Friday, May 15, 2015

Real Faith Works

Two men were prayer partners. One man said, "I have prayed for God to do some things in my life, but nothing seems to be happening." The other one said, "Maybe nothing is happening, because God wants you to do something." Real faith is not passive but active. It does not talk without any action. Real faith prays, "Lord, what would You have me to do?"

It is true that we are saved by grace through faith and not of works (Ephesians 2:8-9). However, verse ten goes on to say, "For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them."

Someone has said, "Works are the fruit of salvation, not the root." God's work in us always begins by grace through faith. Works are the result, following a living faith. "For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also" (James 2:26).

Living faith is like a hand moving within a glove. We see the glove and not the hand, but we know that the energy moving the glove comes from the hand. When God's hand of grace works faith in our lives, the glove works and moves. The glove without the hand is lifeless. So it is with our faith. The works of faith are the outward result of God working within us. Only then do we have a faith that works.