Faith and Works

        “Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone.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.” - James 2:17-18

         James gives us some key verses to see how faith and works fit together. According to Hebrews 11:1: “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” Faith is a confidence and assurance of the existence of something unseen. When you get in you car in the morning, you do not have to check under the hood to see if the motor is still there. So that is the faith side, and works is the knowing that the unseen is there and acting upon it. It is getting inside the car and turning the key and starting the engine. These two are both crucial to the Christian’s daily life. If you say you have faith in something and yet are unwilling to act upon your “faith,” then that faith is useless. On the other hand if are working or acting not out of faith, but are having to confirm everything by seeing it or experiencing it continually. To use the car example again, faith without works is saying that you believe the engine is in the car, but you are unwilling to get in and turn the key. Works with the absence of faith would be like having to check under the hood for the engine and making sure everything is hooked up every single time you get in the car. That is ridiculous!

         Genuine faith and works go hand in hand, two sides to the same coin. It seems overly simple when you consider it in the terms of driving. When was the last time you had to check if your engine was still there or refused to get in until you had? Probably never. Why? Because it is a fact, you know it to be true and you do not hesitate or doubt. So why is it so hard for us to believe God’s Word? What He says has proven throughout the ages to fact, and it is more of a reality than of that engine sitting in your car. So I would like to challenge you to use that same faith that you have in the fact that your engine is still in your car since the last time you drove it, and begin to apply to what God says in His word. Read the Scriptures, discover the promises, search out who He is, find out what He has done for us, then take it by faith and act upon it.