Deeds and faith should never replace one another. At salvation, we receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. God’s Spirit, living in us, guides, corrects and shapes us as men of faith. However, one big part of our faith as we grow in Christ is works and deeds. God desires us to trust Him in a deep, abiding love and in our responsibilities.
Simply putting our trust in God and accepting the gift of salvation is not a one-sided transaction. Our salvation opens up a journey of trusting in not only who He is, but also who we are now as Sons of the Most High. As our faith grows in God, He opens doors to move even deeper with our faith.
Consider Abraham; at the age of 100, his son, Isaac, was born to him. Through Isaac, God told Abraham he was going to fill the earth. (Then God said, “Yes, but your wife Sarah will bear you a son, and you will call him Isaac. I will establish my covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his descendants after him.” Genesis 17:19). Yet when Isaac was in his teens, God now told Abraham to sacrifice Isaac on the altar. Imagine Abraham, in faith, believing God, despite his age, that God would give him a son. Abraham believed and trusted God for the outcome. Imagine if you were asked to do the same.
“Hey Abraham, I gave you Issac, and now I want you to give him up!” WOW! Well, guess what Abraham did? He went back to his deep well of trust! “Lord, if you’re asking me to do this, I have to trust you.” As Abraham prepared to sacrifice Issac on the altar, the angel of the Lord said, “Stop!”
When they reached the place God had told him about, Abraham built an altar there and arranged the wood on it. He bound his son Isaac and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. Then he reached out his hand and took the knife to slay his son. But the angel of the Lord called out to him from heaven, “Abraham! Abraham!” “Here I am,” he replied. “Do not lay a hand on the boy,” he said. “Do not do anything to him. Now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son.” Genesis 22:9-12
Demonstrating His reliability, God provided Abraham with a replacement. (“Abraham looked up and there in a thicket he saw a ram caught by its horns. He went over and took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering instead of his son.” Genesis 22:13).
What are we to learn from this as men? Abraham’s trust in God was strong, and he had NO doubt that God had a plan. Abraham’s deed proved his faith in his Heavenly Father was above all (“Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised.” Romans 4:20-21). Without deeds, our faith is useless (“You foolish person, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless?” James 2:22). Deeds are the extension of our faith! Without real faith, our deeds are done for man’s approval. As we grow in faith, like Abraham, we need to trust in the Word of God. We need to trust even when we may not understand or question the outcome.
Years ago, I never tithed. Nevertheless, when I learned it was God’s will, I began to tithe. This can be hard to do for almost everyone, but as a money manager, it goes against everything I was told. Yet, as I sought the Lord and my faith in Him deepened, I began to see that the tithe was just an extension of my faith. Without faith, Abraham would never have sacrificed his son on the altar. But with faith, the sacrifice was credited to Abraham as righteousness. Faith without deeds is not faith at all (What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? James 2:14). Deeds prove our faith. When we begin to seek God’s will for our lives, like Abraham, God will give us opportunities to trust Him through deeds. As faith increases, so do deeds. The roots of trees grow deeper, searching for water, just as faith seeks out good deeds. We should never replace deeds with just faith. Deeds with no faith are dead works. Deeds are the outcome of our faith.
Abraham believed God and his belief was why he was righteous (Abram believed the Lord, and he credited it to him as righteousness.” Genesis 15:6). Faith and deeds were working together. The deeds proved his faith (By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going. Hebrews 11:8). Again, without deeds, Abraham’s faith would be useless.
Back to tithing, it is very difficult to give money to a church or listen to a sermon on tithing, but I do it because I believe in what God has told me about giving to my church. I never used to do it, but when I found out that it was the only verse in the Bible that says test Me in this, I thought okay, God, I’m going to do what You said. I’m going to test You! And I did. And He showed up like He showed up with Abraham. My little faith has now become greater because God spoke to me, and I obeyed. Then He said, “Let’s go deeper.” Honestly, God was the One who gave me the money in the first place.
As we grow in our faith and learn how good God is and how He has prepared ahead of time for us to do good works, we walk down the paths of faith and begin to see that God does it all through us. He is the One who shows up in our lives, helps us go deeper in our relationship with Him, and then moves us from one faith exercise to another. Like Abraham, He asks us to do something, but He actually creates the resources to do His will and even the reward.
So, how do we step out in our faith? First, seek Him, Who is the perfector and finisher of our faith (“fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith.” Hebrews 12:22a). Like trees, we were created to have deep root systems, which start with Him directing us through His Word.
Have a great Thursday,
SL Thomas