Actions That Correspond With Faith

The actions of a doer of the Word coincide with his confession.
One of the greatest mistakes many believers make is to confess their faith in the Word of God and at the same time contradict their confession by wrong actions. We say that we are trusting God to provide for our financial needs, but at the same time we are worrying about how we're going to pay our bills. There is no corresponding action there. One minute we confess that the Word of God is true, and the very next moment we repudiate everything we say by wrong actions. Our actions have to correspond with our believing if we are to receive from God.

James 2:14-22
14 What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works? can faith save him?15 If a brother or sister be naked, and destitute of daily food, 16 And one of you say unto them, Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled; notwithstanding ye give them not those things which are needful to the body; what doth it profit? 17 Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone. 18 Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works. 19 Thou believest that there is but one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble. 20 But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead? 21 Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar? 22 Seest thou how faith wrought with his works, and by works was faith made perfect.
Weymouth's translation of verses 14 and 22 reads, "What good is it my brethren, if a man professes to have faith and yet his actions do not correspond? ... You notice that his faith was cooperating with his actions, and by his actions his faith was perfected."



James is Writing To Christians!
Some have thought that the Book of James is written about salvation. However, James was not writing to the unsaved, but to believers. He said, "What doth it profit, my brethren ..." He was writing to his brothers and sisters in Christ, pointing out that faith without corresponding actions won't work for them, even though they are believers.
James also said, (James 1:22). Another translation reads, "... deluding your own selves." There are many self-deluded people who blame their problems on the devil or on some individual when really they have deluded themselves. This is because they are not doers of the Word. The actions of a doer of the Word coincide with his confession.


To Trust in the Lord is To Trust in His Word
The way to make God's Word your own is to act upon it. Do what it says. "Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding" (Proverbs 3:5). The only way to trust in the Lord is to trust His Word. You cannot trust in the Lord without trusting His Word. God and His Word are one just as you and your word are one. If your word is not good, then you are not good. If God's Word isn't any good, then He isn't any good. But His Word is good and He watches over His Word.
"Then said the Lord unto me, Thou hast well seen: for I will hasten my word to perform it" (Jeremiah 1:12). Another version reads, "I watch over my word to perform it." If you don't take the Word to be yours, He doesn't have anything to make good in your life. He wants to make it good in your life. He wants you to have what His Word promises. But if you don't act upon His Word, then He doesn't have anything to make good in your life.
When I trust in the Word with all of my heart and stop leaning upon human reasoning and stop looking to people for deliverance, then I have actions that correspond with my faith. My actions are in perfect fellowship with my confession of faith. It has taken some of us a long time to learn this; and it will take others longer because they have been walking in the wrong pathway. Their minds are so cluttered with human reasoning that it will take awhile to renew their minds with the Word of God so they will have actions that correspond with their confession of faith.

Live Well,
Bernard



Reference: Corresponding Actions - Kenneth E. Hagin