Works without faith are dead. In the same way, faith without works is dead. This is true in the case of the salvation of sinners. It is also true in the case of the believers’ living. Our attention today is focused on the Christians’ works of faith. The unique place where faith is expressed is in their works. What we do expresses what we believe. If our faith and works do not agree with each other, there must be something wrong with our faith. Many believers do not know how to believe and express their faith. Actually, the matter is quite simple. Faith is expressed through works. “Faith worked together with his works, and by these works faith was perfected” (James 2:22). Suppose a believer merely professes with his mouth. “What is the profit...if anyone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him?” (v. 14). According to the biblical teaching here, if we believe God in a certain matter, we should have a work of faith in that matter. Otherwise, our faith will not help us receive God’s deliverance in that matter.
Two meanings are implied: (1) our work proves our faith, and (2) our work perfects or completes our faith.
If there is faith, there must be works that correspond with the faith. If a man believes that a house is on fire, he will surely not sit still in the house. If he sits still there, he does not believe that the house is on fire. If we commit a matter to the Lord and believe that God will work for us, our attitude toward the matter will surely see a great change. If a man says that he believes that God will work for him, yet busily makes plans himself, being worried and distressed, his faith must be false. “For we who have believed enter into the rest” (Heb. 4:3). Faith and rest cannot be separated from one another. Whenever we truly believe, our heart will be at rest. If our hearts are restless and uneasy, if we are afraid of this and that, and if we are fearful and feeling lost, struggling with all our effort to scheme, plan, resolve, plead, ask for help, and maneuver, then this shows that we have not yet believed. When one believes, he is at rest. Therefore, when a person believes, he will no longer worry or busily plan. Instead, he will be like a weaned child resting in his mother’s bosom. There must be works to our faith, and the first step of our work of faith is to stop our own works and rest in God’s love, wisdom, and power.
This kind of rest is very real, genuine, and natural. It is not a pretentious calm, unnatural self-restraint, or acting as if nothing has happened. Faith brings in restfulness because of the knowledge that God is for us. “If God is for us, who can be against us?” (Rom. 8:31). Therefore, there is the rest. In addition, we know our own emptiness and that nothing can be accomplished through our designs and laborious schemes. Faith does not rest in itself. God is the place where faith rests. Only those who have such rest have faith. Those who do not have such rest do not have faith. Anything that comes by force is not faith. Faith is something that comes spontaneously. When we see a person, we know he is there. Do we have to contrive to think he is there? Do we have to force ourselves to believe he is there? Do we have to reason and research before we can acknowledge the reality of this fact? Within a second we believe spontaneously. There is no need for us to struggle to believe. This is the way with all kinds of faith. The origin of faith comes from God; it causes our spiritual eyes to discern the reality of a matter. As a result we believe. When we see and know certain things, spontaneously we believe in them. Faith results in rest, and rest comes not from prediction but from foreknowledge. We exercise faith in restfulness and we rest in faith. Faith is something very spontaneous. Anything that is not spontaneous is not faith.
Of course, there are counterfeits for everything. There is the possibility of a counterfeit for every spiritual experience of the believers. If believers are not careful, they will be deceived. There is no exception to this in the matter of faith. Many times Satan will deceive the believers, causing them to have false peace and believe in themselves, which is where the problem really lies. They can be convinced that God is going to do certain works. When God does not work, their doubts multiply and they stumble. The believers must realize that true faith is given by God and is for the accomplishment of God’s will. Every time God gives us faith, He gives evidence for the faith. It is not a matter of what we think or how we feel, but a matter of what God has said. Sometimes He speaks to us through the holy Word, reveals His view concerning a certain matter, and gives a promise. Faith comes from such a promise. Sometimes He works in our spirit, reveals His will, and gives us His promises in our spirit. Spontaneously, we receive the faith that He has given. The faith that God gives cannot be separated from His promises. However, this does not refer to all the promises of the Bible. It is a matter of whether or not God has given you a particular promise. Nor does this refer to all the sensations in your spirit. Rather, it refers to the promises in which the revelation in our spirit does not contradict the teaching of the Bible. Only the biblical promises that God speaks to us in our spiritual sensations are real. Only the faith that comes out of these promises is reliable. All true faith depends not on what we think, but on what God has said.
