LIVING WATERS
For the proclamation of the Gospel and the edification of the Body of Christ
Faith, Works and Testimony
If we ask today what are the necessary characteristics for a group of Christians to be called a church, we will find many concepts, but the Lord does not see as man sees. God's eyes and His pleasure are turned towards His Son. We are accepted to God in the Beloved. Where the Son is not, there is no life.
Laodicea was rebuked by the Lord because their riches were that which was worthless, that which was man's and not His. Their concept of wealth was set on vile things. In contrast to Laodicea, Paul writes that the Thessalonians became a model church for the other churches. What did they have? They had works of faith, labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ (1 Thess. 1.3).
The revelation in this verse is very rich, but today we are going to dwell only on the works of faith. We place a lot of value on faith, perhaps because we unconsciously think that it comes from us. And we often think that faith is the way we see the things of God - our opinion - and because of that we get into debates and arguments.
The first thing we need to understand is that faith is the work and completion of a person - the person of Christ in us (Heb. 12.2). Faith comes from Christ (1 Tim. 1.14), and is not a type of man's feeling or understanding, but the expression of the Lord's life in us. This faith does not come from us, because in addition to being a gift of God, it is distributed to each one (Rom. 12.3); it is by grace, according to the measure of the gift of Christ (Eph. 4.7). And something that is distributed by God cannot be of man!
He makes some weak in faith, others strong. The measure of its distribution is according to the measure that a believer is as a member, according to his function in the Body of Christ. God placed each one in the Body as He willed and for each function He apportioned a measure of faith (1 Cor. 12.18-22). A lesser measure does not detract from the member, rather, it has its importance in the Body.
Now, the Lord did not distribute the faith to be an instrument of disputes or arguments, as Paul teaches in Romans chapter 14. God did not distribute the faith to be an instrument of measure for the Christian life, but so that the measure of Christ in each one may be known by the church through His life.
Faith is not to be known or measured by others, it is for the Christian before God (Rom. 14.22). Faith is for God; now, the life, the testimony of the Lord, the works of faith, are for men. No one needs to show the faith that he has, that God sees it and knows it because he distributed it, but if it does not have works, if there is no manifest life of the Lord by this faith, then it is dead.
Then, how can we know the faith of someone, by the emphasis or by the knowledge that he gives of the Scriptures and doctrines? No, by his life, by his testimony, by the works of faith: "You have faith, and I have works: show me your faith without your works, and I will show you my faith by my works" (James 1:18).