Hosanna Restoration Church

Won’t it be nice to get to heaven have the final answer to the debate over faith and works? This is a question that has been batted back and forth since people began to know and to understand God. All I can hope is that this brief look at faith and works will be helpful to others as well as me.

It is obvious that faith is a powerful force in the earth. Truly the depth of a persons faith in most any given principle can and will produce results. There are in fact those with such faith in the powers of darkness that they manifest tremendous results through those powers. There are those with great faith in their own abilities and ideas that also accomplish great things. So needless to say, faith is a force and it manifests according to its source.

However, there is only one faith that can save anyone for eternity, and that is faith in God through the Lord Jesus Christ. Anyone who wants to can disagree with that, but it is the truth and it is the only truth that sets a man or a woman free. This faith is also the most powerful, positive and productive faith for this lifetime as well.

The question here is, “is it possible to have faith in God without it manifesting in actions in our lives?” About the only way I can see that happening is if someone comes to faith and then dies shortly thereafter. In every other instance, a person who grows in the knowledge of and love for God will have many opportunities to manifest the fruit of their faith. Notice, I said they will have opportunities.

The key as in all things with God is obedience. James goes on to mention Abraham and how He trusted God so much that he was prepared to sacrifice his son on the altar. That does not mean that we all need to take our children and put a knife to their throats! God has different things for each and every one of us to do. It is not up to me to tell you what to do, nor is it up to you to decide what God wants me to do. It is the responsibility of each of us as individuals to trust God so deeply that we will do what He asks us to do. If we think He is asking us to do something but we are not sure, then we should ask Him. He will be more than happy to tell us again! However when we ask, we must really expect an answer. We need not spend our whole life doing nothing because we just are not sure! It is okay to do “God” things without being told you know!

Faith is like a river; it flows unless someone builds a dam and stops it. Even then, it will overflow the banks eventually. It is important that we desire to grow and trust God no matter what the cost. When we do, our faith grows deeper and as a result we fly higher! Works can exist without faith, but faith cannot help but manifest itself in works.