The Committed Faith

For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast. (Ephesians 2:8-9)

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. Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble. But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead? Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar? Seest thou how faith wrought with his works, and by works was faith made perfect? And the scripture was fulfilled which saith, Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness: and he was called the Friend of God. Ye see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only. Likewise also was not Rahab the harlot justified by works, when she had received the messengers, and had sent them out another way? For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also. (James 2:18-26)

 Wait a minute, Ephesians 2:8-9 says we are saved by faith and not works, yet James 2:18-26, says "For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also." This sounds like a contradiction! Let's look at some other verses.

And, behold, a woman in the city, which was a sinner, when she knew that Jesus sat at meat in the Pharisee's house, brought an alabaster box of ointment, And stood at his feet behind him weeping, and began to wash his feet with tears, and did wipe them with the hairs of her head, and kissed his feet, and anointed them with the ointment. (Luke 7:37-38)

Jesus in reference to this women says:

And he said to the woman, Thy faith hath saved thee; go in peace. (Luke 7:50)

Similarly:

And he cried, saying, Jesus, thou Son of David, have mercy on me. And they which went before rebuked him, that he should hold his peace: but he cried so much the more, Thou Son of David, have mercy on me. And Jesus stood, and commanded him to be brought unto him: and when he was come near, he asked him, Saying, What wilt thou that I shall do unto thee? And he said, Lord, that I may receive my sight. And Jesus said unto him, Receive thy sight: thy faith hath saved thee. And immediately he received his sight, and followed him, glorifying God: and all the people, when they saw it, gave praise unto God. (Luke 18:38-43)

We see that faith is required to be saved, but it is our action that takes us from believing like the devils mentioned in James 2:19, to a faith that is justified by works or a committed faith, as shown by the examples in James 2:21 to 25, Luke 7:37 to 28 and Luke 18:38 to 43. 


Let me give a personal example of this: before I was saved, I was struggling with a relationship that I had with a Christian woman who had always referred to us as "just friends" for the fifteen years we knew each other. I prayed to the Lord, "Lord, I think that I love her and would like to pursue this relationship further, but Lord whatever You decide I will abide by." A few months later I became a Christian, and immediately after I received Jesus as my Lord and Savior, this prayer came to my mind. Then I heard the Lord's voice say, "Okay!"  The Lord had given me his approval but I still had to act in faith by persuing a further relationship with this woman. So I acted on my faith, and we became boyfriend and girlfriend for two days, got engaged, and four weeks later we were married to the shock of everyone. As well my now wife was also seeing what James said in verse 2:18, "I will shew thee my faith by my works," being played out in my new found life in Jesus.


It is this committed faith that inspires us into action, a faith that grows because we act on it. It is not a faith that believes until hardship comes or fades with time, for that isn't true faith.


When we marry we usually have a faith in our love for one another, but we need to see this faith played out in our marriages by our actions. It is these actions that move our faith closer and closer to a reality.