Faith Works
Abel – saving faith continues in the purity of worship of God
Enoch – saving faith continues in the purity of walk with God
Noah – saving faith continues in diligent work for God
Abraham – saving faith continues in consistent witness for God
Real saving
faith will be evidenced by continuing in these four areas of faithfulness. Real faith understands that we
live and exist before the omnipotent and omniscient presence of God. He knows all that we are, sees all that we
do, and hears all that we say. There is
nothing about us that is hidden from God.
There are no secret sins of which God does not know intimately. There is no place we might harbor our secret
hatred or the wickedness of unforgiveness.
God knows the “thoughts and
intents of the heart” (Hebrews 4:12). God
has saved us through faith, recreated
us “in Christ,” and miraculously given to us all that we need for a living faith. Peter, Paul, and James write explicitly
regarding the supernatural inward transformation of life and priorities in the
transition from real saving faith to real
working or living faith.
“1 Simon Peter, a servant and an
apostle of Jesus Christ, to them that have obtained like precious faith with us
through the righteousness of God and our
Saviour Jesus Christ {the impartation
of the righteousness of God and Christ in the Person of the indwelling Holy
Spirit}: 2 Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the
knowledge {intimate, full, personal,
practical, relational knowledge; not just intellectual knowledge} of God,
and of Jesus our Lord, 3 According as his divine power {now dwelling within us in the Person of the
Holy Spirit} hath given {once for
all; perfect tense, passive voice; participle}
unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the
knowledge of him {intimate, full,
personal, practical, relational knowledge; not just intellectual knowledge}
that hath called us to {dia – denoting the channel of an act through
which something flows; therefore through or by God’s} glory {to live with godly dignity in constant
praise and worship of God} and virtue {the
significance here is the believers works with God as partners and is not merely
commanded to do what God says to do apart from God’s help}: 4 Whereby
are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might
be {potentially dependent upon choice}
partakers {partners} of the divine
nature {the God-life has been breathed
into the believer}, having escaped the corruption that is in the world
through lust” (II Peter 1:1-4).
Salvation of the soul through saving faith is merely a new beginning
of a life of faith – faith that works. We
must be careful to distinguish between the corruption of salvation through
faith in “the works of the Law” (Galatians 2:16) and between the “works” that
come forth from a regenerated life enabled by the indwelling Spirit. Confusing these issues has corrupted the
doctrine of salvation “by grace” (Ephesians 2:8) and the doctrine of grace
enabling (Galatians 3:1-5) in more ways than we could possibly explain except
in a general way. Trusting in the “works
of the Law” is to corrupt salvation “by grace” creating thousands upon
thousands of false testimonies of salvation and false Christians. Trusting in the “works of the Law” to be sanctified
before God apart from a grace enabled life is to corrupt the operations of the
Spirit of God in more way than we can imagine.
This is the substance of Ephesians 2:4-10.
“4 But God, who is rich in mercy, for his
great love wherewith he loved us, 5 Even when we were dead in
sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) {perfect, passive, participle} 6
And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in
heavenly places in Christ Jesus: 7 That in the ages {the Kingdom Age and the New Heaven/Earth}
to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness
toward us through Christ Jesus. 8 For by grace are ye saved {perfect, passive, participle} through
faith; and that not of yourselves: it is {salvation} the gift of God: 9 Not of works, lest any man
should boast. 10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus
unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them”
(Ephesians 2:4-10).
Ephesians
chapter two begins with the word “and” revealing that this is a continuation of
chapter one. However, the emphasis
changes from what is available to the believer-priest from God’s blessings to
the responsibilities of the believer priest in his vocational calling
(Ephesians 1:18 and 4:4). We are
immediately confronted with a syntactical inconsistency (anacoluthon). Ephesians 2:1 begins with “you” and then
shifts in the syntax from singular to the plural (“ye”), or to the collective of believers, through the
rest of the text down through verse ten.
This is critically important to our understanding of Ephesians
2:4-10. The syntax of Ephesians 2:1
shows that salvation is viewed individually. However, once a person is saved, a believer
moves into a family relationship with God and is viewed within a collective perspective from that point forward
in his life. This collective perspective is specific to the vocational ministry
(Ephesians 4:1) of the priesthood of all believers under our High Priest Jesus
Christ. This is critically important to
all believers as we see our vocational moral responsibilities in the “work of
the ministry” (Ephesians 4:12) from God’s perspective united together as a spiritual
family unit in a local church. The local church is the medium (green-house) in which saving faith is intended
to grow into a vibrant living faith, which is the substance of Ephesians chapter
four.
