"By faith the
walls...fell down..."
Faith and obedience are
intricately linked. Many people say they have faith, but have no obedience.
That's hard to swallow because faith says "I see the Invisible God and
know who He is..." and one who sees Him cannot then say obedience doesn't
matter. IF faith has seen God, the struggle to obey comes natural. (NOTE: I'm
readily confessing obedience IS a constant struggle.)
James said, "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." (James 2:18 KJV)
James didn't invent that.
The Holy Spirit opened that to James, but many already knew it.
Look at the
Cliffs-Notes-Hebrews-style account of works displaying faith...
"By faith the walls
of Jericho fell down after they had been encircled for seven days."
(Hebrews 11:30 ESV) To get the whole story, read Joshua 6.
Israel saw the living God
by faith and responded to Him by obedience.
Jesus said, "You
will know them by their fruits. Grapes are not gathered from thorn bushes nor
figs from thistles, are they?" (Matthew 7:16 NASB) King Solomon said,
"Even children are known by the way they act, whether their conduct is
pure, and whether it is right." (Proverbs 20:11 NLT)
Our actions prove (a) who
we really are and (b) who we really believe in. When the eye of faith has seen
the mighty hand of God, the life of obedience ensues.
By faith the walls fell
down. Yes, God did it, and He did it in conjunction with obeying people. Did
God need to work with Israel? Does God need to work with His church today? No
and no. God wants to reveal Himself and have us respond to Him. That's
relationship.
What does your faith make
you do? Have you seen the Living God? How are you responding?
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