Tuesday, July 6, 2010

July 6, 2010

"What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him?" James 2:14
This is one of the key verses for the book of James. It is where I got the title for my series, "Faith Works Out".
Of course, faith is an intangible - you cannot see it. It has to be evidenced by actions. Faith arises out of a right relationship with God through Jesus Christ. How do others know that I have been made right with God and received His righteousness. I can tell them, but the real evidence is when I show them. If I have been made righteous then that should be proven by my life and by the right actions and right decisions demonstrated by how I live.
For instance, you can believe that you need groceries. You have no food in the house and you are growing more hungry by the moment and the supermarket is just down the street. What do you do? You can sit there and hope you get around to going to the store. Or, you can talk about going to the store. Or, you can get out and actually go to the store!
Which one of those shows evidence of true hunger?
Obviously, the answer is the last one - getting up and going to the store. Your desire evidenced itself in actions.
In Hebrews 11 there is an honored list of people who are mentioned because of their exceptional deeds they accomplished through their faith.
Abraham didn't just think about leaving his home and his family to follow God - He got up and packed his stuff, took his wife and their servants and headed out! That's faith!
Noah didn't just set around and think about how it should be built or how niv - he got to work and began building it. He evidenced His faith by stepping out and working diligently everyday pounding nails and sawing boards.
Doing good will not save your soul. But, if you have had a supernatural life-changing faith experience with God through Christ that will show by how you act or what you do. You have a better understanding of what faith is and how it operates when you can actually see it lived out!
Is faith worked out in your life?