Faith Is Expressed In Words And Actions
So it is with faith: if it is alone and includes no actions, then it is dead. But someone will say, One person has faith, another has actions.” My answer is, “Show me how anyone can have faith without actions. I will show you my faith by my actions” (James 2:17-18 GNB).
Faith is active and not passive. Faith doesn’t sit back and say, “Whatever will be, will be.” Faith acts NOW, for faith without works, that is corresponding action is dead. So, the faith that works is that which believes what God says, speaks and acts accordingly. In other words, if you truly believe God’s Word—that He is who He says He is, has done what He says He has done, and that you have what He says you have, then you must talk, act and live that way.
When Peter and John met the crippled man at the gate of the temple called beautiful, Peter said to the man, “Silver and gold have I none; but such as I have give I thee: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up and walk” (Acts 3:6). Peter then grabbed the man by the hand, and lifted him up. The Bible says “And he leaping up stood, and walked, and entered with them into the temple, walking, and leaping, and praising God.” The man didn’t try to test whether he could stand up; he jumped up! That’s a demonstration of faith. He believed he had been healed and he immediately acted that way: “And he leaping up stood, and walked….”
Thus, when you hear the Word of God which says for example, “By whose stripes ye were healed” (1 Peter 2:24), you ought to say “Thank you Father, by the stripes of Jesus, I was healed,” and then you get off the sickbed and act like someone that’s healed, by doing those things you couldn’t do before.
Act on the Word today. The Bible says “…What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them (Mark 11:24). Put this to work. Each time you pray, rejoice like someone that has received. Notice I didn’t say, “rejoice so you’ll receive”; rather rejoice, knowing that you’ve received!” That’s the faith principle. You don’t negotiate the Word. Once you receive it concerning any area of your life you act accordingly, for faith is action added to the Word of God that you’ve believed.
Confession
Dear Father, your Word is my life, and the light by which I live. I’m not just a hearer of the Word but also a doer; I’m a word-practitioner, for that’s where the blessing is. I receive with gladness, meekness and faith your Word concerning my success, health, victory and prosperity, and I act in consonance with that word today, in Jesus’ Name. Amen.
Further Study: James 2:17-20: “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. Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble. But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead?”
James 2:21-22 WNT: “Was it, or was it not, because of his actions that he was declared to be righteous as the result of his having offered up his son Isaac upon the altar? You notice that his faith was co-operating with his actions, and that by his actions his faith was perfected”
(Taken by permission from Christ Embassy Church , aka Believer’s LoveWorld Ministries , Lagos, Nigeria. www.ChristEmbassy.org )