The Obedience of Faith

Have you ever wondered why you claim to believe the things God says about you, but that thing seem not to come to pass? For example, you believe by the stripes of Jesus, you were made healed, but it seems your healing is not close by at all. Many of us would conclude saying, “oh, he really didn’t have faith in what he said”. Can I surprise you? You could have faith in a particular thing God says about you, by you I mean a Believer but yet not receive anything. So the issue not because the person is not a Christian or he doesn’t have faith. If these aren’t the reason for you not accessing the Grace, blessing and power of God, then what could be the cause?

First of all, you spiritually receive faith the moment you give your life to Christ; why is this true? It is true because it is by faith that you accepted Christ (this is your faith not the faith of Christ; the Holy Spirit convicted your conscience and you believed), when this is done, the faith of Christ became among the list of gift given to you (this is the faith of Christ and not your faith, that why it is called Grace) [ref. John 15:16; Romans 10:17; John 3:16; Habakkuk 2:4b].

Now with all these said above, what exactly is the reason why a Believer cannot still receive the Grace God has given him? The issue here is Believers need to be working in the obedience of faith. Right now I’m sure you’re like, “huh?” yes once this is lacking in a Believers life, he cannot receive the full Grace given to him. Alright, let me honestly rephrase that statement; without this the Believer cannot receive anything God has given him. Now note this, it is not God who hasn’t given you all that you would ever need in your life, on the other hand, it is you who hasn’t received it, just because you aren’t working in the obedience of faith. The question now is, what does it mean to work in the obedience of faith?

When I say working in the obedience of faith, I mean there are things you do because you believe in a thing. These works reflects what you believe or shows the faith you have. An example is this, you study the word where it talks about you being healed in Christ as you believe that you are healed. Without any doubt this is faith, but living your life as one who is healed is working the obedience of faith. Apostle Paul told the Corinthians that, “the kingdom of God is not in word but in power”, the message version puts that same verse as this, “God’s Way is not a matter of mere talk; it’s an empowered life.” [1 Corinthians 4:20]. To continue from what this verse says is that, it is not about just listening to the word that Word which you call word is like any word you’ve seen, the Word is life that empowers or transforms you. In other words the Word of God empowers us to the point that we start acting as the Word Himself (Jesus). This is the complete act of faith.

Note this, you will NEVER, I repeat NEVER receive anything with faith alone unless you complete the act of faith through working in the obedience of faith. Drawing from the example I used earlier about a person being ill, many of us would believe we are healed but still accept the sympathetic talk from our family, friends and loved ones over your life as one who is ill; that means you are recognising that you are ill. Some of us would say they don’t want to appear as idiots before their friends, so they believe secretly that they are healed, but accept the sympathy of their friends. Here there is a strong contradiction and Apostle James clearly called a man like this a double minded person who shouldn’t expect anything from God [ref. James 1:6-7]. You need to stand up for what you believe even in ridicule.

God healed you over 2,000 years ago (this is Grace because you didn’t do anything to merit the healing); you believe you are healed (this is faith); then you start acting as one who is actually healed, because you see yourself healed and you move as one who is healed, not having any ailment (this is not being foolish or stupid, rather this is working in the obedience of faith), this is where the Grace of healing envelops you and His Word get manifested in your life.

Take note of this, all these are different from a man who is sick and suddenly says he is healed and start moving about. The truth is, that man will continue to be sick or even get worse for stressing his body. Why is this any different from the previous person who received healing? The difference is that the former held on to Word who said he was healed, but the latter didn’t have his faith clinging on anything, which made all he said mere words.

The faith Believers need to have is that which clings on Grace given to us. So, if you say you are healed and your statement is not holding on to the Grace of God given to us by God, then no healing would take place. In simple terms, Grace is like a piñata which contains all we would ever need in our life; faith is believing and accepting the piñata as ours, but the obedience of faith goes further by using a stick to hit the piñata, thereby allowing the Grace to flow to us.

This is not the works of your own accord, it is work empowered by the Grace of God given to us, which is obedience to God. James 2:26 MSG says, “The very moment you separate body and spirit, you end up with a corpse. Separate faith and works and you get the same thing: a corpse.”

Why not accept Jesus today if you haven’t. Pray out loud, “Jesus, I confess that You are my Lord and Saviour. I believe in my heart that God raised You from the dead. By faith in Your Word, I receive salvation now. Thank You for saving me!” Congratulations, you’re born again, you are now brand new!

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GOD BLESS YOU.

Unless otherwise stated, the following scriptures are gotten from New King James Version (NKJV)