Faith Without Works Is Dead
The cornerstone of Christianity (Faith)
Isn’t a million miles away from the laws of manifestation (the so called demonic new age)
Perhaps there’s a relationship here?
14 What does it profit, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can faith save him? 15 If a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food, 16 and one of you says to them, “Depart in peace, be warmed and filled,” but you do not give them the things which are needed for the body, what does it profit? 17 Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.
James 14-17
This one is complicated and misunderstood. Faith without works is dead.
But it is not by action or work that we are saved.
For it is by grace [God’s remarkable compassion and favor drawing you to Christ] that you have been saved [actually delivered from judgment and given eternal life] through faith. And this [salvation] is not of yourselves [not through your own effort], but it is the [undeserved, gracious] gift of God;
Ephesians 2:8.
So, not our actions, but our faith alone earns us salvation.
A free gift. Gift wrapped by grace. For the price of belief.
And yet, once that gift is received, or perhaps even before that,
Faith without works is dead.
Our faith dies without works.
So, what are works? And what are the actions we must take to not only display faith but to keep faith alive?
I think this concept is debated and discussed, and I don’t claim to be an authority, but my best guess is it could be whittled down into a one-word answer.
Service.
To be of service, to give value, to help your brothers and sisters, either materially or spiritually.
“For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve others and to give his life as a ransom for many.” Matthew 20:28 NLT
If we are to take the example of Jesus as a blueprint for the direction of our lives,
Then it becomes apparent the nature of the life we are meant to live.
The relief of service, the imbued faith of its pursuit, the bolstering of faith growing butterfly wings, and flying close (but not too close) to the sun.
The relief from the bondage of self, both concept and conceit.
But let’s break down what it means to be of service, and how it aligns with the life of your dreams. Beyond volunteering at a soup kitchen or doing a can food drive (though nothing wrong with those things),
But I think if most dig deep enough within, the Dream they have for their life, or their actual calling, is a destination from which they can be of maximum service and maximum value to mankind in general.
So the fruit of faith is the ability to work.
To do these works that become the lifeblood of faith, as faith then becomes the lifeblood of work.
“Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.”
John 15
Here is the mix. Apart from him, we can do nothing. We are saved by grace alone and not by action. And yet, faith without works is dead.
All these seemingly contradictory statements, all mixed and matched.
We can do nothing without him. Yet if we abide in him, we will bear much fruit.
2
I suppose this is at the heart of why my faith is of the Christian variety.
I think at the core most schools of faith are teaching people to be righteous. And there is much overlap in them all.
I mean, after all, as complex as man and human life are, it’s a pretty simple concept.
If you want a good life, seek to help others. Seek to be of value. Seek to give. Seek to love. Etc., and forever.
But I love this conversation about faith and surrender because to consider it is to figure out what our end of the equation actually is.
And to not waste our time and energy in fruitless ego-based pursuits which garner nothing but misery and wasted effort.
And to conversely, invest our energy in the direction which brings about the most fruit for others and ourselves as they are ultimately inextricably linked.
“But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.” Matthew 6
We are to seek first the father or the kingdom of God. And else will be added on.
But what does that mean?
I think it means we are to acknowledge that our ego is the source of nothing. Our power does not reside in our flesh or our earthly identity at all.
And that each day we are to surrender again to the source of all things and submit our will to him. And then through him allow our action to be guided and made righteous.
I was having a conversation with a spiritual teacher who was talking about inroads to happiness.
I said happiness doesn’t interest me as much as peace does.
He then equated peace with sitting around and doing nothing and just kind of zoning out in some form of bliss.
I got defensive and said nothing could be further from the truth.
It is only from the foundation of peace that any actual work can be done at all.
Think about it.
When you are mired in drama or in high conflict relationships, with your mind scattered in a multitude of directions by gossip and nonsense, fragmented by gaslighting and cognitive dissonance,
What kind of work are you actually getting done?
I can answer it for you.
No kind of work at all. The Devil has you neutered in his clutches, scattered into an alcoholic haze, trapped in another dramatic maze.
3
The works of faith.
Faith without works is dead. So are works without faith.
What our faith allows is independence.
Is mental health to the degree that we don’t get bamboozled by demonic entanglements.
If we are seeking the father, if we are abiding in him, we bear much fruit.
Because if we are abiding in him, that means we are liberated into the foundation of peace.
And from that foundation, we can hear our true calling.
And from that infinite space, the working of our soul will expand out of us through the engine of our faith.
We will be active (perhaps more active than ever), but it won’t be wasted action of the sloppy ego’s ideas rooted in fear or envy.
But rather fruitful labor as part of a greater mechanism, like fruit attached to an infinite vine.
Faith without works is dead.
But faith naturally extends into working as the space that is created by a life void of sin and drama is so pregnant with possibility and potential.
That work will simply happen through you as evidence of your surrender.
The engine of it will be beyond you. It won’t feel like effort, even as much effort is being applied.
But rather the shifting organism of all life imposing its dream on you rather than the other way around.
4
If I had to pinpoint specifically what I like about Christianity beyond all other religions,
It’s in the realm of surrender.
It’s in the acknowledgment that of ourselves we can do nothing.
It’s in this seemingly contradictory space of surrender and works.
What’s exciting about it is it is in this exact space that God is taking root within us and working through us.
Indeed, we must show up.
We need to set our alarms. We need to sit in silence upon first waking up. We need to direct our attention again and again to surrender.
And then move in accordance to his will, as it takes flight on wings we never knew we had.
5
Walk by faith, not by sight.
2 Corinthians 7: For we walk by faith, not by sight. 8 We are confident, yes, well pleased rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord.
Absent from the body, or the earthly realm dedicated to what can be seen,
pleased rather to be with the Lord, or the realm of the imagination, in what we aim to create still unseen in the outer realms, or what could be captured by the light and reflected in the human eye.
We walk by faith, not by sight.
This helps us to then be dedicated in full to what requires faith, a dream perhaps that is outside of “reasonable” (which all the best dreams are).
So, then it becomes a dedication to faith, which pushes us forward into boldly believing and living for our purpose to serve humanity in the realm of creative and fulfilling work.
To walk by faith is to walk in gratitude. To walk in gratitude is to walk in the field of his absolute blessing. To live in that field is to tend to that garden, as the roses of his intention bloom through your life.
We walk by faith, and not by sight.
Consider this a version of aligning our imagination with God’s will, or to view our imagination as a pillar of God’s power within.
For as he thinks in his heart, so is he. “Eat and drink!” he says to you, but his heart is not with you.” ~ Proverbs 23:7 NKJV
Addressing the calculating and stingy man (or the one rooted in fear),
Christians will call doctrines of manifestation aspects of the new age and demonic.
Yet, it’s biblical and repetitive in the Christian faith.
The power of God being rooted in our imagination, to walk by faith and not by sight, or not by physical sight, as faith is a kind of spiritual sight. The eyes of the imagination opening to the life we hope to become.
And as a man thinks, so he is.
Hold captive every thought,
and pray ceaselessly.
Are all biblical ways of understanding the principles of manifestation,
or the human imagination as the springboard for God’s creation within.
6 do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
Philippians 4:6–7 (ESV)
“What we have here is failure to communicate.” -Cool Hand Luke
Do not be anxious about anything (faith),
but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God (gratitude and surrender and engaging the imagination).
And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. (The feeling of the wish fulfilled, or the peace of knowing it’s taken care of,
And to be guarded in our hearts and minds in Christ is to access the divine nature we have within,
Or our brotherhood in Christ, our unification with him.
We are far beyond our human and animal form.
We are also imagination, or the spring of all creation.
