“And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who draws near to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him.” (Hebrews 11:6 LSB) https://accordance.bible/link/read/LSB#Heb._11:6
Most Christians would claim to have faith but is that true? Is their evidence of such a claim? For most Christians faith means believing in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus for the forgiveness of their sins and for deliverance from this world into His eternal kingdom. Certainly, there is an element of faith that includes this belief. Yet the devil and all his cohort believe these things except for the forgiveness of their evil and their future home with God in His kingdom. The act of faith accompanying this belief is baptism, the public confession of that belief and recognition through the representation of baptism that our sins have been forgiven and our resurrection is certain, just as certain as Jesus rose from the dead. But baptism is not the end of our faith or of deeds that demonstrate faith. Our chapter from which the verse was taken today is example after example of people who then lived out their faith by their deeds of faith. So too the Christian must have regular accompanying deeds of faith if men, angels, and God Himself are to believe that his faith is true. Deeds of faith are those actions we take to build God’s kingdom that go against the nature of things and appear uncertain of outcome unless God intervenes. Beginning with the simple act of faith of reading God’s word and attending His church consistently and regularly, this act of faith of indoctrinating or catechizing ourselves with God’s truth believing by faith that the transformation of our lives into the image of Jesus is the result of such actions. The word of God is the power of God for salvation and transformation into the image of God among men. We demonstrate our faith when we spend time and energy growing in our love for God. Likewise, when we identify with Jesus, particularly when men despise us for it, we demonstrate our faith in God Who promises to protect and keep us both in this life and in the life to come for making Him known in the world as He commanded us when He commanded, we go and make disciples. Our faith is real when we pay a cost for demonstrating it, when men despise us as they also despised Jesus for His claim to be Savior and God. Without faith it is impossible to please God, what are we doing to demonstrate our faith so that we are pleasing God?
