Faith at work
28 And when He had come into the house, the blind men came to Him. And Jesus said to them, “Do you believe that I am able to do this?”
They said to Him, “Yes, Lord.”
29 Then He touched their eyes, saying, “According to your faith let it be to you.”
In verse 28, ‘do you believe that I am able to do this?’ As if asking if they have faith in Him. This is the reason they get healed.
Then they said to Him, “What shall we do, that we may work the works of God?” 29 Jesus answered and said to them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent.”
Bringing back the question⸺ are justified by grace or by works?
We are justified by faith. Jesus did the work for us. He lived a perfect life and became the ultimate sacrifice for all those who believe.
Jesus says these words while hanging on the cross and looking up to heaven, in John 17:4 NKJV
I have glorified You on the earth. I have finished the work which You have given Me to do.
We are the finished work of God through Jesus. And in faith do we stand, and shall share in the authority of Sons of God.
Where works fail?
At some instance (Mathew 17:14-20) when the disciples failed to cast out a demon out of a boy. And when they asked Jesus why they failed, ‘He says because they lacked faith!’
He replied, “Because you have so little faith. Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move.Nothing will be impossible for you.”
So many among us try to prove their salvation by works are on the right path but can easily misunderstand a simple concept; works are fruits we yield by the Holy Spirit not by our own bodies. In other words, if the works come from a carnal mind or our own flesh and are not initiated by the Spirit, there is a problem.
This misunderstanding has been due to wrong doctrine trending within religious people and polluted teachers. Trying to make you look guilty for not living a holy life. No one can be holy but we can now be righteous through Christ. He is our righteousness.
Call to action
Am I saying we should only believe and not repent from sin?
No.
There is a thin line between; light and darkness, divination and prophecy, a shadow and the actual body. The Bible is a whole meal, and if I give you bits without putting into consideration the other remainders. Am only doing you a disservice. So I developed a whole ‘Grace Series’ to explain this subject. Read every article under this category because I have solved the whole puzzle on this topic, ‘grace.’
True righteousness
Faith in Jesus is what makes you righteous, not your works. To those who think they are righteous by themselves: can you go a whole day without sinning?
If not in doing, how many evil thoughts come to your mind on a daily basis? Jesus said this while preaching in Matthew 5:28 AMP
but I say to you that everyone who [so much as] looks at a woman with lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.
Who then is righteous?
Let’s not be fooled by scary looks or tough voices by these boastful preachers but consider the truth in our hearts.
Jesus tells His disciples, they couldn’t cast out the demon because of their ‘lack of faith?’ Wasn’t this a little rude? He actually calls them: ‘a wicked and perverse generation.’ What was perverted about the disciples?
What is so perverted about modern day religion?
Trying to prove faith by our works. The disciples are termed so because they felt they could do it by themselves. Trying to do it by yourself without the Spirit of God. The disciples failed anyways as many people’s faith fails nowadays.
They are trying to stand independent of God yet God functions where we are dependent on Him. Many religious preachers go on to call out your sins( which is good) but going on to guilt trip people, manipulate and point fingers is absolute ungodly behaviour. These religious leaders may go on and shame you for sinning, sometimes even calling you out publicly. Is this the way of God?
You who preach holiness, do you not sin?
When these very religious leaders are caught in wrong doing are very defensive and may even
retaliate violently!
If you have been here or witnessed such in your church. Look for the exit now.
When we try to force work by ourselves, without Him, we are only wearing ourselves out. Has He not called you to be His people and Him our God? It’s a relationship He wants.
Jesus went on to tell them, ‘this kind goes out by fasting and prayer’⸺He didn’t mean the demon!
He was talking about the carnality, their lack of faith. Wanting to do it by themselves and not by His Spirit, as many of us here.
You want to show people how good or holy we are yet your heart is very far from the truth. Don’t you know that God looks at the heart not on the outside?
You are trying to take out a speck from a friend’s eye while yours has a stick? Mathew 7:3-5
3 “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? 4 How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye?5 You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.
The Parable of the Pharisee/ Tax collector
If you read the story in those verses you will realise the Pharisee who thought himself was left unjustified but the tax collector who knew himself guilty, was justified.
That shows you what it looks like to think yourself righteous by your works and not by God through His Spirit.
I am not saying we should only believe without repentance.
The fruits of repentance
Repenting is necessary for all who consider themselves part of the kingdom of God. Jesus’ first theme straight out of the wilderness was on repentance and the very same theme was what John the Baptist preached on during his baptisms.
Repentance is an act of faith—it shows that you are willing to let go of your old ways and follow Christ because you trust in Him. Then works will follow in due time as you grow in faith.
Some may ask: if we are justified(saved) by faith, what then is the use of works?
Works are fruits a Christian manifests that proves that indeed their faith is alive. Mathew 7:16-20
You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles? 17 Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. 18 A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. 19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.20 Therefore by their fruits you will know them.
Works are the fruit of the Holy Spirit within you. It’s not something we should force but flows freely from within us.
Let us delve a little more into what Paul was trying to means by faith alone is enough. (Read more here…)
And here is more detailed analysis into the difference between the law from grace…
