James 2:26
If you have been in a church for awhile you have heard this: “Faith without
works is dead.”
A Christian begins his walk as a spiritual baby. He comes into the faith with
very little knowledge of what Christianity is about. If he knows anything
about the faith it is more likely than not clouded with misunderstanding or
from observation of those professing Christianity and wrongly interpreting
the Scripture. The point is this: Christianity is well defined in the New
Testament and is presented not as a stagnant religion but a faith, belief that
grows in the believer’s life. Even words like “believer” can be
misinterpreted Ask a person if they are a believer, the person says yes, but
what does the “yes” mean.
A Christian is not just someone who has mouthed the words. A Christian,
follower of Christ is one who has eaten the Word of God. He is one who has
digested the Word and allowed it to be disseminated throughout his being. A
true believer in Christ is not one who just speaks the Word of God, but one
who lives the Word of God. He is one who has given his
mind, will, and emotions over to God. (If God does not have your mind, will,
and emotions then Satan does.)
James makes it very clear that Christianity is more than saying I have faith
or I believe. James 2:14, “What does it profit, my brethren, if someone says
he has faith but does not have works? Can faith save him?” In verse 17
James writes, “Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.”
Christianity is more than sitting in a worship service and being fed or
entertained. We need the worship, the corporate worship of God. We need to
join together with other Christians in praising
God, in hearing God speak through music, preaching of the Word and along
with other forms of worship, But, if that is all we do, where is the faith. Faith
is not a passive word. It is active. It is motivating. It is what we exhibit each
and everyday, every moment of our lives. FAITH IS THAT
SPIRITUAL ENERGY EXHIBITED IN LIFE BY OUR WORK FOR GOD.
Our faith is not in a preacher, a teacher, a church. All these are good. Our
faith is in God and God alone. We allow Him to work in us and through us.
Read the Bible. You find faith in God. Read Hebrews 11 recorded are those
who lived their lives by faith: Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Sarah, Isaac,
Jacob, Joseph, Moses, Rahab, Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David,
Samuel and the prophets. These names are not listed just because they said
they believed or had faith. They worked out their faith. They lived their faith.
God blessed their faith. Over a Thousand s of years after they lived their
names are still mentioned.
Philippians 2:12–13, “12 Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed,
not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out
your own salvation with fear and trembling; 13 for it is God who works in
you both to will and to do for His good pleasure.”