Hosanna Restoration Church

Faith and works go together like the perfect couple. They compliment each other. They build one another up. If one is lacking, so is the other one. If we really do have faith in God, it will show up in our actions. If it does not show up, then it probably is not there. Most certainly, salvation is a gift we receive. We do not earn it. Still, it produces a new life in us that affects the people around us.

If we go to church, that is a good thing as long as going to church is only the beginning of our faith and not the totality of it. If the only way anyone knows we have faith is because we go to church, that is not faith. That is religion. Faith in God changes our whole life.

Faith in God changes the way we talk. We should not sound like everyone else. Faith should cause us to speak in ways that bring glory to God. Our language should be salted with what a wonderful God we serve and love. Faith will stir us to outbursts of love and good deeds.

Faith in God also affects how we treat others. Remember, we are judged by the law of love. Faith it God turns us into givers. Before I knew God, I looked at giving to God like it was a burden. I gave as little as I could. When I came to know God I began to tithe with excitement. I realized it was an investment in the kingdom of God. I looked at every opportunity to give as an opportunity to bless God. I knew I owed Him a bunch!

Bottom line is that faith produces good works, and good works strengthen our faith. Doing the will of God builds our confidence. It strengthens our faith, because we see the results of the good works and realize that only God could have done that. When we realize that God is working through us our faith grows.

So many times you can see people who when they first come to the Lord they are so changed by His presence that they cannot get enough of the things of God. Then something happens and instead of continuing on they quit letting their faith show. Pretty soon the first love has turned into doubt. They no long are doing the Word and therefore are no longer seeing the Word work. Faith shrinks and works become non-existent.

On the other side of that coin are the people who don’t want to walk by faith, so they get busy trying to do works without the faith. They only want to accept the parts of the Word of God that they like and they try to overcome walking by faith with walking by works. That just won’t work, because we can only go so far in our own effort. Without faith, the works become just that, works. The love of God is not in them and they become fruitless.

We have to live by faith and let the faith produce good works in Christ. When we do, it shows. We may not always get it perfect, but God will perfect it if we live for Him.