What does it take to have faith? This teaching looks at how having faith in any situation is accomplished by acting on the Word of God. It is not enough just to hear, to mentally assent or to say, “Yes, I know that”. To have faith is to act on the Word. In Romans 10, the Scriptures tell us how to be saved. Even when it comes to the first step that a person takes to become a Christian, the Word of God requires action. A person must first hear the message concerning salvation but after that, each person must “confess” and “believe”, that is, to have faith, each person must act on the promise. In James, we are told that faith without corresponding actions is dead. The example of Abraham shows how faith and works go hand-in-hand. Abraham’s faith was seen in the works that it produced. It was his faith in God that brought him justification but that faith was shown by the works that he did (in this case, his willingness to sacrifice Isaac). We are exhorted in James to be doers of the Word and not hearers only. To have a living and vital faith, we are to act on the Word of God.
Note the actions that are attributed to the believers mentioned in Hebrews 11: “Abel offered”, “Noah prepared an ark”, “Abraham obeyed and went out not knowing whither he went”, “Abraham offered up Isaac”, “Moses refused to be called the son of Pharaoh”, “Moses chose to suffer affliction”, “subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained, stopped the mouths of lion, quenched the violence of fire, out of weakness were made strong, waxed valiant in fight…” Faith is not passive – something that just comes to you. Want to have faith? Act on God’s Word. What action should you take? Whatever applies to your particular situation. God is not going to do what he expects us to do. Don’t we need a word from the Lord? Well, concerning the topic of healing, we already have it – the redemptive work of Jesus Christ allows you to confess wherever and whenever, “By his stripes, I was healed.” His command to preach the gospel to every creature, to cast out devils, to speak in tongues, to lay hands on the sick and they shall recover and to know that nothing shall by any means hurt you are great words to start from. And as we walk out in faith, we can always be sure that God will provide anything else that we might need.