A Fruitful Life: Faith Without Works

A Fruitful Life: Faith Without Works

By Apostle Felix

14  What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works? can faith save him?
15  If a brother or sister be naked, and destitute of daily food,
16  And one of you say unto them, Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled; notwithstanding ye give them not those things which are needful to the body; what doth it profit?
17  Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone.
18  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: 14 – 18

Faith without works is like a man who has a massive land for farming, and all he does is boasting about it without working on it. Such a man cannot expect to have an harvest from that piece of land. The piece of land can be fertile, but without working on it cannot produce anything. Faith is believing that the land exists and has the potential to produce an harvest. But that is not enough. It takes preparing the land and planting seed in it in order to see an harvest.

Now that we are saved and abide in Christ, we are expected to produce fruit. We are expected to work out our salvation with fear and trembling. Fruit bearing does not happen by wishful thinking. It is a product of work. Faith is an action, and the faith that is laid to rest can not produce. Believing must be accompanied with action. Do not just talk, but also be  doer. We have too many talkative individuals but less practitioners. Let us do both, talk and practice.

12  Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. 

Philippians 2: 12

Working out salvation is work. It takes discipline and diligence to produce fruit in our lives. A fruitful life is not for the lazy believers. It is for the diligent and disciplined. It takes a lot from one to forgive. Maturity is predicated on denying one’s rights for the sake of another. It takes maturity to give a meal to someone that you too needed. It takes a lot to take courage to pursue your dreams. There more power required to take off than to glide. Every aeroplane burns more fuel at taking off than it does in the air. You and I should be determined to practice the word of God in order to be fruitful.

A fruitful life is one whose faith is accompanied with works.  You cannot claim to have faith with zero works. Faith life is one that produces works. How is your faith? Check out your works. Is sharing your resources a challenge to you? How is your commitment to your local church? Are you contributing financially towards the welfare of  your local church? Are you helping the underprivileged? Is your church attendance sporadic? How is your faith life? Just look at your works.

6  And those who are taught the Word must share all good things with their teacher; a sharing of wealth takes place between them.
Gal 6:7  Make no mistake about it, God will never be mocked! For what you plant will always be the very thing you harvest.
8  The harvest you reap reveals the seed that was planted. If you plant the corrupt seeds of self – life into this natural realm, you can expect to experience a harvest of corruption. If you plant the good seeds of Spirit-life you will reap the beautiful fruits that grow from the everlasting life of the Spirit.
9  And don’t allow yourselves to be weary or disheartened in planting good seeds, for the season of reaping the wonderful harvest you’ve planted is coming!
10  Take advantage of every opportunity to be a blessing to others, especially to our brothers and sisters in the family of faith! 

Galatians 6: 6 – 10

God cannot be mocked, we reap what we have sown. If we have sown mercy, we reap mercy. That’s how life is. It gives back over and above what we give out. Be mindful of your daily seeds you are sowing. Are they desirable seeds?