We said all of this to show that our works should prove our faith. Now we will consider the meaning of our works completing our faith.
When we believe in God, spontaneously we will not worry and strive. We will not do these things; this is the negative works of faith. The negative works of faith are important and necessary, but they are not complete. After one has faith, he still needs the positive works of faith. We have previously mentioned that there are things that we should not do. Now, through the power of God, there are things that we should do. Our positive works must match our faith. Furthermore, these works complete our faith, and we receive the promised blessings of God much sooner. This is not a matter of hastiness in the flesh, but an expression of the strength of the power in the spirit. God would like to give us what we need immediately. But, if the death of our natural life is not substantial and deep enough, an immediate answer would strengthen our soul-life. Until our own life has lost all possibility of being active again, God has to delay what He has long promised. Positive works are a death-blow to our self-life and an expression of the vigor of spiritual strength. Therefore, they will accelerate the accomplishment of God’s promises. What are the positive works of faith? They are to walk and act as if we have received God’s promises. In other words, we believe that something is already accomplished and behave as if it is already accomplished. Let us consider a few matters.
Suppose you are sick. God may give you a personal promise that you will be healed. On the negative side, you should rest in God’s work and not disturb His work by any human means. Rather, you should commit yourself to the hand of the Almighty without worry or concern. On the positive side, there are important steps that you should take. You should walk as if you are a healed person. You do not have to wait until you are really healed before you can consider yourself healed. When God gives you the faith to believe that you are healed, at that moment you are healed. If you are healed, you should act like you are healed. Therefore, when you receive faith, you should ask, “How should I act if I am a healed person who has been restored by God? Should I lie on my bed for a long time, or should I stand up to walk?” You should walk as if you are a healed person. However, this must be done after you have received a promise from God and must be carried out in complete reliance on God. Otherwise, the result will be a failure.
The same is true in regards to trusting in God for our living. Although sometimes we may be in great want, what we look toward is a fountain and not a bucket. We should not worry or be tempted to borrow (Rom. 13:8). In the God-ordained principle of giving, we should still be very generous. If we trust in God when we are in trials, we should not tell others, hint at help from others, or resort to other methods. We should live as if nothing has happened. Other matters such as peace within the family, occupations, livelihoods, sufferings, dangers, and other similar matters should follow the same principle. We have to know that God is not only interested in our spiritual affairs; He is equally concerned with the many matters related to our physical being. This is the characteristic of faith: faith does not wait until something is done before believing, because then there is no need to believe anymore. Faith is exercised before something is accomplished and believes, based on God’s promises, that it has already been accomplished. The Lord Jesus’ teaching concerning faith is, “Believe that you have received them, and you will have them” (Mark 11:24). Faith is not believing after receiving. Rather, it is believing, before ever receiving, that one has received. This is the most profound aspect of the law of faith. Nevertheless, we have mentioned that faith must be expressed through works. Therefore, when one believes that he has received, he should act as if he has received.
Such work is very spontaneous. The eyes of faith do not see dark clouds in the sky. Rather, they see an unchanging sun above the dark clouds. Physical eyes can only see the present darkness, but the eyes of faith can see the light. They do not imagine; they actually see. Is not the light they see more real than the darkness the world sees? Faith despises all dangers, sufferings, and trials, for it knows what the end will be. The work of faith is not a risk but a sure and practical act. It sees what others do not. Although others may consider such acts dangerous, these “dangers” have been well thought through, prayed about, promised by God, and taught by the Scriptures. If a person has not received the teaching of the Scriptures or the promise of the Holy Spirit in his spirit, forcing himself to do such acts is indeed a risk. But for a believer who has truly received God’s revelation and has faith, these acts are spontaneous and unpretentious because they are the most natural result of his faith. Although many believers have never heard these teachings yet, God has been leading them this way already. If the work of our faith is something conscious, artificial, and pretentious, we have not yet learned the lesson of faith. Although all the works of faith are beyond human reason, they are carried out according to the principle of one’s living. This one has received God’s promise and knows what is going to happen. Therefore, he acts ahead of others. The works of faith are often the works that glorify God.