Our Faith, Affirm and Act
Faith: Affirm and Act
by Peter Wade
Faith
is a word that believers use with great abandon, yet often we do not
use it correctly. When Vivien and I were first courting, I said to
her, "You look beautiful... by faith", and then I would add the
lines from the old hymn that says, "Faith, mighty faith the promise
sees, And looks to that alone, Laughs at impossibilities, And cries,
'It shall be done'." She knew what I was like before she married me!
So often we use the word "faith" incorrectly and do not realize how
tremendous and powerful is the faith resident in a believer.
I want to emphasize this as I share with you the record of
Abraham in Romans 4:16-21 (NIV). I would like you to read the whole
passage, and note in particular verse 17b, "... God, in whom he
believed -- the God who gives life to the dead and calls things that
are not as though they
were." Abraham is set before us as an example of a person who
lived a life of faith, and made things happen by using the faith
resident within him. In Genesis 12:2 God first promised him that his
seed (children) would develop into a great nation.
Many years later, in Genesis 15:5, God "took him outside and
said, 'Look up at the heavens and count the stars -- if indeed you
can count them.' Then he said to him, 'So shall your offspring be'."
That is, the extended family that would develop from his children
would in time be a tremendous multitude of people.
Then God changed his name from Abram to Abraham, meaning "the
father of a multitude". Now Abraham is 99, and Sarah is long past
the age of child-bearing, today known to be between 15 and 45.
(Sarah was 90, Genesis 17:17.) Abraham did not have any children
from his marriage with Sarah. What an age to think about having
children! I'm sure when I get past 99, having children will be the
last thing on my mind.
The incredible
promise
I wonder what you would think if you were given a promise like
that. It almost sounds impossible. It really is an incredible
situation -- God promises children to an old couple, very much
senior citizens. Yet Abraham is set forth as an example of faith to
us, and I'm sure you'll agree it's a tremendous example.
Notice in Romans 4:16, "But also to those who are of the faith
of Abraham. He is the father of us all." In verse 11 we read that he
"is the father of all who believe". Abraham is the ancestor of all
those who exercise the faith resident in them. So if we want to know
how it works, it would be right to go back and see how our ancestor
made it work. Since it worked for him, it should work for you and
for me. Yet, when you think about it, faith is the one aspect of
Christianity that most Christians find the hardest to put into
practice. It can only be because our minds get in the way.
Romans
The God kind of
faith
The God kind of faith "calls things that are not as though they
were". God's example is Abraham, to whom He said, "I have already
made you a father of a great multitude". Abraham was 99 and Sarah
was past the age of child-bearing, but God called "things that are
not as though they were". The operation of faith that makes the
Christian life productive is based on that one principle: calling
"things that are not as though they were". The Living Bible says
that God "speaks of future events with as much certainty as though
they were already past". That is how we must operate our faith in
God. That is how we will shape our future.
Now I doubt if anyone reading this has a challenge like that of
Abraham and Sarah. But perhaps you are looking at "impossibilities"
at this time. Some of you have problems in your business, or with
your health. Some of you find it hard to get sufficient support for
everyday things. How can you break out of it, forge ahead, and enjoy
the very best that God has for you? Simply follow in the footsteps
of our father Abraham, the ancestor of those who believe. Start
calling "things that are not as though they were".
Now somebody is sure to say, "Well, I just can't do it. I just
can't say that something exists when I'm not sure." Others might be
thinking, "But I can't do that; that would be telling a lie." But I
want to remind you, I am talking about what God says. Is God a liar?
Titus 1:2 speaks of "a faith and knowledge resting on the hope
of eternal life, which God, who does not lie, promised before the
beginning of time..." It is impossible for God to lie. Yet God
"calls things that are not as though they were". So if God does not
lie, then surely you can follow His example. When in faith you call
"things that are not as though they were", you are not lying; you
are speaking the word of faith. You are saying what God says, and
until you do, it will be hard for you to enjoy what God has made
available.
God's faith in
action
In Hebrews 11:3 it states, "By faith we understand that the
universe was formed at God's command, so that what is seen was not
made out of what was visible." How did God create the universe? He
called "things that are not as though they were" -- and they became
the universe. When God spoke, it became a material reality. God
said, "Let there be light" and there was light (Genesis 1:3). God
said, "Let there be a moon in the sky for the night, and a sun for
the day", and there was a moon and there was a sun (Genesis
Ephesians 1:4 states that God "chose us in him before the
creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight." We
were not born. We were not even a gleam in our father's eye (to use
a cliché), yet God chose us in Him before the creation of the world.
How could God do it? He called "things that are not as though they
were". He spoke the word of faith. Are you beginning to understand
that phrase? It's powerful and tremendous!
