THE Biblical Test of Faith
How men determine and label faith today is vastly different from the biblical model. We deem faithless those that Jesus esteems and values dearly; those that He declares are unfit for the Kingdom of God, we call faith giants.
Today, we view poor people, in the world of Christendom, as weak in the faith; assuming that if poor people would only exercise their faith and raise it to our desired level, they would become prosperous, naturally-speaking. Of course, immediately that logic raises a lot of problems. First, for that to be true, righteousness would have to be equated with prosperity and unrighteousness with poverty. What then do we do with all of the wicked who hold great wealth, yet despise God and His people; and conversely, what do we do with all of the saints willing to be martyred for the cause of Christ, who give up everything rather than denounce Him (there are many around the globe)? Secondly, how do we reconcile such scripture passages as: "Truly God is good to Israel, even to such as are of a clean heart.
But as for me, my feet were almost gone; my steps had well nigh slipped.
For I was envious at the foolish, when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.
For there are no bands in their death: but their strength is firm.
They are not in trouble as other men; neither are they plagued like other men.
Therefore pride compasseth them about as a chain; violence covereth them as a garment.
Their eyes stand out with fatness: they have more than heart could wish.
They are corrupt, and speak wickedly concerning oppression: they speak loftily.
They set their mouth against the heavens, and their tongue walketh through the earth." [Psalm 73:1-9]?
The faith of the poor is not questioned by Jesus--or the apostles. It is the faith of the rich, of those who have enough, but withhold it from those who have need that is constantly questioned. Somehow, we miss that with our accusations of faithlessness bent toward those who have need--perhaps, because that frees us (if only superficially) of our responsibility to and for them. However, there is a Righteous Judge Who will hold us responsible (and judge us, accordingly) for what we have done--or failed to do, in response to the need; and our display of real, living faith.
James didn't question the faith of the poorly clad, hungry man, either--it never came into focus, at all. The only faith James mentions in response to the presence of need was the faith of the man who had the ability--and the substance to meet the need. He never scolded the poor man for not "exercising enough faith" to pull himself out of his own impoverished state, nor did he blame him for being in poverty or tell him to "pull himself up by his bootstraps"; he didn't even question how he got there or become exasperated and shaming about how much time and effort it would take to get him out of the situation. James said, "My brothers and sisters, believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ must not show favoritism. Suppose a man comes into your meeting wearing a gold ring and fine clothes, and a poor man in filthy old clothes also comes in. If you show special attention to the man wearing fine clothes and say, “Here’s a good seat for you,” but say to the poor man, “You stand there” or “Sit on the floor by my feet,” have you not discriminated among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts?
Listen, my dear brothers and sisters: Has not God chosen those who are poor in the eyes of the world to be rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom he promised those who love him? But you have dishonored the poor...If you really keep the royal law found in Scripture, “Love your neighbor as yourself,” you are doing right. But if you show favoritism, you sin and are convicted by the law as lawbreakers. For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it. For he who said, “You shall not commit adultery,” also said, “You shall not murder.” If you do not commit adultery but do commit murder, you have become a lawbreaker.
Speak and act as those who are going to be judged by the law that gives freedom, because judgment without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful. Mercy triumphs over judgment...What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them? Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.
But someone will say, “You have faith; I have deeds.”
Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by my deeds. You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder.
You foolish person, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless? [James 2:1-6a;8-20] Whose faith is dead??? According to James, what you believe about God is not good enough--the demons know and believe the truth of God; they aren't aligned with Him, but they know He is real, true and Everlasting. It won't win you any brownie points--it leads to repentance, but there is so much more. Basically, James says to what you believe and proclaim, "So what! What are you doing??!!!"
James probably learned that lesson from the example of Jesus.
The rich young ruler asked Jesus, "Good Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?" Jesus responded with a test: "sell all that thou hast, and distribute unto the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, follow me." Mark records that Jesus loved him. The young man had approached Jesus and knelt before Him--and that is a posture of reverence, so his heart for God was in the right place, but clearly that isn't enough; as much as we would like to think so. After Jesus instructed him, he failed the test because he "was sad at that saying, and went away grieved: for he had great possessions." The biblical test of our faith is all about our treasure (or the substance we have been entrusted with for this season of life), in relationship to those who have need. Seeing and knowing there is need and having an ability to help in anyway, but failing to do so is a failure of faith--that is faithless...according to God's Word.
Faith is so intertwined with love. It cannot be separated--in fact, trying to teach faith before love is extremely faulty. The heart that does not grasp the depths of agape love cannot exhibit true godly faith, because "faith worketh by love" [Galatians 5:6]. You can't get genuine faith started until love is up and running, and to keep it working properly, love has to continually be nurtured and fed, and it will in turn nurture and feed faith.
Our extreme misunderstanding of biblical faith has us oppressing the very people that God wants us to care for, and neglecting the matters of the heart that will lead us to eternal life. It is a "sheep and goats" thing. How we care for those in need is directly tied to our eternal destiny--it IS a Heaven or Hell issue [Matthew 25:31-46]. If we fail to meet the needs of the poor eternal perdition awaits us; but if we have living, active faith that responds to need with loving action, our names are written in the Lamb's Book of Life--and no one can blot them out.
