IN FAITH (continued)
” Jesus said unto him, If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth” (Mark 9:23). What then is the relationship between believing and faith. We addressed the difference between hope and faith this way: Knowing a thing Can come to pass is hope; that it Will come to pass is faith. We know that we have Faith because we are Spirit and as such we Know that God Is. Our Inner Man, our Christ Within, our Soul, in its own realm has full Faith because he Knows God and Knows his relationship to Him and Faith here and now is a matter of bringing that faith to bear on everyday life. Much of what I have written has focused on our ability to change our physical lives by changing the object of our focus. This is much like the saying of the Apostle Paul regarding this change: “And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God” (Romans 12:2). Both of us are saying that what we make important in this life on Earth is what determines how we live as people.
Focus on the impulses and promptings from the Inner Man, the Soul and we live in the Will of God; focus on worldly matters and things and we live in the realm of man and there are infinite variations or degrees of this ranging from having no spiritual input in this life to having Faith to move mountains. It changes based on how diligent we focus and what we focus on. When we focus on things of the Spirit, the Kingdom, we let into our hearts, our personalities, the Light and the Knowing that we are of God. Here is Faith and Love and Wisdom flowing through our daily lives because of this spiritual focus.
Believing can be said to be the physical counterpart of this spiritual Faith. We have Faith so we believe and it is in this believing that all things are possible. Now believing comes in many forms as does faith but we should here maintain the separation that we have here established so that there can be clarity in our thinking. Let us say that Faith is from above or from within and it manifests as believing in this material world. We can see this is in the words of Jesus as well by the way He uses both words. He speaks of Faith as something we may have and believing as something that we do. We have Faith; how much we can bring to daily living depends on how much we are living that spiritual life. Spiritual living is always the tool par excellence that brings spiritual forces to play in life. Believing has many forms ranging from this belief based on the Faith that we receive from within to believing in superstitions or purely material and worldly things. We believe based on what we know or reason to be true and in our spiritual context what we know of God is what is imparted to us by our own Souls; our Christ Within.
Believing and Faith are at work in each of our lives constantly. We react to what we believe to be true in things great and small, in feelings, in knowledge….in most everything. We have faith to believe as well and this especially in interpersonal relationships and seldom in regard to the inanimate. We can be faithful to a person or to a duty and others faithful to us but this is a different faith than that Faith which is based on Knowing. Faith based on Knowing reaches beyond believing and this is the goal; to have such Faith flowing from our Inner Being that the Knowing becomes our everyday consciousness. Then, we no longer believe, we Know.
Faith is a very large piece of the Christian experience. It is an essential part albeit one that will come naturally when we strive to live in His Presence. With it comes the believing in and for those things that are of God; the Good, the Beautiful and the True. There is much said in the various denominations on Faith in that it is the only way to God. I have tried to show here that we all do have this Faith in measure and it is by living Godly, in righteousness, that it results in that ‘believing’ that effects our daily lives. The Great Faith Chapter in the Epistle to the Hebrews shows how the Faith exhibited by each person determined their actions. Our example of true Faith is Abraham who was ready to sacrifice Isaac because by Faith he knew what God had promised: “by faith Abraham, when he was tried , offered up Isaac: and he that had received the promises offered up his only begotten son” (Hebrews 11:17). This chapter is like a foundation for the whole of Faith teaching and this, with some of the writings of Paul, have given great importance to Faith as the way to salvation; sometimes to the exclusion of all else. But there is another chapter in the New Testament regarding Faith which combines, without doubt, both Faith and righteousness or works; James Chapter 2.
James says “What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works? can faith save him” and after an example says “Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone” (James 2:14,17). James uses the same idea as in the Hebrews’ example above and says of Abraham: “Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar? Seest thou how faith wrought with his works, and by works was faith made perfect” (James 2″21-22). With the same Old Testament event, Abraham and Isaac, there are two separate conclusions. One writer says that it is all by Faith and the other that it is by works which were wrought by Faith. James convincingly sums up his approach to this in the final verse: “For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also” (James 2:26).
What is James saying? Simply that it is what we do in righteousness in this life that matters. What we believe, the Faith we have are meant to bring us to doing; to acting in righteousness. The Master told us what we should do and that is to “let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works” (Matthew 5:16) and as James tells us it is through this that our Faith is shown. Through this Faith and acting upon that Faith that we know that God is and that we are in His Presence. What we do and how we act is the fruit by which we are known and not faith alone. James’ conviction in this is also seen in this saying: “Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble” (James 2:19) which is to say that based on our definition of Faith it will take more than just Faith to move the mountain. This goes with our discussion from the first post on this subject; this awesome power of God could spell catastrophe in the hands of those who just believed or who had Faith as defined. To Faith must be added being in His Presence, doing His Word and, from James, the addition of the fruit of faith in righteous works.
Concluding what we find in James is this profound saying: “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” (James 2:18) which he says just before his reference to the devils believing as well. It is enough for us then to say:
The fruit of my Faith is the works that I do in righteousness and this is letting that Light from above shine through me before men so that they may see. Faith without works is dead.
Know your spiritual nature and let that spiritual Light shine through to your heart and from the heart display that Faith and Light and Love and the Perfect Will of God.
Note on the Quote of the Day
This daily blog also has a Quote of the Day which may not be in any way related to the essay. Many of these will be from the Bible and some just prayers or meditations that may have an influence on you and are in line with the subject matter of this blog. As the quote will change daily and will not store with the post, it is repeated in this section with the book reference and comment.
Today’s quote of the day is a great testimony to the Faith of David the King. Every verse is a positive statement of believing that the Lord will do what he is saying. It can be a great personal affirmation of faith as well. The ‘works’ involved here, I think, would be that we truly make the Lord our shepherd and truly follow Him.
The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters. He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me. Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever (Psalm 23)
