Faith working through love

"The only thing that counts is faith working through love." Galatians 5:6

 Faith

The essence of living the Kingdom life as a follower of Jesus Christ is "faith working through love." Faith is the conviction that God exists and that He rewards those who seek Him (see Hebrew 11:1,6). However, faith without action is dead (James 2:26). True conviction or faith is always accompanied by action for without action a conviction is only an opinion. True faith looks like something and that something is love.

The believer's faith is demonstrated in three essential ways - love for God's presence, love for His people and love for His salvation purposes. Every disciple of Christ will demonstrate all three aspects of this love that the apostle Paul is addressing. All three loves look like something!

Love God's Presence

Those who love God's presence by faith, seek His face. They spend time in His presence in prayer, worship and reading the Bible. They are devoted to having fellowship with God and seek to grow in their knowledge and experience of Him. This agape love is an unconditional commitment to God that is not dependent on feelings, circumstances or knowledge. It is a simple child-like trust in God that learns to enjoy His presence. The very presence of God becomes the disciple's greatest reward (see Gen. 15:1). As believers grow in their love for God, they grow in their love for what is on God's heart. "We love because he first loved us" 1 John 4:19. Love for God is therefore expressed in the believer's love for what God loves. 

Love God's People

God's people are those who belong to Him through faith in Jesus Christ (see Eph. 2:11-22). Loving God's people is expressed by a life devoted to serving the Body of Christ. In the letter to the Hebrews we read, "God is not unjust; he will not forget your work and the love you have shown him as you have helped his people and continue to help them" (Heb. 6:10). Love for the Church is demonstrated very practically. Believers who love the Church are devoted to the local church and the greater Church by spending time with other believers and seeking to help others grow in their relationship with God and supporting any physical needs others may have. The early Church demonstrated this agape love as they shared their lives and their possessions with one another and were committed to fellowshipping with one another (see Acts 2:42-47). 

Love God's Purposes

Those who through faith in Jesus Christ become members of His Body, the Church, are created in Christ to do good works (Eph. 2:10). The believer is therefore included in Christ for a purpose - God's salvation purposes - God's passion to see everyone reconciled to Him. Just as Jesus fulfilled the Father's purposes to seek and save the lost, so the Body of Christ is called to love the lost and seek to reconcile them to the Father's love. Those who have genuine faith will love God's purposes and seek to share the love of God with those who are separated from God.

Faith is therefore expressed through love for God's presence, God's people and God's salvation purposes. All three loves are the manifestation of true faith that is seen in the believer's actions as s/he reponds to God, to the Church and to the lost.

What are we saved for?

"God saved us and called us to live a holy life." 2 Tim. 1:9

I want to ask you a life-changing question:

Does God save people for them to become like Jesus or does He save people for them to be like Jesus?

Your answer to this question will determine your Christian life! Before we can address the difference between "becoming like Jesus" and "being like Jesus," we must have a clear understanding of what it means to be saved.

Salvation

Mankind was created in God's image to live in close relationship with God, to reflect the very nature of God and do His will on earth. As God's offspring, we were created to be like God (Gen. 1:26-28; 2:8). Because of man's disobedience he separated himself from God's will and consequently God's presence and nature. Having become ungodly (no longer like God) mankind became God's enemy as he continued to walk independently of God and in rebellion to God's will. The apostle Paul describes man's separation from God like this,

"As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath." Eph. 2:1-3

God's image that was to be revealed through mankind, became distorted. Consequently, mankind is ungodly by nature.

The last Adam

In order for God to restore man to His original nature and purpose, God sent Jesus to both reveal man in his original image of God as well as to restore man to his original godliness. Jesus came to rescue, restore, reconcile or save man from ungodliness and separation from God. Paul writes,

"You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly." Rom. 5:6

So we see that God made a way for man to be restored to Himself so that man would be in close relationship to God, reflect His nature and do His will.

Saved to become or saved to be?

Understanding God's purpose for creating man and for giving us His Son, it should be clear that we are not saved to become like Jesus but to be like Him. That is why we read in Scripture:

"Be holy, for I am holy" 1 Peter 1:16

"Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did." 1 John 2:6

"Be perfect as your Father in heaven is perfect" Matt. 5:48

"Be imitators of God" Eph. 5:1

Created for what?

