You believe that God is one; you do well. The demons also believe-and they shudder. James 2:19 HCSB
Today I want to talk about different kinds of faith. Hebrews 11 is known as the Hall of Faith. Hebrews 11:1 defines faith as the reality of what is hoped for and the proof of what is not seen. We are told in Hebrews 11:6 that without faith it is impossible to please God. But we should be aware that all faith is not equal. You see, there is faith that will not save you and there is saving faith or faith that leads to salvation and shows the results of our salvation.
Warren Wiersbe also said there are three kinds of faith-crisis faith, confident faith and confirmed faith. Crisis faith is when we turn to God in times of crisis. Often times someone uses God as their 911 and when the problem is resolved they go on as they had before. But confident faith is when we pray about our crisis and we trust God to do what is best. We give it over to Him and we let go and let God handle it. Crisis faith may also stop right there because sometimes we pray and then we try to fix it ourselves and never truly give it over to God.
Confident faith gives us peace. Romans 8:28 tells us that even in the worst of times, God can work things out for the good of those who love Him and are called according to His purpose or those who want God’s will to be done and are willing to do the work He has called them to do to help make this happen.
Confident faith produces confirmed faith. Confirmed faith means that we trust in God and it shows. This type of faith is accompanied by actions that demonstrate our faith. We do good works because we want to serve the Lord. We trust in Him and we serve Him and in doing so provide a witness to others.
In our Scripture passage about faith, James is talking about faith that produces good works. Understand that it’s not the other way around. Our good works don’t necessarily produce faith. We can’t think because we are a good person and we do good things and have a good character that we will automatically go to heaven. We must have faith in God. We must trust in Him and have a relationship with Him. When we do this, it produces good works. We want to tell others about the great thing God is doing in our lives. We want others to experience the peace and joy that we have received through salvation.
In Luke 4:34, Jesus is driving an unclean spirit out of a man in the Synagogue at Capernaum. This spirit says to Jesus, “Let us alone! What have we to do with You, Jesus of Nazareth? Did you come to destroy us? I know who You are-the Holy One of God.” Here we see that the demon knows exactly who Jesus is. He knows that Jesus is the Messiah, the Holy One of God. He also understands that Jesus has the power to destroy him.
So, in our Scripture passage James points out that the demons believe in Jesus and they shudder. But they don’t have that saving faith that produces good works. When we are truly saved, we no longer want to sin. We no longer put ourselves first. We put others ahead of ourselves. We want to say and do the things that please God.
Many of us run to God because of a crisis. It’s what we do afterward that determines whether our crisis faith will lead to confident faith and confirmed faith. Confirmed faith is what saves us. Do you have confirmed or saving faith? If not, turn to Him. Trust in Him. Ask Him to send the Holy Spirit to fill your heart. Stay in close relationship with Him through daily prayer and Bible study. He will be glad to provide saving faith if you will simply ask and receive it.
Have a great day!