The necessity of
faith
Let me now quote Hebrews 11:6, a powerful verse, and show how it
fits in with this concept from Romans. "And without faith it is
impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must
believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek
him."
For the purpose of teaching, let me replace the word "faith"
with the phrase that I've emphasized from Romans, and it reads: "And
without calling things
that are not as though they were it
is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must
believe that he exists..." No one can see God. Yet millions of
people spend every Sunday morning in church listening to someone
talking about a person they cannot see. How do they do it? By faith.
It is said that wherever you are, God is. How can this be? Because
He is in you and we are calling things that are not, as far as our
natural eyes are concerned, as though they were -- and they are.
Faith is always a leap into the dark in some respects. If you
are on the end of a limb and do not know where to go next, faith is
taking that next step. Do you realize that when you take even one
step in walking that you put the whole body off balance? You will
never go anywhere unless you take a step of faith. It was faith this
morning for you to swing your legs out of bed and touch the floor.
You had to believe that the law of gravity would keep you in the
right position. Everything you do in life is an application of the
principle of faith, and in the spiritual life the object of faith is
God; it is faith in the God Who calls "things that are not as though
they were".
I'll use another verse to illustrate how this statement about
faith is so effective. James
Abraham and the
promise
I can just imagine that Abraham, having
received the promise, would have said that statement time after time
during the many years that passed since the promise was first made
and then also during the nine months of pregnancy. Perhaps he
mentioned it to others, but right until Sarah's pregnancy started to
show, I think Abraham had to keep saying: "I'm going to be the
father of a great multitude. I'm going to call things that are not
as though they were." A verse that sums up the truth is this one:
"So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For
what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal" (II
Corinthians
Make a quality commitment today to call "things that are not as
though they were". God has not only planned the very best for your
life, He has provided the very best for your life. Yet the provision
is in a spiritual form, and you need it in a material form. The only
way to bridge that gap is to affirm your faith and call things that
are not in the material as though they were, and they will be. That
was Abraham's first step of faith.
Faith: Affirm and Act (Part 2)
The
book of James takes the truth of calling things that be not as
though they were a step further. This book is about faith and
action. James 2:14-20 says, "What good is it, my brothers, if a man
claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him?
Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. If
one of you says to him, 'Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well
fed,' but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? In
the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action,
is dead. But someone will say, 'You have faith; I have deeds.' Show
me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I
do. You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe
that -- and shudder. You foolish man, do you want evidence that
faith without deeds is useless?"
Let me focus on James 2:17: "In the same way, faith by itself,
if it is not accompanied by action, is dead." In 1903 a new Bible
translation came out that caused a real storm. It was the first of
the modern paraphrases. Up to that time, most Christians used the
King James Version. Then the English brought out the Revised Version
in 1881, and the Americans were not happy with that, so they brought
out their own American Standard Version in 1901. Then a scholar
named Richard Weymouth published The
New Testament in Modern English. It took the Christian world by
storm because of the very expressive phrases he used. A great
example is his translation of James 2:14-22.
He translates in verse 14: "What good is it, my brethren, if
a man professes to have faith, and yet his actions do not
correspond?" Then in verses 17 and 18: "So also faith, if it is
unaccompanied by obedience, has no life in it -- so long as it
stands alone. Nay, some one will say, 'You have faith, I have
actions: prove to me your faith apart from corresponding actions and
I will prove mine to you by my actions'." The expressive phrase I
want you to keep in mind is "corresponding actions". Faith must have
corresponding actions. If you call "things that are not as though
they were", you must act as
if they are. All faith must have an action that corresponds to it.
Faith
co-operating
Let me quote one more verse from
I could buy you a first-class airline ticket to send you around
the world, and if I did, you would probably say, "Terrific". Yet
unless you took the action of walking up the steps of the plane at
the airport, the ticket is not going to get you anywhere, is it? I
can recall the first time I went to the
I had to take an action of faith. I obtained my passport and
then a visa from the American consulate in
Very late on a Friday night, just two days before I needed to
leave, I received a phone call from the airline saying that they had
just received a telex message about me. It was marked as "Urgent"
and their orders were to call me immediately and issue me with a
return ticket to the
James says, "If you say you are a man of faith, show me your
faith without actions." Can you do it? No, you can only talk about
it. You cannot demonstrate your faith unless you can show an action
that has proved your faith. Faith is a mental capacity, and an
action is in the material world. It is not possible for a man to
say, "I have faith. I'm OK," and not take any action.
