!”.

“Okay!”.

How did they get on the roof with a paralytic on a mat? How did they start tearing the roof off? Did they come prepared with rope to lower him? No, it wasn’t an easy task, but they had faith that Jesus could, and would heal their friend, and were willing to go to some pretty extreme lengths in response to that belief.

The had faith – and their faith was shown in their action.

What do your actions show?

Have a think about it, and we will look more in our next post.

Faith of equal standing – 2 Peter 1:1-2

Simeon Peter, a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ,To those who have obtained a faith of equal standing with ours by the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ: May grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.
(2 Peter 1:1-2 ESV)

Here is just an amazing statement in this letter from Peter. “To those who have obtained a faith of equal standing with ours…”

Peter here is talking to all Christians. He is not just saying ‘to all the elite Christians out there’, or ‘to all that have their life together’. He is not just talking to Pastors, ministers and church leaders, but to ‘all who believe in Jesus Christ’. What a statement, that before God we are the same, whether we are a brand new believer or an apostle who was with Jesus from the very beginning of His ministry…. There are no levels to faith, there is no hierarchy in faith – there is simply faith of equal standing.

Your salvation is sure – whether you have just believed in Jesus this minute, or have been a believer for all your life. Your salvation is sure, whether you have been a ‘good person’ all your life or not, providing your faith is in Jesus Christ alone. There is nothing you need more than that faith in Jesus Christ. (To be sure there will be effects of your faith that will show in your life – but you don’t need these external ‘things’ to be saved, or to have a faith of equal standing even with the apostles! But more on that in another post)

So take that today as an encouragement and a challenge. You have been given the same faith, a faith of equal standing with every other Christian, whether still alive or passed away before us, right back to the apostles who spent 3 years personally with Jesus. And know then that no matter what has come before in your life – you can live an effective and fruitful life in Jesus Christ from this minute on, if you will only trust in Him, and believe that He can and will use you right now.