God’s
whole ministry of redemption is an outworking of His love that provides His loving
and enabling grace first works in the salvation and regeneration of sinners
“dead in trespasses and sins” (Ephesians 2:1).
Therefore, the priesthood of every believer demands that all work of the
ministry be a continuum of that loving grace as the believer proclaims the love
of God in the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Every believer-priest is a walking miracle of New Creation. Every believer-priest has been “created in
Christ Jesus unto good works.” The “good
works” of Ephesians 2:10 must be the supernatural overflow of the filling of
the Spirit of God (Ephesians 5:18) manifesting the overflow in the “fruit of
the Spirit” (Galatians 5:22-23) – “22b love, joy, peace,
longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, 23 Meekness, temperance:
against such there is no law.”
“14 For this cause I bow my knees unto the
Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, 15 Of whom the whole family in
heaven and earth is named, 16 That he would grant you, according to
the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the
inner man; 17 That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that
ye, being rooted {implying the
necessity of stability} and grounded {having foundations} in love, 18 May be able to
comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth,
and height; 19 And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye
might be filled with all the fulness of God” (Ephesians 3:14-19).
There
is no stability in any relationship that is not “rooted and grounded in
love.” This is certainly true of our
intimate and personal working relationship with God. Without the grace of love, the first conflict
that comes along dissolves the relationship with the acid of bitterness and
resentment. God-kind love, or self-sacrificing love, understands the constant
potential for failure because we are by nature fallen and corrupted beings. Therefore, God-kind love understands the absolute necessity of giving
forgiveness. The very nature of
forgiveness is the loving gift of a new
beginning to someone that deserves it no more than you deserve God’s
grace. This is why God describes “the
love of Christ” as an act of grace that “passeth knowledge” (Ephesians 3:19). The love Christ gives is incomprehensible
because we cannot possibly understand the holiness of God. Therefore, it should be much easier for us to
understand the gift of love in giving forgiveness because we need God’s
forgiveness so often. How dare we not
give forgiveness to others as freely as God gives it to us?
“1 I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord,
beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called, 2
With all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another
in love; 3 Endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the
bond of peace. 4 There is one body, and one Spirit, even as
ye are called in one hope of your calling; 5 One Lord, one faith,
one baptism, 6 One God and Father of all, who is above all,
and through all, and in you all. 7 But unto every one of us is
given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ” (Ephesians
4:1-7).
There
is no excuse for being unloving or unforgiving.
“Every one of us is given grace” (Ephesians 4:7). Every one of us has God’s indwelling Spirit
and His supernatural enabling to be as loving and forgiving as is God. Every one of us is to forbear “one another in
love” (Ephesians 4:2). The word
“forbearing” is from the Greek word anechomai (an-ekh'-om-ahee). It simply
means to put up with. However,
the qualifying term is that we are to love while we are putting up with
that brother or sister “in Christ” that gets to our flesh. Certainly, this does not merely mean to
tolerate someone. Loving someone speaks
to the issues that annoy us or cause the tension, which leads us to the next good
work in the admonition in Ephesians chapter four –we are to speak “the
truth in love.”
“11 And he
gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some,
pastors and teachers; 12 For the perfecting of the saints, for the
work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: 13 Till
we all come in the unity of the faith {doctrine,
purpose, and practice}, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a
perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ: 14
That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried
about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning
craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive; 15 But speaking
the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even
Christ: 16 From whom the whole body fitly joined together and
compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual
working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the
edifying of itself in love” (Ephesians 4:11-16).
Love
without truth is like sugared medicine without the medicine. Truth without love is like the sickening
taste of the chemicals in medicine without the sweeteners that make it
palatable. Granted, truth has value
apart from love, but it is often rejected because of the way it is
presented. If I were lovingly convinced
that I was dying, I would gladly take a medicine that would save my life
regardless of how bad it tasted.
