Faith

“Faith without works is like a screen door on a submarine, it just ain’t happening.”

These lyrics are from a song called “Screen Door” by Rich Mullins, a song that sums up the discussion in James, that faith without works is dead. Martin Luther didn’t like James, especially that verse, because he thought faith alone was enough.

I want to say that Martin Luther and James are both right. It’s just that most people don’t understand one essential fact.

Faith is not the same as belief.

You know something is true, you hold it in your heart and you know it in your head. You understand that Jesus came to die for us to cleanse us from sin, and that he rose again on the third day. You are sure that he is coming back again, and we will live with him forever. This is an entirely intellectual and spiritual pursuit. It is belief. This is not faith.

Belief sums up the inner world of the mind and spirit. Faith is where this internal belief intersects with the external world. Faith comes with action. You can know everything about Jesus and think it is true, and still not have faith. You can know next to nothing about Jesus and still follow him. Because faith only happens when we act.

Faith is when you act on your belief. Faith is when your trust in God leads you to do his will. Faith is stepping out in trust to do something you wouldn’t otherwise have done. This is faith, when belief prompts us to do, to act. We are not saved or changed until our actions change, not just our inward thoughts. We are saved by faith, and faith is action.

It’s right there in Hebrews eleven. This chapter is a long list of people who had faith, and it doesn’t just list what they believed, it lists what they did. Faith is when Abraham ties Isaac up on an altar, but knows that his son, even if he kills him, will somehow live on and make a great nation. Faith is when Moses raises his staff, and the sea parts. Faith is when the Israelites walk around Jericho. Those walls would never have fallen if they had not marched for seven days.

Faith is when Jesus dies on a cross, knowing that he will take his life back again, and save the world. Faith is when we tell someone about Jesus, give someone help in Jesus name, stand up for what we know is right even though the law says something different.

Faith is a lifestyle where our belief changes our actions. Faith is believing in God’s promises enough to act on them, it is loving God‘s commands enough to actually do them.

Faith is the unity of internal belief and external works. You see, there are two roads that both lead to the wrong place. The Pharisees, and many people today, take the road where you try to follow a bunch of rules about being good and honoring God. But the rules don’t change your heart. The other way is to say you believe and love God in your heart, but do absolutely nothing about it. Your belief does not change your actions.

Jesus spoke against both wrong ways, and showed us over and over again that the only right way is when both are unified. The belief and love in your heart must be manifest in everything that you do, and everything that you do should be out of love, not out of desire to follow the right rules to get to heaven.

This is why Jesus said that to hate someone in your heart is to commit murder. Our internal state and our external actions must match up.

“If you do not keep my commands, you have no part of me.” Jesus said it clearly. We have to love him, and we have to serve him. We are saved by faith, by making the effort to line up our heart and actions with His. We can’t do it perfectly, that’s where grace comes in, but we have to try. It’s the sheep and goats, those who did what Jesus told them to, and those who didn’t. Those who did were rewarded, those who didn’t were sent away. Every branch that does not yield fruit will be cut off and thrown into the fire.

You can’t profess God with your lips, and sit on your hands, and expect to be saved. You can’t check of the list of good things you did, and forget to love, and expect to be saved. Neither way is complete.

People tend to swing toward one end of the spectrum or the other. It is only the radical few who can maintain a balance in the middle, where belief and action meet. Strive for a balance between what you believe and what you do, because if the inside and the outside don’t match up, you’ll just fall apart.

“Faith without works is like a screen door on a submarine. One is your left hand, and one is your right. It takes two strong arms, to hold on tight. Some people would cut off their nose just to spite their face. I say you need some works to show for your alleged faith. There’s a difference, you know, between having faith and playing make-believe.”