Let me ask you: What was God's purpose for creating Adam? Was it so that he would become like God? Was the whole purpose of the creation of man an experiment to see how he would develop in God-likeness? Clearly not!

The problem with thinking that our purpose in life is to become like Jesus is that it paralyses the believer and causes him to be introspective and ineffective in "reigning in life" (Rom.5:17).

Preoccupation with self-improvement and responding to the accusations of the enemy keep the believer caught in a satanic trap that stops him from fulfilling God's purpose for his life!

Grace

After explaining to the believers in Ephesus that their previous nature and behaviour separated them from God, Paul shares the amazing truth that because of His great love for man, God has provided a way for us to be restored to Him and therefore restored to fellowship with God and to godliness. The restoration to godliness cannot be accomplished by man's own effort (works) but is retored by faith in Christ! Grace restores man to God and to the Creator's original purpose for mankind.

God's workmanship!

Having described God's gift to mankind, Paul says,

"For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God has prepared in advance for us to do." Eph. 2:10

God restores us to Himself and to our original godliness so that we will do God's will and fulfill His purpose for us. 

The believer is not created in Christ to become like Jesus but to be like Jesus, doing the Father's will in the Father's image out of fellowship with the Father!

That is exactly how Christ lived on earth (see John 14:8-14).

The problem of sin

I believe that God hates sin. He hates rebellion and disobedience to His perfect will. However, let me ask you this question:

If there weren't such a thing as sin, how would you live your Christian life?

The answer to this question will reveal whether you are preoccupied with self-improvement or whether you are set free to pursue the "good works, which God has prepared in advance" for you to do. Let me repeat what I said earlier: Preoccupation with self-improvement and responding to the accusations of the enemy keep the believer caught in a satanic trap that stops him from fulfilling God's purpose for his life!

Grace is risky

God took a risk when He gave us the gift of grace. He knew that we could either ignore it by still trying to become godly in our own effort (see Gal. 3:1-4; 5:4) or misuse it by continuing to live in sin. However, regardless of the ignorance of grace and the misuse of grace do you realise that grace empowers? Paul writes,

"You then my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus." 2 Tim. 2:1

"For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. It teaches us to say 'No' to ungodliness and wordly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, while we wait for the blessed hope - the glorious appearing of our great God and Saviour, Jesus Christ, who gave himslef for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good." Titus 2:11-14

God saves us to be like Jesus. Having received this indescribable gift of grace, will you ignore it or misuse it or will you walk in it to be like Jesus, enjoying intimacy with the Father, revealing the Father's nature and doing the Father's will?

Is it God's will to heal everyone?

Underlying a question like, "Is it God's will to heal everyone?" are the questions, "What is God's will; How can I know the will of God and; Why am I not seeing God's will done?" Let's take a look at these...

What is God's will?

Many Christians believe that if something is God's will it must take place because God is sovereign. Consequently, since God's will is always done and some are healed and some are not, it cannot always be God's will to heal.

Now, although God is sovereign and able to do whatever He chooses to do, we must not confuse God's unconditional will with God's conditional will. To help distinguish between these two aspects of God's will, I will call God's unconditional will, God's purpose, and God's conditional will, simply His will.

God's conditional will.

God's conditional will is that which God desires but has chosen to make the manifestation thereof dependent on His creation. For example, God desires that all mankind be saved (2 Peter 3:9) and for this reason gave us His Son (John 3:16). Are all saved? Sadly not! Only those who believe in Jesus are saved. Therefore, although it is God's will to save all, not all are saved.

God's conditional will is the basis of prayer. Jesus taught His disciples to pray "Your will be done on earth as it is in Heaven" (Matt. 6:10). Why would Jesus teach His disciples to pray for God's will to be done on earth if God's will were always sovereignly done? God has placed certain conditions on His will to be realised on earth as it is in Heaven.

