Warning: Undefined array key "margin_above" in /home/customer/www/ciccohio.org/public_html/wp-content/plugins/ultimate-social-media-icons/libs/controllers/sfsiocns_OnPosts.php on line 619
Warning: Undefined array key "margin_below" in /home/customer/www/ciccohio.org/public_html/wp-content/plugins/ultimate-social-media-icons/libs/controllers/sfsiocns_OnPosts.php on line 620
There are two dimensions of faith. One speaks to the trust and the belief we have in God. Hebrews 11:1 says “faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.” So, our faithfulness in God demands that we trust Him no matter what the situation is. Our song says God is bigger than our circumstances, and this must naturally lead to trusting Him above all circumstances. The other dimension of faith speaks to our faithfulness to God. In a sense this dimension of faith also speaks to our loyalty to God. Our faithfulness or loyalty to God was addressed in the first two commandments – “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. You shall have no other gods before me. You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments” (Exodus 20:2-6). God demands complete loyalty and obedience from all of His children. Our faithfulness to God or loyalty to God is helped by our faith in Him. One perfects the other and in so doing completes us.
We are saved by faith, but when our deeds act on our faith, our faith is made perfect. Our faith moves us to be faithful, while our faithfulness acts to confirm our faith in Him. In James 2:21-24, we read that our faith and our actions work together. Abraham was made complete by what He did. The passage went on to add that ““Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness,” and he was called God’s friend.”. So, a person is considered righteous by both their faith and what they do. We are saved by faith but for our faith to be a saving faith, it must also be a living faith. Quite a lot of people have faith in God, but their faith is a “dead faith”. This kind of faith is a private kind of faith. It essentially does not grow and does not bear fruit. In essence their faith ends with them. They talk to God they read the word, but there is no effort on their part to bring others to the faith. Their faith is a dead faith. On the other hand, there is the living faith. This kind of faith has no choice but to be public. This kind of faith has no choice but to draw others to the faith. The faithfulness or loyalty of this kind of faith is noticed by others. People see the fervency of this faith and they want to have what you have. This kind of faith teaches others how to live a life of faith. It is a kind of faithfulness to God that is so strong and so apparent that God notices and people notice too. This is the main reason God wants us to live a faithful life. It is so that others can see God’s grace and love in our lives such that they will also want to live a faithful life.
Living a faithful life has its benefits. In fact, being followers of Christ, our utmost desire should be to live a life that is faithful to God. When we live a life that is wholly faithful to God, we live our life assured of His forgiveness for our missteps here and we have strong hope for life everlasting. God also does cover strongly those who a faithful to Him. We read in 2 Chronicles 16:9 that “the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is loyal to Him.” When we are faithful to God, we essentially have Him in our corner.
For our salvation, we need to have faith in God, but only our diligent effort to keep His commandments coupled with our faith in Him can make our faith perfect. That is Living Faith and only the living faith can save. Remember, as Paul said in Romans 2:13 – “For it is not those who hear the law who are righteous in God’s sight, but it is those who obey the law who will be declared righteous.” “Our faith is not a testimony of our life, rather our life is a testimony of our faith.” Our actions and deeds are definite pointers of our faith in God. People are watching us. We should live such a life of faithful devotion that is a light on the path of those who are watching. Only then is our faith perfected and we are completed. – Pastor Simbo Odunaiya