Your test, or God's test; you decide.
Today, we view poor people, in the world of Christendom, as weak in the faith; assuming that if poor people would only exercise their faith and raise it to our desired level, they would become prosperous, naturally-speaking. Of course, immediately that logic raises a lot of problems. First, for that to be true, righteousness would have to be equated with prosperity and unrighteousness with poverty. What then do we do with all of the wicked who hold great wealth, yet despise God and His people; and conversely, what do we do with all of the saints willing to be martyred for the cause of Christ, who give up everything rather than denounce Him (there are many around the globe)? Secondly, how do we reconcile such scripture passages as: "Truly God is good to Israel, even to such as are of a clean heart.
But as for me, my feet were almost gone; my steps had well nigh slipped.
For I was envious at the foolish, when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.
For there are no bands in their death: but their strength is firm.
They are not in trouble as other men; neither are they plagued like other men.
Therefore pride compasseth them about as a chain; violence covereth them as a garment.
Their eyes stand out with fatness: they have more than heart could wish.
They are corrupt, and speak wickedly concerning oppression: they speak loftily.
They set their mouth against the heavens, and their tongue walketh through the earth." [Psalm 73:1-9]?
The faith of the poor is not questioned by Jesus--or the apostles. It is the faith of the rich, of those who have enough, but withhold it from those who have need that is constantly questioned. Somehow, we miss that with our accusations of faithlessness bent toward those who have need--perhaps, because that frees us (if only superficially) of our responsibility to and for them. However, there is a Righteous Judge Who will hold us responsible (and judge us, accordingly) for what we have done--or failed to do, in response to the need; and our display of real, living faith.
James didn't question the faith of the poorly clad, hungry man, either--it never came into focus, at all. The only faith James mentions in response to the presence of need was the faith of the man who had the ability--and the substance to meet the need. He never scolded the poor man for not "exercising enough faith" to pull himself out of his own impoverished state, nor did he blame him for being in poverty or tell him to "pull himself up by his bootstraps"; he didn't even question how he got there or become exasperated and shaming about how much time and effort it would take to get him out of the situation. James said, "My brothers and sisters, believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ must not show favoritism. Suppose a man comes into your meeting wearing a gold ring and fine clothes, and a poor man in filthy old clothes also comes in. If you show special attention to the man wearing fine clothes and say, “Here’s a good seat for you,” but say to the poor man, “You stand there” or “Sit on the floor by my feet,” have you not discriminated among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts?
Listen, my dear brothers and sisters: Has not God chosen those who are poor in the eyes of the world to be rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom he promised those who love him? But you have dishonored the poor...If you really keep the royal law found in Scripture, “Love your neighbor as yourself,” you are doing right. But if you show favoritism, you sin and are convicted by the law as lawbreakers. For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it. For he who said, “You shall not commit adultery,” also said, “You shall not murder.” If you do not commit adultery but do commit murder, you have become a lawbreaker.
Speak and act as those who are going to be judged by the law that gives freedom, because judgment without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful. Mercy triumphs over judgment...What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them? Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.
But someone will say, “You have faith; I have deeds.”
Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by my deeds. You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder.
You foolish person, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless? [James 2:1-6a;8-20] Whose faith is dead??? According to James, what you believe about God is not good enough--the demons know and believe the truth of God; they aren't aligned with Him, but they know He is real, true and Everlasting. It won't win you any brownie points--it leads to repentance, but there is so much more. Basically, James says to what you believe and proclaim, "So what! What are you doing??!!!"
James probably learned that lesson from the example of Jesus.
The rich young ruler asked Jesus, "Good Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?" Jesus responded with a test: "sell all that thou hast, and distribute unto the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, follow me." Mark records that Jesus loved him. The young man had approached Jesus and knelt before Him--and that is a posture of reverence, so his heart for God was in the right place, but clearly that isn't enough; as much as we would like to think so. After Jesus instructed him, he failed the test because he "was sad at that saying, and went away grieved: for he had great possessions." The biblical test of our faith is all about our treasure (or the substance we have been entrusted with for this season of life), in relationship to those who have need. Seeing and knowing there is need and having an ability to help in anyway, but failing to do so is a failure of faith--that is faithless...according to God's Word.
Faith is so intertwined with love. It cannot be separated--in fact, trying to teach faith before love is extremely faulty. The heart that does not grasp the depths of agape love cannot exhibit true godly faith, because "faith worketh by love" [Galatians 5:6]. You can't get genuine faith started until love is up and running, and to keep it working properly, love has to continually be nurtured and fed, and it will in turn nurture and feed faith.
Our extreme misunderstanding of biblical faith has us oppressing the very people that God wants us to care for, and neglecting the matters of the heart that will lead us to eternal life. It is a "sheep and goats" thing. How we care for those in need is directly tied to our eternal destiny--it IS a Heaven or Hell issue [Matthew 25:31-46]. If we fail to meet the needs of the poor eternal perdition awaits us; but if we have living, active faith that responds to need with loving action, our names are written in the Lamb's Book of Life--and no one can blot them out.
Your test, or God's test; you decide.
Comments
Post a Comment