THE WORKS OF FAITH. Part 3

In previous editions, we have reconsidered our understanding of what constitutes faith. We have seen from the Scripture how there is no faith if there is no corresponding deed. We have realized that faith is not just in the hearing of the truth but in the hearing and doing of the truth. We have seen that every faith has its corresponding action without which that faith is dead or non-existent.

Nevertheless, there are some who espouse the belief that a believer’s actions/deeds does not constitute his life but rather it is his professed beliefs that do constitute his life. Whether consciously or not, these people think that what a person believes is what he merely agrees with to be true. Believing, therefore, is reduced into a mental exercise by many; making a man’s life a constitution of what he mentally and verbally agrees with to be true. There are some who also argue that this believing is not just mental but one of the heart. They say a man’s life does not consist of what he does but of what he believes in his heart to be true. Now, not only is that implausible, but also, it is self-contradictory. So let’s examine the position of the scriptures on the matter.
                                                                               Download the PDF

THE WORKS OF FAITH. Part 2

In the previous publication, we have considered the works of faith. We have examined faith and seen how there is no faith if there is no deed. We realized that faith is not just in the hearing of the truth but in the hearing and doing of the truth. This is not supposed to be new to the believer; especially one who has been taught faith before. Generally the teachings of faith as we have them in the Church today are centered on the use of faith for material gain; health and wealth. I must state categorically that there is nothing wrong with this- especially when it is taught and understood properly. After all we need health and wealth to function at our prime for God in this world. If you are sick, how do you work and produce your best? And if you don’t have the means, how do you demonstrate your love for your neighbour?
                                                                              Download the PDF

THE WORKS OF FAITH. Part 1

According to the wisdom of the Scriptures, there are many things that the believer is by faith. The believer is born again by faith. He is righteous by faith. He is holy by faith. He is forgiven by faith. He is healed by faith, and so on and so forth. In fact everything is by faith. Such that if we misunderstand faith then we misunderstand everything.

My desire is that we rethink faith. My desire is that we re-examine our understanding of
faith. Why? Because a lot of what we believe about ourselves as Christians is hinged on our understanding of faith. Everything that we are and will ever be is by faith. This means if we misunderstand what faith is then we are likely to confuse many of the things in the scriptures about the Lord and the believer. However if we understand what faith is then we understand what is written about the Lord and the believer’s relationship with him.

                                                                                                    Download the PDF

FAITH? OR WHAT?

If ye know these things, happy are ye if ye do them. (John 13:17)

But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed. (James 1:25) 

The focus of this volume is to discuss why the concept of obeying the word of God seems to be unfamiliar and unpopular with the believer today. It is to draw attention to the fact that the believer seems to have mentally segregated the Word into two parts: the part which must be aspired to and the part which is impossible to do. Consequently, many believers exercise ‘faith’ in relation to their material prosperity, healing and deliverance from demonic influence, job prospects and the like. In this duplicitousness, the believer’s attempts to extort gain from the Lord are proverbially referred to as acts of faith. So to such, the exercise of faith and the application of spiritual laws such as confession of one’s faith or the making of faith declarations are seen as means to gain material from the Lord and not necessarily to obey His word.
                                                                                       Download the PDF

HOW TO KNOW THE TRUTH

If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether
it be of God, or whether I speak of myself. (John 7:17)

One of the things that have become increasingly difficult to know in the body of Christ is what the truth is. We are now in a time in the Church when so many ‘truths’ are being taught. While some of these messages seem to be opposing, it is also not uncommon to meet two people espousing divergent opinions who can both comfortably quote not less than two verses to support their opinions, not caring whether they are rightly interpreted or not. Consequently, a new trend is developing where believers are now choosing to believe ‘truths’ not as a result of their proper scriptural merit but as a result of the influence of or a sentimental attachment to the professor of the ‘truth’. But this is wrong because such a posture separates the believer from the Scriptures and therefore his knowledge of the Lord is not a personal one but only secondhand. This is because teachings which the believer cannot confirm through the Scriptures and therefore from the Lord do not point the believer to the Lord but to the one who taught. In such a case, the believer’s faith or confidence does not rest in the power of God but in the wisdom of the one who preached.
                                                                                        Download the PDF