I don’t know about you but I sometimes ask myself if the patriarchs were under any pressure to prove their faith to God or anyone else.
Thank you for joining today… For the last three weeks I made no new post but referred readers to old posts that relate to what I want to write on today.
James 2:18 (KJV)
“Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works.”
First, this passage of scriptures speaks of faith in its foundational and ultimate sense.
Why I had to say that is cos many times, this passage of scriptures is used when a person who’s trusting God for something, say a job, is encouraged to do something to show they really are trusting God, like resign from their current place of work.
Let me just say this on the side… It’s gonna sound like unbelief but I promise you, it’s not… If you have a job but you’re believing God for another job and you’ve been told or you feel like you should resign from where you are now as a sign of faith, please do not do that. It is not proof of anything.
You may say that was what Abraham did, he let go of Ishmael, he let go of Isaac, he let go of his father’s house… Blah blah blah… No Adelphoi, that was not what Abraham did… And we will discuss it.
I digressed, now I can’t bring myself back to what I was saying. I think I’ll just continue from here.
Listen, when James spoke about works that accompany faith, he wasn’t speaking of random acts done to impress or prove you have faith.
I know I’ve written on this before but I feel the need to write again and I’ve had the feeling since January.
This faith thing is not some lotion you mentally apply. It is a spirit that comes from the word of God. A man who believes receives faith and this faith is the spirit that makes him live in obedience to the word and instructions of God.
I’d like to also add to the obedience to the written word that because of the spirit the person who believes receives (remember it comes through the word of God, by renewing the mind with it and not just a mental force), he’s able to know what the will of God is beyond letters. So such a man in specific situations knows what to do not as a way to prove faith but HE JUST BELIEVES.
Now, this was what Abraham did. Because he believed, he obeyed… Truly they work as one, not two. No one who believes disobeys or as James puts it, no one who believes is “without works”. Abraham wasn’t trying to prove anything. He never suggested the giving up of anything. It was all in obedience to the one whom he believed.
Hmmm… “To the One whom he believed”… God willing, I would like to write to you on “What do you believe?” next week.
Let me summarize this. James was speaking about our faith in Christ in God, the one that saves not “receives” (It can be applied but that was not the purpose). The works is not your idea to show you believe God, its God’s word obeyed and Spirit followed (not your desire). I believe that this work is powered by the spirit of God, it is pure.
Let me end this post by referring you to similar writeups I posted. What should be done? The real work, Faith works. Thank you for reading from me today. God bless you.
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Ancient Word 
