Is your faith active?

 What is faith if it doesn’t affect your life, character and behaviour? 

‘faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead’(James 2:17).

If you believe in God and trust that the death of his son, Jesus releases you from sin, then you may well have faith. Yet, if it does not impact your behaviour and result in doing good things then James is telling you that the faith you have has no life. It is useless, dead. Faith is evidenced by how you live your life. What you really believe about yourself and your relationship with God impacts your character, speech and actions. How you treat others and what you do with your life is proof of what you believe. What do you think your life shows about what you believe? 

If you are someone that says they follow God, then are you demonstrating this by doing good things for others? It could be; talking to the lonely, feeding the hungry, helping those on the edge of society. If you think that taking part in these things is unimportant, then James asks you this,‘Do you want to be shown, you foolish person, that faith apart from works is useless’? (James 2:20). James is challenging you to consider the impact your life through faith has on others. Faith in God is not just about salvation for your soul. If you have really begun to understand who you are and who God is then you should be spurred onto doing good works in order to demonstrate and outpour the love you have for God. An alive and active faith is one that does something about the distresses they see in the world, that loves the poor, lonely and unlovely, that cheerfully gives without the expectation of receiving. Does the faith you have sound at all like that? Or do you need to be shown that faith with works is useful, and without them is useless?

Reading the Bible and hearing of others adventures of faith is inspiring. Not one of the Old Testament or New Testament followers of God led lives that were devoid of ‘good works’. They all made mistakes, like we do, but they all put their faith into practice by being obedient and doing things beyond the ordinary, spurred on by the faith they had. Peter was a passionate disciple of Jesus, and he got it wrong sometimes, but he also got it right when he went out and told people who this Jesus was, when he prayed for and healed people. Jonah was a man of faith, and even though he tried to run away from God, he was eventually, begrudgingly obedient - even when he didn’t want to, he put his faith into action. Would we have considered these men, or any other characters in the Bible people of faith if they hadn’t done something to show how much they trusted God rather than themselves? What if Jonah had just kept on running away? Or Peter had got disappointed with the correction and gone back to fishing for the rest of his life keeping his head down? Faith is demonstrated through your actions - so what do people see of yours? 

‘Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered up his son Isaac on the altar? 22 You see that faith was active along with his works, and faith was completed by his works’ James 2:21–22.

Abraham took the journey of sacrificing his son because he knew God was faithful, and he, Abraham was acting in faithful obedience to the word of God. He walked the journey by faith as well as in heartache. If he hadn’t of done, what would have happened? There would have been no story of a miraculous provision and survival, Abraham and Isaac’s story would have been very different and so would ours. As a result of Abraham’s willingness to give his son’s life into the hands of God, Abraham is promised that he will be blessed and there will be a blessing for the generations to come because of his act of obedience! Even, ‘all nations on earth will be blessed because you have obeyed me’! (Genesis 22:18) Wow! 

What could be the impact of your obedience to God? 

Abraham put his faith into action by following the call of God, even though it was heartbreaking, tiring, difficult and confusing. He still did it because he knew above his own understanding that God is good and faithful, therefore Abraham trusted Him. Abraham’s faith was tested and we can, ‘see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone.’  (James 2:24).  Abraham’s life and obedience in word and action is just one of the many examples in scripture and history that you can learn about putting faith into action. Would you have admired and respected Abraham as much if he had turned around to God and said no? Have you said no to God? How long will it be before you turn round and say yes? The impact of your yes in obedience to God will not only bless your life, test and stretch your faith but will bless others even for generations to come. Let your faith live. Give the faith you have a chance to grow, it will be uncomfortable, confusing and painful, but do you want a living faith or a dead one?

‘For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so also faith apart from works is dead.’ James 2:26 

The Life

6*Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

John 14:6.

Jesus is the Life. Life is an interesting word to define, even dictionaries seem to struggle with it. Some simply explaining that it is the period between birth and death, others describe it as a quality that makes things different to inanimate objects. The most scientific meaning tells us that life is the ability of an organism to metabolise, grow, reproduce and respond to stimuli. This is the dictionary definition of what life is, but, is that ALL that life is? 

Is that really the 'life' that Jesus is talking about here? Jesus says he IS 'the life", surely we could all say we have life if it is simply the act of being alive? So clearly Jesus must be speaking about something more to existence than metabolising or not being dead yet. Life has more to it than our next breath, the next heartbeat or reflexive response. It has more depth, more purpose, more adventure and this can be found when we take up Jesus’ offer of life. Jesus is inviting us into an existence where we truly live through understanding that he is the life that has freed us from the death we deserve due to sin.

As we read these verses we need to remember that Jesus was speaking to his disciples, we read them as a record of conversation. So in this passage, Jesus is talking to people who already have the dictionary definition of life. Therefore he is not just saying he is giving them that, Jesus was speaking to people who were already alive, so he must be offering them something more to life than they can experience without him in it. Later on in the same book of John we read that Jesus promised,’I have come that you may have life in all its fullness’. (John 10:10). The fullness of life is what Jesus offers. Not just having breath and the basic functions of life, but ‘fullness’. 

Are you living a, ‘life in all its fullness’? Not a life that is just full; full of stuff, things, events, people, duties, work, but a ‘life in all its fullness’? 

The life Jesus gives us has a sense of completeness and satisfaction, not of striving or constant discontent. One that has enough whether in wealth or poverty, a; contented, secure, growing and developing life. A life that has more to base its trust on than the; current economic climate, weather, people or job security. The life Jesus offers is an invitation to discover what your existence is about, your identity and purpose. A life in all its fullness is a life that is full because Jesus is in it and that is your confidence. Is this your experience? 

A life in all its fullness begins when you accept that Jesus is offering you a new life by being restored to God. Putting God first In your existence means that you can really live. Jesus demonstrated what being the 'life' was. He showed the way and the truth of life lived with God. His life was certainly full! Most of the things we read and know about Jesus happened in a short period of 3 years - the stories and teaching we can still hear and read about show that Jesus certainly had an adventure when his ministry began! He lived and demonstrated 'the life'. Jesus lived with a God first mentality, and he invites you to do the same. It is through Jesus that you can really live as a child restored to God the Father strengthened by the Holy Spirit. If you are not sure what that life involves then i encourage you to read about Jesus - see what his Earthly existence was like, what his character showed and what he taught. He knows life is more than being not dead, it has purpose, it has love and it can be full. Do you know that kind of life?