Three Faiths

Everybody has faith in all sorts of things. For example: faith that their boss will pay them at the end of the week or month. You all have faith in the chair that you’re sitting on. These are common examples of things we put faith in during our everyday life.

When it comes to God people have very different views about faith.

Faith is a key doctrine in the Christian life. It is not some mysterious, fantasy or feeling that we work up: Faith is confidence that God’s Word is true and a conviction that Word will bring His blessing on our lives.

So what kind of faith saves a person?

In the Book of James we find that there are THREE kinds of faith.

1. Dead Faith

Jesus warned in Matthew 7:21 CEV Not everyone who calls me their Lord will get into the kingdom of heaven. Only the ones who obey my Father in heaven will get in.

People with dead faith know all the correct vocabulary to use in church, they can even quote the right verses from the Bible and sound good when they're praying. They think that words are as good as works, that right language is the same as right living. They are wrong!

Luke 10:30-37 AUV-NT

(30) Jesus said, “A certain man was traveling down from Jerusalem to Jericho [Note: This was a town about eighteen miles northeast of Jerusalem], when he was attacked by robbers, who mugged him then went away leaving him half dead.

(31) And it just happened that a certain priest was traveling down that [same] road, and when he saw the [injured] man, he went around him, on the opposite side of the road.

(32) In the same way, a Levite [Note>: Levites were assistants to the priests], when coming to that place and seeing the [injured] man, also went around him on the opposite side [of the road].

(33) But [then] a certain Samaritan [Note: This was a person despised by the Jews and regarded by them as a ‘half-breed’], as he traveled along, came to where the [injured] man was [lying], and upon seeing him [lying there], felt deep pity [for him].

(34) So, he went over to him, poured oil and wine on him [i.e. as emergency medical treatment], then bandaged his wounds, placed him on his own animal, and took him to a lodge where he took care of him.

(35) Then the next day he gave the lodge keeper two coins [Note: These coins amounted to two days of a farm laborer’s pay, or about £90 in 1994] and told him, ‘Take care of this [injured] man; and whatever more you have to spend on him I will repay you when I come back [this way] again.’

(36) [Now] which of these three men do you think acted like a neighbor to the man attacked by the robbers?”

(37) And the teacher of the law of Moses said, “The person who showed pity on him.” Then Jesus replied, “You go and do the same thing.”

Becoming a Christian will change the way you think, talk and live your life. It may take time with some things, but the changes will start as soon as you open up your life to Jesus.

Jam 2:17 MSG (17) Isn't it obvious that God-talk without God-acts is outrageous nonsense?

Jam 2:17 CEV (17) Faith that doesn't lead us to do good deeds is all alone and dead!

Any declaration of faith that does not result in a changed life and good works is a false declaration. That kind of faith is a DEAD FAITH.

A person with dead faith only has an intellectual experience that is all talk and no action. He knows the truthful teaching about Salvation, but he has never actually trusted Jesus Christ personally for Salvation. Faith in Christ brings life, and where there is life there is growth and fruit.

Dead faith is counterfeit faith and lulls people into a false confidence of eternal life.

2. Demonic Faith

It may come as a shock to you, but Demons have faith. What do they believe?

  • They believe in the existence of God.
  • They believe in the deity of Jesus Christ, whenever they met Christ when He was on earth they bore witness to His Sonship.
  • They believe in the existence of a place of punishment.
  • They also recognise the authority of Jesus Christ as the Judge.
  • They submit to Jesus authority.

These points are shown very clearly in the account about a demon possessed man Jesus met one day in Mark 5:1-13 ESV

(1) They came to the other side of the sea, to the country of the Gerasenes.

(2) And when Jesus had stepped out of the boat, immediately there met him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit.

(3) He lived among the tombs. And no one could bind him anymore, not even with a chain,

(4) for he had often been bound with shackles and chains, but he wrenched the chains apart, and he broke the shackles in pieces. No one had the strength to subdue him.

(5) Night and day among the tombs and on the mountains he was always crying out and bruising himself with stones.