A person can be told that he is acting like a stupid
jerk. In doing so, the probability is
that such a person would just act more like a stupid jerk. Or, a person could privately be told that he
is being very offensive and that people will reject him if he does not change
his mannerisms. Even how he is informed of that is
important. There is a difference between
a head-to-head confrontation and a come alongside confrontation. There is a difference between a finger-in-your-face confrontation and a gentle, reasoning appeal to consider
your admonition. True biblical love is
ALWAYS a “fruit of the Spirit,” – produced through the filling of the
Spirit. We are not talking about man-kind love. We are talking about God-kind love. This is a major
part of a working or living faith.
Secondly,
according to Ephesians 4:10, the connecting spiritual dynamic to local church
unity, and local church growth is God-kind
love. “From whom the whole body fitly
joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to
the effectual working in the measure {individual
provision} of every part {individual
Christian}, maketh increase of the body {the local church} unto the edifying of itself in love”
(Ephesians 4:16). The word “edifying” is
from the Greek word oikodome (oy-kod-om-ay'). It refers to a domed
or crowned temple referring more to the architecture or structure
of something. This term is used to
describe local churches made up of living stones of “born again”
believers (and ultimately to the Church in prospect, which is the Church
of the Kingdom Age). The “increase of
the body” is the building up of the spiritual temple of God with living
stones through evangelism and discipleship (shaping of the stones). This “work of the ministry” MUST be done “in
love.” Only through the spiritual
dynamic of supernatural God-kind love produced as fruit of the filling of the
Holy Spirit can individual Christians be used of God to build God’s oikodome (oy-kod-om-ay' – living Temple.
In
Ephesians 5:1-2, Paul introduces the all-encompassing commandment recording
biblical love. “1 Be ye
therefore followers of God, as dear children; 2 And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved
us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a
sweetsmelling savour.” The word “walk”
is from the Greek word peripateo (per-ee-pat-eh'-o). The word is present
tense, active voice, and imperative mood. It might be translated as you are walking
around doing your stuff, maintain an attitude of self-sacrifice. The imperative mood means it is a
command from God. To fail to maintain
an attitude of self-sacrifice is to be living in disobedience. God is concerned with our hearts – what
motivates us in our obedience.
The book of James
was probably one of the first epistles written.
It defines and answers the basic question of Christianity - what is
faith? Real faith is always a faith that
acts upon what it believes. In this
sense, it can be said that real faith
works. The right kind of “works”
reveal true faith. For instance, real saving
faith acts upon the Gospel it believes through five verbs – repentance,
believe, confess, call, and receive.
Faith that does not act upon the Gospel through these five action verbs
is not saving faith. Saving
faith is the faith that justifies. These five action verbs are the substance (Hebrews 11:1) of saving faith.
However, James 2:14-20
is teaching about working faith once
a person is “born again” as an expectation of the reality of salvation. Saving faith is a living faith and a living
faith manifests itself through works; ministry in truth and through sacrificial
love! There is a transformation of the
will and the priorities of life that accompanies real saving faith. In other words, there must be the same types
of definitive substance to living or
working faith as there is with saving faith.
“14 What doth
it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works?
can faith save him? 15 If a brother or sister be naked, and
destitute of daily food, 16 And one of you say unto them, Depart in
peace, be ye warmed and filled; notwithstanding ye give them not those
things which are needful to the body; what doth it profit? 17
Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone. 18 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. 19 Thou believest
that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble. 20
But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead” (James
2:14-20)?
The fact that real saving faith works is equally true of sanctifying faith. In Hebrews chapter eleven, Abel is the
example of saving faith. Enoch is the example of sanctifying faith. The
action verbs of sanctifying faith are
reckon and yield (Romans 6:11-13). Sanctifying faith is a life lived in
cooperative synergism with the
indwelling Holy Spirit. The Bible word
for this synergism, or partnership in holiness, is “fellowship.”
Without these two verbs of sanctifying
faith, the Christian life is reduced to a legalistic form of will-power sanctification produced
through the power of the “flesh. This is
the opposite of a life of grace through faith.
Therefore, reckoning the “old
man” to be “crucified with Christ” is necessary before a believer can yield to the indwelling Spirit of
Christ.
Numerous studies and series are available free of charge for local churches at: http://www.disciplemakerministries.org/
Dr. Lance Ketchum serves the Lord as a Church Planter, Evangelist/Revivalist.
He has served the Lord for over 40 years.
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