James 2:18 But someone will say, "You have faith, and I have works." Show me your faith without your works, and I will show you my faith by my works.

To a lot of people, faith is believing in something or someone but unknown to them, your faith affects your behaviour. So faith is not just what you believe in, but also what you do. In verse 14 of James 2, the Bible makes it clear that, “what good is faith if you don’t show it by your actions“. This means our actions greatly reflect our faith.

What we truly believe in is not just shown by what we say but what we do.

I saw James 2:24 which says, You see that a man is justified by works and not by faith only and it took me to Romans 5:1 which says, Therefore since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. At this point, I was confused. First, the Bible says we are justified by works, now it is by faith. As I tried to get this, I saw the opening scripture and Galatians 2:16.(Knowing that man is not justified by the works of the law...)

There are two works in these scriptures: Works of the law and works of faith. So when the Bible says we are not justified by works, it’s about the works of the law. Works of the law are based on instructions, rules, regulations. But Jesus came so that we no longer please God by necessarily obeying every single law but through faith. Hence, our faith in God will quicken us to live right. It’s not God’s desire that we just obey rules out of fear but that we establish a love relationship with Him by getting to know Him more and this will consequently affect our actions and behaviour in the right direction. Avoiding sin is not the goal, Loving God is. When we love Him, living right is made easier and we don’t have to struggle to do what pleases Him.

This is a matter of the heart and not just the head. Proverbs 3:5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. Works of faith are based on the heart while works of the law are based on the head. Head knowledge is information and heart knowledge is revelation. Hence, the works of faith are done with deep conviction not just because someone says do this. When a person has faith, it is seen in what one does. So the works that are needed in addition to faith are works of faith.

Works of the law are done unwillingly and under compulsion because someone says do them. But works of faith are things you do willingly based on your faith. This is what makes the difference.  Works of faith are done with an understanding and conviction that no one can talk you out of. If you can be talked out of a godly attitude or action, know that your faith was not solid.

What are these works of faith? 2 Peter 1:5-7 lists them. It says add to your faith virtue, knowledge, temperance, patience, godliness, brotherly kindness, love.

Faith is not a stand-alone concept. This is what it means: if you claim you have faith in God, then pray daily. Why? Because it’s a sign that you realise you have no control over what the day would bring and so you’re letting God take charge of the day. If you have faith, study the Word. God wants us to know Him and we must add knowledge to our faith. Our knowledge of Him is what would establish us in the faith. Faith is not just believing in God. Faith is obedience to God.  Faith is an action based on a belief supported by confidence. This confidence is called conviction.

There are many people in the world today who say they believe in God but add that they don’t think going to church is necessary. Others also say they believe in God but don’t support tithing.  These are all signs that the belief is intact but action is not affected. 

For instance, a person may decide not to have sex with someone they are not married to, mainly because God doesn’t support it. That’s not a strong reason not to do something because you can easily be talked out of that belief. The more you know who God is, the more you get to know what He has for you and where He wants to take you and so you avoid premarital sex because of the understanding that sex is beyond physical and there is a transference of spirits. And that action may draw you back, in a way, from the fullness of what God has for you. As a result, your actions are influenced by that conviction.

When Abraham was told to sacrifice His son, he did it. That was how God knew that He had faith all along. So God saw his action as a reflection of his faith. Again, before the promised son, Isaac, Sarah suggested that Abraham had a child with Haggai. This was because she doubted she could bear a child. A lot of times, our doubt causes us to make decisions our own way because we don’t know how God will do what He told us. If you can’t obey, you lack faith because faith is actually obedience to what God has said.

Joseph refused to have sex with Potiphar’s wife because he had faith. His faith showed in his action that eventhough there was no one around, He wouldn’t do it. Years ago,anytime I was writing an exam and I did not know the answer to a question, I was tempted to check my phone or cheat in some way. However, one day God told me that cheating in an exam or to get ahead in anything is a sign of lack of faith in Him. If you prayed before going to write the paper, and you now go in to cheat, you have just insulted God that He is incapable of helping you, so you’d find a way of helping yourself. 

Remember that faith is not just belief. Faith is an action.

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