(6) And when he saw Jesus from afar, he ran and fell down before him.

(7) And crying out with a loud voice, he said, "What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I adjure you by God, do not torment me."

(8) For he was saying to him, "Come out of the man, you unclean spirit!"

(9) And Jesus asked him, "What is your name?" He replied, "My name is Legion, for we are many."

(10) And he begged him earnestly not to send them out of the country.

(11) Now a great herd of pigs was feeding there on the hillside,

(12) and they begged him, saying, "Send us to the pigs; let us enter them."

(13) So he gave them permission. And the unclean spirits came out, and entered the pigs, and the herd, numbering about two thousand, rushed down the steep bank into the sea and were drowned in the sea.

The demons not only believe, but what they believe affects their emotions, they fear and tremble. But it’s not enough to understand with your mind or even be stirred in your emotions, true FAITH involves something more, something that can be seen and recognised: A changed life.

When you trust Christ you are:

Ephesians 2:10 GW God has made us what we are. He has created us in Christ Jesus to live lives filled with good works that he has prepared for us to do.

Another version helps us to get a bigger picture of this truth. Ephesians 2:10 AUV-NT For we [Christians] are the product of God’s workmanship, [re-] created in [fellowship with] Christ Jesus for [the purpose of] doing good deeds. God had previously determined that this should be our practice.

Being a Christian involves trusting Christ and living for Christ: You receive the life then you reveal the life.

This brings us to the best kind of faith.

3. Dynamic Faith

  • Dynamic Faith is faith that is REAL, based in the Word of God.
  • Faith that has POWER, the Power of the Holy Spirit.
  • Faith that has RESULTS, shown by a changed life.

Dynamic faith is based in the Word of God it’s how we receive our spiritual rebirth and become born again James 1:18 AUV-NT It was God’s purpose to bring us into being [spiritually] by the message of truth, so that we could become a kind of “firstfruits” of those He created. Note: “Firstfruits” here suggests either that Christians are the best of all of God’s creatures (Numbers 18:12), or that they were the first to be converted, with many more to come].

Romans 10:17 AUV-NT So, faith results from [people] hearing, and [their] hearing results from [the preaching of] the message about Christ.

Romans 1:16 AUV-NT I am not ashamed of the good news [i.e. the Gospel], because it is God’s power for [bringing] salvation to every person who believes [in Jesus].

Dead faith only touches our intellect.
Demonic faith involves the intellect and the emotions.
Dynamic faith involves the Whole Man.

The Mind understands the truth.
The Heart wants the truth.
The Will acts on the truth.

True saving faith leads to obedience, and this obedience is not an isolated event. It continues and develops throughout our whole lives expressing itself through good works.

That is the life God wants us to live from now on with God’s help and the power of the Holy Spirit in our life. Most of us will screw things up sometimes, but the good news is that when we get right with God, he forgives us and wipes the slate clean and gives us the grace and power to get up and go on living for Jesus.

Maybe while you’ve been sitting reading this you have realized that you have had the wrong sort of faith in your life. Well here is your chance to get a DYNAMIC FAITH in your life.

Maybe, you’ve been a Christian for some time but you have lost something of the Dynamic faith lifestyle and want to renew your faith and get closer to God again.

I suggest you talk to God in this very simple prayer, if you want a Dynamic Faith in God then say these words quietly line by line.

"Dear God, I realize that I have got a lot of things wrong in my life. I ask you to forgive me. Thank you Jesus for dying for MY sins. Please come into my life. Give me a dynamic faith and help me to live for you from now on. Amen."

If you prayed that prayer and really meant it, I want you to CONTACT ME so that you know you have told somebody. Then I can pray for you and send you something to help you continue in this Dynamic Faith Life.

Scripture verses taken from:
AUV-NT: The New Testament: An Understandable Version, copyright 1994 by William E. Paul.
CEV: Contemporary English Version, copyright 1995 by American Bible Society.
MSG: THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language, copyright 2002 by Eugene Peterson. All rights reserved.
ESV: The Holy Bible, English Standard Version, copyright 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers