The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him and what came to my mind and heart in James 1:2-3,
"Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance."
Our faith gets tested. The purpose of which, James says here, is to develop within us maturity and completeness, verse 5. Surely, another aspect of this testing is to see what our faith is made of. Peter speaks to this when he says, "These [all kinds of trials] have come so that your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed." 1 Peter 1:7.
Later in his letter, James lets us know that not just any kind of faith will do. God is looking within us for the kind of faith that impacts our thoughts, words and actions. Later he asks, "What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him?" James 2:14. There he illustrates the faith God is looking for using Abraham and Rahab as examples. He says of Abraham, "You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did. And the scripture was fulfilled that says, 'Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness,' and he was called God's friend." James 2:22-23. James summarizes by saying, "You see that a person is justified by what he does and not by faith alone." James 2:24.
James also speaks of the kind of faith that is tenacious. It persists. It isn't the kind that is on again and off again. Of this kind of faith, James says a man is like "a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind... a double-minded man, unstable in all he does." James 1:6-7. I suspect this is the capricious kind of faith Jesus spoke of in Matthew 13:1-23 as he spoke of the kinds of soils the sower sowed his seed in as a metaphor for the hearts of those who are exposed to the gospel message. He says, "The one who received the seed that fell on rocky places is the man who hears the word and at once receives it with joy. But since he has no root, he lasts only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, he quickly falls away." Matthew 13:20-21. This is precisely the kind of faith of which James asks, "Can such faith save him?"
As the writer of Hebrews tells us, "It is impossible for those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, who have shared in the Holy Spirit, who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the coming age, if they fall away, to be brought back to repentance, because to their loss they are crucifying the Son of God all over again and subjecting him to public disgrace... land that produces thorns and thistles is worthless and is in danger of being cursed. In the end it will be burned." Hebrews 6:4-8.
To answer James' rhetorical question, faith that does not impact our lives, faith that is fickle is the kind that cannot save a man. He says, "As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead." James 2:26.
On the other hand, the kind faith in our Lord that impacts what we think, do and say, faith that is not here today and gone tomorrow is the very kind that does save the man. How much of this kind of faith does it take? Listen to Jesus, "I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there' and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you." Matthew 20.
Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share your thoughts of worship with us from your Bible reading today. We'd love to hear from you!
Trevor Fisk
trevor.fisk@gmail.com
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