There is always a constant debate of "works" over "faith" when you talk to people about what God expects from us as His followers. Does He want us to walk purely by faith, or does He also expect some works from us? And I believe one of the reasons this turns into a debate is because of the motive behind the works or the faith. Are we trying to say all we need is "faith" and God will take care of the rest, I don't really need to do anything. Or are we saying that yes faith is the most important part, but God expects some work from us as well?
Today I don't really want to debate whether works are more important than faith or vice versa. But what I do want to say is that I think that you can't have one without the other. I think James says it best in James 2:14-26. This is James' famous "faith without works is dead" passage from the bible. And I don't believe James is stating the its all about work, work, work.....but I do believe is so many words James is saying what we would say in modern day words as "hey, put your money where your mouth is!".
To me, faith or works still comes down the one thing....what is the condition of your heart? What is the motivation for your faith? What is the motivation behind the work you do for God? Are both being driven by your absolute love for God? Then how can you go wrong with either. I do believe there is a time for both and I will give you one example.
It would be very easy for one to sit back and say that things are rough financially, but I believe God is going to see me through. That would be saying that I have faith that God is going to help me. Nothing wrong with that. However, for one to say things are rough financially and as an absolute act of faith I am going to tithe as if they weren't. I am going to put my faith into action. This is a physical show of my inward faith toward God. You see the act of faith is being driven by love? God knows I need Him to show up for me financially, but I love Him enough to continue to give to Him as I wait for His miracle. In this scenario I'm not trying to earn His miracle, and if that is your motive He will see that in your heart. The motive still has to be love. Yes, you have faith, but you are willing to put your faith into action.
Another example would be going out and doing God's work. Acts 20:35 says "In all things I have shown you that by working hard in this way we must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive." So we could stay inside the walls of our comfortable churches and preach the truth and say we have faith that God will bring people to the church and they will find Him there....or.....We can say we are going to go out and be the hands and feet of Jesus and do the work it takes to get people to meet Him where they are. We're going to give of ourselves to others. Again, this act should not be to gain favor with God, or to earn your way into heaven. It should be done out of love and the desire to advance the kingdom of God. And the motive of the heart will show God this. It can not be done to bring attention to ourselves or to look "good" in the eyes of others. It is crucial to not let the good works you do bring in pride or boasting. There are several verses that warn against this. (James 4:16, Jeremiah 9:23, Proverbs 27:2) Instead, always check the motive of your heart and let God gain ALL the glory for any works that you do. Let your faith show through the work that you accomplish for Him.
Let me be clear in saying that I don't believe you can do good works to make your way into heaven. But I also don't believe we should be "lazy" in our faith and slide our way into heaven like that either. I believe we are CALLED to do both. Have faith...do work! And I believe when the heart is right the desire to do both will also be there. But if the heart isn't right you can claim all the faith you want....you can do all the work you want....but God will know if it was really done out of love and a passion to serve HIM. Matthew 7:21-23 tells us that not everyone who did "good works" in Jesus name will make it into heaven. For me personally, I just want to make sure I serve Him in all that I do and let my faith be seen and not just heard.
God, Thank You that you allow us to serve in ways to advance Your kingdom. Thank You that You choose to include us and want us to be Your hands and feet. Please help our hearts to stay pure as we do Your work and put our faith into action. Help us to always keep YOU being the only motive we have for the work that we do! In Jesus name, Amen
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