Jesus never prayed, "If it is your will, Father..." Jesus always prayed God's will to be established on earth as it is in Heaven. In the garden of Gethsemane, Jesus knew the will of the Father but was asking whether it was possible for God's plan of redemption to be accomplished another way. Those who pray "If it is your will..." are not praying in faith. The prayer of faith knows God's will and prays until it is realised.

The realisation or fulfillment of God's conditional will is dependent on the response of His creation. God has chosen to put "Ifs" in place for His will to be done. For example:

"..if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God and receive from him anything we ask, because we obey his commands and do what pleases him." 1 John 3:21,22

There are many conditions that influence the manifestation of God's will. The believer is to overcome the world, the flesh and the devil by faith and action for God's will to be established on earth as it is in heaven!

God's purpose.

The other aspect of God's will is His unconditional will that is not dependent on anything other than Himself. Nothing can hinder God's purposes from being fulfilled. For example, it was God's purpose to redeem mankind through His Son, Jesus. God's purpose has been fulfilled in Christ and will be fully realised when Jesus comes again. Just as God's promises to Abraham were fulfilled, so God's promises to us concerning Christ will be fulfilled. Jesus is coming back and nothing in all creation can stop that happening. When we are aligned with God's purposes, we can be very confident (see Heb. 6:13-20).

Once we distinguish between God's "purpose" and God's will, it will help us understand why God's will is not always done.

How can I know God's will?

Through the Spirit.

Paul prayed for the Colossians that they would be filled with the knowledge of God's will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding (Col. 1:9). These are given by the Holy Spirit through revelation (1 Cor.2:7-14). As we depend on the Holy Spirit to lead us into all truth God will reveal Himself and His will to us (John 16:12,13; 1 John 2:20,27). The believer must learn to depend on the Holy Spirit for guidance, in prayer and in reading God's Word. The Holy Spirit always reveals God's will (Romans 8:26,27).

Through testimonies.

God's will is revealed through the testimonies of believers in the past. The Word of God is the testimony (Old and New Testimonies) of God's nature and will. His general will can be seen in His dealings with man in the past (see Psalm 145).

Through Jesus.

Bill Johnson states, "Jesus is perfect theology!" If we want to know God's will, then we must look at the full revelation of the Father's will as manifested through the life of Jesus. In the past, God revealed His will through the prophets and in various ways but in Christ, God reveals not only His will but His very being (John 14:9; Heb. 1:1-3)! It is as we fix our eyes on Jesus, that our faith is strengthened in the knowledge of God and His will (Heb. 12:2).

Not through circumstances!

Many Christians look at the natural to determine God's will. They look at their circumstances and situation and deduce God's will accordingly. Circumstances can reveal God's will but we should not look at the circumstances to ascertain God's will. That's where a lot of confusion happens. People who base their knowledge of God on the created rather than on the spiritual will be misled. Superstition is depending on the natural for truth. Faith is depending on God for the truth. We are to be led by God's Spirit and not the flesh or the created (see Rom. 8:12-16).
Why am I not seeing God's will done?

Now that we understand the two aspects of God's will we can better understand why God's will is not always done. Some of the reasons for unanswered prayer are:

• Disobedience. 1 John 3:21,22
• Wrong motive. James 4:3
• Unbelief. Mt 17:2
• Opposition of Satan. Eph. 6:12; James 4:7
• Lack of perseverance. Luke 18:1
• Not fasting. Mt 17:21
• Faith in faith, in man or in formula rather than on God. Mt 6:7
• Not praying in secret. Mt 6:6

Is it God's will to heal everyone?

Since Jesus healed everyone who came to Him to be healed and since God has revealed Himself as the Healer, we can safely say that it is God's will to heal everyone just as it is God's will to save everyone. The reason some were not healed in the NT is because of unbelief and lack of honour and not because Jesus was unwilling (see Mt 4:23; 8:3,16; 9:35; 10:8; 14:36; Mark 10:52 - Mark 6:5).

Let us pray God's will on earth as it is in heaven and stop blaming God for the manifestation of man's will, the world's will and the devil's will. God loves us! Let us live according to God's will so we can know God and His will and pray His will on earth as it is in Heaven and glorify Him (see Rom. 12:1,2).

Father, Your Kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in Heaven!

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