But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that comes to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him” (Hebrews 11:6). These are the famous words of the Hebrews writer that reveal the importance of faith. Without faith there is no pleasing God. As Paul said in Romans 1:17, “The just shall live by faith.” However, it must be realized that there are certain degrees of faith and they do not all save. James tells us that even the devils believe and tremble, but who would conclude that they are saved? The faith that saves is an active faith that obeys God. Now, because not all faith saves, we should all strive to be sure that we have the proper kind of faith. In this article, I want to observe a few things that will put our faith to the test.
Difficult Commands
Not all of the commands of God are difficult, but some certainly are. For example, when God commanded Abraham to offer his son Isaac as a sacrifice, that was a hard command. By faith Abraham passed the test. He had the kind of faith that pleases God, i.e., an obedient faith. Now, while we have not, as far as I can see, received any commands as difficult as that, there are some hard commands that we must keep. Consider a couple of them.
1. Loving our enemies – We are commanded to love our husbands, our wives, our children, etc., but that is not very difficult. Loving those who love us back is natural. However, to love our enemies is much more difficult. The concept is not hard to grasp; the hardness is in the application. You see, we must love, not only in word, but in deed (Matthew 5:43,44). A good definition of love is, “to always acts in the best interest of whatever it is that is loved.” Do you do that to your enemies? This is a true test of faith, and whether or not we pass this test is an indicator of whether or not we have truly been converted .
2. Forgiving those who sin against us – The greater the sin, the harder this command is. Yet, we are told everywhere that we must forgive one another, regardless of the extent of our pain. But, when we hold grudges instead, and refuse to forgive, we fail the test of faith.
Severe Trials
Just because we are God’s children does not mean that we will not be touched by trials and tribulations. They will come! How we handle them is another test of our faith (Job 1:6-22). If we give up because of persecution, it is because we do not have the proper kind of faith (Revelation 2:10). Instead of quiting when things get tough in life, we must endure (Hebrews 12:1). We must run the race with patience.
What we are willing to do
What we are willing to do is a result of how much faith we have. If we have saving faith, we will be willing to go the extra mile in our service unto God. It is sad to me to hear Christians who say things like, “I do not attend Bible class because it is not commanded.” Personally, I think Bible class, whether on Sunday morning or sometime during the week, must be attended. I believe that Hebrews 10:25 covers those assemblies as well as Sunday morning worship service. However, for the sake of argument, let us say that they are not commanded. Should we not assemble with the saints whenever possible? A person who says, “I am not going to Bible class because it is not commanded,” is a person who is trying to do as little as possible in serving God, and that says a lot about that person’s faith, or the lack of it. Our attitude should not be let us do as little as we can for God, but rather, let us do as much as we can for God. Worshiping and serving God should be done with hearts of joy and anticipation because of the degree of faith we have in our heavenly Master. Does your faith pass the test?