Active Faith!   By James Lantz

       Active faith is real living faith or faith that gets the job done! Jesus said, have faith in God or you could say have the God kind of faith. The Holy Spirit through James, the Lord’s brother, said that faith without actions of obedience is dead faith.  James 2:17 Amp.  So also faith, if it does not have works (deeds and actions of obedience to back it up), by itself is destitute of power (inoperative, dead).  The Weymouth New Testament translation reads like this.  James 2:17 WEY   So also faith, if it is unaccompanied by obedience, is dead in itself.   James also says that living faith does not say to our brother or sister in need, be warm or be filled. Real faith will be evident by our giving of our time, strength, and financial ability to get them warmed and filled. Glory to God! When the spirit leaves the body the body is lifeless, so also, faith without action is dead faith. Active faith or living faith is the combination of our faith in what God said and acting accordingly. Speaking our faith is the first action and occasionally the only action that is added to our faith.  Rom. 10:9  That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.  vrs.10  For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.  Many times there are other actions required to follow up on what God said. Abraham had to follow up on what God said about offering up Isaac right up to, and including reaching for the knife, before the angel of the Lord spoke to him. You read about men and women of faith and you read things like, God said and Moses did, Abraham the same day, or in the case of offering up Isaac, early the next morning. Action must be added to our faith in order to make it authentic.  Heb. 10:36  For ye have need of patience, that, after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise.   The word patience used here means consistency or perseverance, not passively waiting, but rather expecting the manifestation at any moment.  James 2:20-24 . . . Was 

 Believing and obeying comes before the manifestation of the promise!

not Abraham our father justified (made righteous) by works, when he offered Isaac his son upon the alter?   .   .   .   Ye see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only.  This is not a contradiction to what the scriptures teach concerning salvation by grace through faith.  ( Lk. 7:50, Lk. 8:12,  Eph. 2:8&9,  Rom. 3:26-28,  Rom. 4,  Rev. 21:6-8 )  This is clarification of how the law of faith works. God looks on our heart and accepts our faith and we follow through with the corresponding actions because we are fully persuaded of what God said. God has offered salvation ( to save, deliver, protect, heal, preserve, prosper, and be made whole) on a gift basis so that all could receive and that none may boast. We are made righteous by faith without the deeds of the law. The law is holy, and the commandment holy, and righteous, and good. Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength is good. Do not murder is good! Do not steal is good. The problem with the law is that it can not give you life.  Gal. 3:21  Is the law then against the promises of God? God forbid: for if there had been a law given which could have given life, verily righteousness should have been by the law.   So many have misunderstood the grace of God. God’s grace is awesome, way beyond what we could have asked or thought up, however, it is not God’s acceptance of sin. God’s grace has empowered us to become sons of God and empowers us to live holy and purposeful lives. Jude mentions how ungodly men have crept into the church and turned the grace of God into lasciviousness, denying our Lord Jesus. Lasciviousness refers to sexual promiscuity, filthiness, rebellion, lack of discipline, and lack of restraint. Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ! Faith will leave by hearing doubt and unbelief.  Titus 1:16 WEY  They profess to know God, but in their actions they disown Him; for they are detestable, disobedient men, for any good work useless.  Knowing what to yield  to and knowing what to resist is huge in helping us keep our faith 

Knowing what to yield to and what to resist enables us to keep our faith Active!

active. Paul said, by the Spirit of God, that real faith works out of a pure heart and a good conscience. 1 Tim. 1:5  Now the end of the commandment is charity out of a pure heart, and of a good conscience, and of faith unfeigned (un fake or real faith):  

       Jesus unveiled the mystery of how active living faith will bring forth the fruit of that which God has spoken. He told a parable about the seed of the word of God being planted into our hearts and bringing forth a harvest. Understanding these truths is foundational to understanding all of Jesus parables.  Mk. 4:13 . . . Know ye not this parable?  and how then will ye know all parables?  This parable reveals how the anointed word of God is received by faith into the human heart and brings forth the harvest of what that word says. We call this the parable of the sower sows the word. The sower sows the seed and some falls on the path, some on stoney soil, some where the thorns grew, and some on good soil. The seed that fell on the path was devoured up by the birds. The seed that fell on the stoney soil quickly sprouted but then became scorched when the sun got hot. The seed that fell on the thorny ground began to grow but got choked out so there was no harvest. The seed that grew on the good ground produced a harvest, some thirty, some sixty, and some an hundred. As I said earlier, the seed represents the incorruptible word of God and the soil is representative of people who were made from dust. We know that God’s words are spirit and that it is the human spirit (heart of man) in which the word of God is received (believed). It would do us well to realize that only one out of the four types of people brought forth a harvest. Those who believe it is all up to God need to listen to the Master’s teachings.

1. The path or wayside is representative of the person who just happens to hear the word of God and place no value on it. The devil easily steals the word from them. Perhaps the devil puts the thought in their mind that all the preacher wants is your money and they just dismiss the word that they heard.

2. The stoney soil represents  those who quickly receive the word of God with joy but because they are not rooted and grounded in the word of God let it go when pressure comes. The devil brings affliction or persecution against them and they give up. They become persuaded that if God really loved them these things would not be happening to them.

3. Those that begin to grow and then get choked out by the thorns are people who allow the cares of this world to suck the life out of them. The deceitfulness of riches steals their time as they are trying to grab and hold the glitz and glitter of the world. The lust of other things requires that they stop feeding on and meditating on the word of God.

4. The person who brings forth a harvest is the one who listens to the word, believes the word, and does the word, and receives the promises of God. Luke’s account gives us some added insight into what kind of a person receives the promises of God.  Luke 8:15  .  .  .  on the good ground are they, which in an honest and good heart, having heard the word, keep it, and bring forth fruit with patience.  Notice that honesty is the first characteristic of the person who reaps a harvest. If we want God’s blessings we need to be honest with God, it is He who has made us and not we ourselves. When you think of good, you think of God. This person is full of God and His word. There is a difference between those who keep the word until they get tired or sidetracked and those that keep the word until the harvest is ready! Patience includes being consistent and persistent. It takes the force of patience working with an active faith to bring forth the harvest.

       Turning back is not the same as active faith. That first generation of Israelites were delivered from Egypt through mighty miracles of God but when it came time to enter into the promised land they drew back.  Ps. 78:41  Yea, they turned back and tempted God, and limited the Holy One of Israel. We have been given a mandate to preach the gospel to our generation! Serving in our church is a big way we are a supplying joint. Perhaps you have turned back in your heart? It’s not to late! God can do the impossible! Jonah got himself in deep trouble! Then he got willing and prayed and believed God and received deliverance!  Jonah 2:8&9  They that observe lying vanities forsake their own mercy. But I will sacrifice unto thee with the voice of thanksgiving; I will pay that that I have vowed. Salvation is of the Lord.  Life can be better than ever!