James 2:20-26 uses the story of Abraham to help us see if our faith is biblical faith, or if it’s something else.
God told Abraham to go and offer his son Isaac on the mountain. This is the same God who said that He would raise up descendants as innumerable as the sand through Abraham’s son.
So Abraham thought that in order for God to fulfill His promise, He would have to raise Isaac from the dead. In Abraham’s mind, Isaac was as good as dead during the three days’ journey. (We get these details in Hebrews 11:17-19.) As Abraham was reaching for his knife, God stopped him. He had sufficiently proved his faith by his willingness to obey.
James 2:22 uses this incident to illustrate a basic Christian life principle: “by works faith was made perfect.”
When we work out our faith, we are showing that our faith is real. It is influencing our thoughts and actions. When we read what the Lord wants us to believe or do, then adjust our lives to incorporate His words, then we have biblical faith. Otherwise, it is just reading and forgetting.
When the Lord wants me to love a particular person instead of despise him and I don’t obey the word, then I did not have the faith God wanted, the faith that says with firm conviction, “This is what the Lord wants me to do.”
My faith would be real when I make progress in my attitude toward that person, smiling on purpose, intentionally being polite, doing good to the person. The Spirit sees me partnering with Him and starts changing me from the inside to perfect my faith.
If a man says he loves his wife, there should be proof of it, right? He would demonstrate it, with helpfulness, kindness, and care. So it is with faith. We follow through as though trusting God, loving God.
“Without faith, it is impossible to please God” (Hebrews 11:6). Unless we are in the Word of God often, we can’t develop this kind of biblical faith. The Lord speaks to us in the Word. “Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God” (Romans 10:9).
Unless we are born again by the Spirit, we can’t have this faith, because the process assumes that we came to Christ for forgiveness of sin. Sin separates us from God. Jesus breaks its power and we become spiritual persons with the ability to love and obey a God whom we can’t see, yet rejoice in His salvation (1 Peter 1:8-9). Jesus broke the power of sin on the cross. That power carries over to us as part of the new creation. As we read the Word with intention to learn, the Spirit reveals this power of a new life in us.
We are saved by faith and the Spirit of Christ begins to work within. Then we grow into mature people of God through a “faith working through love” (Galatians 5:6). Do you have this faith, a faith that hears the Lord speaking in the Word, and responds in obedience? What helps for me is doing the chapter summary method of personal Bible study. Some of these articles, like this one, are fruit from those morning times. Following the steps shows intentionality. It shows me and the Spirit that I want to learn. This is the one He teaches His way (Psalm 119:34) and and causes to become fruitful (Psalm 1:2-3).