The example of
Abraham
James gives the example of Abraham, whom God told to offer his
son on the altar, which would have delayed the fulfillment of the
original promise of an extended family. Abraham and his son
journeyed with his servants to the foot of the mountain. He said to
the servants, "Stay here with the donkey; we will worship and then
we will come back to you" (Genesis 22:5). After they had constructed
the altar, the son said, "What are we going to use for an offering?"
Abraham replied, "God will supply the offering." Did he only have
faith in God? No, he had faith with corresponding actions. He went
up the mountain without an offering, not knowing how it would work
out. Yet he did what God had told him.
We say we have faith in God. We say we believe God for finances,
yet we sit at home worrying about how we're going to pay the bills
and wonder why our faith doesn't work. Faith must have corresponding
actions. We say we believe God for our physical health, and yet we
talk about our pains, our age, and so on. Faith without
corresponding action is dead. It's useless; it's not going to
produce anything. It is what I call mental assent. You merely say
that it's possible, that it's true, but you are not willing to do
anything about it, so you do not get the result that it promises.
The key to the passage in James 2:14-20 is back in chapter 1,
where it says, "Be ye doers of the word and not hearers only,
deceiving your own selves" (verse 22, KJV). "Do not merely listen to
the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says" (NIV). A
listener, a hearer, is one who says, "I have faith." A doer is one
who says, "I have faith, and I'm taking the corresponding action."
Just listening to the Word and not doing anything is to deceive
yourself. It is self-delusion to say, "I have faith in God" but to
do nothing about it. Who are you kidding? Yourself. If you want your
faith to work, or as it says in
The modern day "how-to" books by Napoleon Hill, Dale Carnegie,
Zig Ziglar or whoever you want to name, pick up that principle and
say, "Decide what you want and act as if it is true." It is a
Biblical principle, and one that you and I must apply in every
situation if we want the success that God's Word says we can have.
It's not enough just to call things that are not as though they
were, as we saw from Romans 4:17, but we must also take a
corresponding action.
If you believe God for good health, then don't lay on the bed
moaning about your headache. Where's the corresponding action? Get
up and do something. If you have bills that you're worrying about,
then thank God for finance. Worry is not going to help it, is it?
Worry will kill you and your estate will have to pay the bills in
the long run. Maintain your confidence as you apply the principles
of God's Word and take an action.
The houses on
rock and sand
A great example of faith with corresponding actions is seen in
Matthew 7:24. Jesus said, "Therefore everyone who hears these words
of mine and puts them into practice..." Can you see those two
aspects there: faith and corresponding action? "Therefore everyone
who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a
wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the
streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it
did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock.But everyone
who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is
like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain came down,
the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house,
and it fell with a great crash."
What was the difference? The man who built his house on the sand
had warmed the pew, sat on the premises, listened to the teaching,
but had done nothing about it. On the other hand, the one who built
his house on the rock had done all these things, but had also put
into practice God's Word.
Everybody is subject to the storms of life. Those who can
withstand them and be victorious are those who have faith with
corresponding actions; people who hear the Word and do it. And when
problems come, when ill health comes, when lack of finance comes,
you may go under if you have not applied the principles of the Word
of God. You can hang the Word around your neck on a chain, you can
keep it in your wallet, but it doesn't do you any good until you
apply it. Can you see this simple truth? There's more truth in that
parable, of course, but I'm just illustrating the truth from James
2:17 -- faith without corresponding action is dead.
You have God's
faith
Let's tie all this in with the Romans passage
again. Abraham had the same kind of faith that God had, and God's
faith was that which called "things that are not as though they
were". You have the same kind of faith that God has, and now you
must take the second step in the same way that Abraham did. Abraham
not only called "things that are not as though they were", but he
also produced the corresponding actions.
Genesis 13:2 says that Abraham was a man of great wealth, a
great cattle man. He had a private army and many servants. How did
he get all this? He applied the principles that God had laid down.
He had the faith of God, and he took the action that was necessary.
Paul, who wrote the statement in Romans, was also a great man.
In Philippians 4:13, Paul says, "I can do everything through him who
gives me strength." Paul did the doing, but Christ did the
strengthening. That's a great principle. When you became a believer
you received faith from God (Romans 12:3) and now have His
strengthening within. What is God waiting for? He's waiting for your
corresponding action. Paul says, "I can do everything through him
who gives me strength." There was nothing that Paul could not do. He
could do everything because he had Christ resident within and he
matched his faith with actions that corresponded.
You worship the God that "calls things that are not as though
they were" (Romans
The
End
Copyright © 1991 Peter Wade. The
Bible text in this publication, except where otherwise indicated, is
from the New International Version (NIV), Copyright © 1973, 1978,
1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission. This
article appeared on the site:
http://www.peterwade.com/.
