Do we "work" to believe?
This is a cutout from my own testimony of conversion:
I was born in a poor Chinese family in Singapore, and my family religion then was "Buddhism" and "Taoism". I said Buddhism and Taoism because as a family, we worshipped the gods of both religions, and yes, even though there are differences between the two, but to us, all we were coveting are blessings and protection from the deities of both religions. For most part of my life, I was an idolater. That was until something happened to me, that my life took a drastic change. You may read about it in more detail in my full testimony. Anyway, the reason for this post was to address a question from a brother, and the topic would be: "Do we 'do' to believe"? Notice I highlighted the word "persuaded" in my testimony, that is to say, I didn't "do" to believe. In fact, to "do" is to contradict the very meaning of faith.
Ephesians 2:8-9 "For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: 9 Not of works, lest any man should boast."
Paul has made it very clear in this verse. Indeed, we are saved by the grace of God, through our faith in the word of God, and that is to say, the reason why we believe in the word of God has got nothing to do with our works. Our works is not the source of our faith, and works is not the reason why we believe in the word of God. You may have come across people who try to evangelize to you, saying: "All you have to DO is to believe in Jesus Christ, and you shall be saved." This is a little like the keeper of the prison who said to Paul and Silas, in:
Acts 16:30 "And brought them out, and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved?"
Notice Paul and Silas corrected him in the next verse:
Acts 16:31 "And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house."
Is "believe" a work? If believe is work, then Paul would have contradicted himself in Ephesians 2:8-9. But if believe is not work, then what do we mean by "believe"? What is "faith" according to the Bible? Some time ago, I was asked to explain in simple terms what "faith" is according to the Bible.
Matthew 17:20 "And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you."
Here, Jesus compares "faith" to a mustard seed. It was not just the size that he was referring to, but it was also the characteristics of a seed that Jesus ascribes to "faith". Notice also that "faith" is the source of power for the works that follows i.e. one must first have the faith, before he can say to the mountain "remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove". Then we also read in:
Matthew 13:31-32 "Another parable put he forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is like to a grain of mustard seed, which a man took, and sowed in his field: 32 Which indeed is the least of all seeds: but when it is grown, it is the greatest among herbs, and becometh a tree, so that the birds of the air come and lodge in the branches thereof."
Faith has the characteristics of a seed: it started off little, but it has the potential to grow into something great. This goes along with:
Hebrews 11:1 "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen."
Faith has a "substance" according to this verse. It started off in the life of a believer as a "seed". Seed to a believer is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.
Luke 8:11 "Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God."
The original seed (word of God) sown in the good ground of an honest and good heart will, in the process of time, manifest itself as a good tree that will bring forth good fruit. Therefore faith can be liken to a "seed" that came from the original seed (word of God).
1 Peter 1:23 "Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever."
An apple seed will produce an apple tree which in turn will produce more apples and more apple seeds. The genetics of the seed (faith) were faithfully duplicated from the original seed (word of God). We are born again if we believe in the word of God, that is to say, the word of God was sown as a seed in our heart, and the original seed (word of God) has duplicated itself in the course of time, and produced more seeds (faith).
Mark 4:26-27 "¶ And he said, So is the kingdom of God, as if a man should cast seed into the ground; 27 And should sleep, and rise night and day, and the seed should spring and grow up, he knoweth not how."
Faith is as the word of God cast into a good ground as a seed, and the reaction of the seed to the good ground that cause it spring and grow up, and we knoweth not how. The good ground according to Luke 8:15, is "an honest and good heart". An honest and good heart will recognise the truth (word of God) and receive it, even as a good ground will receive the "seed" (word of God), and the seed will spring and grow up, and bring forth fruit. There is no work on the part of man that cause the seed to grow.
Job 14:4 "Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean? not one."
"Christian Perfectionism" was a teaching developed by Charles G. Finney in the 1800s. It teaches that sinful man can achieve a state of perfection in his lifetime. Finney taught that a state of perfection is possible through complete faith, leading to a "second blessing of the Holy Spirit" thereby reaching "Christian perfection". The goal was for Christians to work towards a state of perfect obedience to God's law and loving God and one's neighbours. It is a heresy.
Job 14:14 tells us that there is "not one" man that can bring a clean thing out of an unclean, which is to say, only God can bring a clean thing out of an unclean. BTW, this was the same Charles G. Finney who taught "decisionism" (false OSAS). But how many times have we heard from the pulpit that as a Christian, you must do this, or you must do that in order to prove as evidence that your faith is real?
James 2:26 "For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also."
James compares a faith which is alive to a body which is alive, and contrast it with a faith which is dead to a body which is dead. Faith without works is like a body without spirit. A body which is alive is evidenced by the presence of life, as much as a faith which is alive is evidenced by an activity in the works of faith. It does not mean that we do works in order to keep the faith alive, rather, genuine faith will surely result in works of faith.
In fact, we ought to be careful of teachings which mandate that we must do this or do that to prove that we are saved, because salvation is by grace through faith alone, and never by works of righteousness. Salvation has always been by grace through faith since the beginning, to Noah's time, to Abraham's time, to Moses time, to David's time, to Daniel's time, to Paul's time, and it is still the same now. In the same way, we don't do works to keep our faith alive.
Romans 10:17 "So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God."
A genuine faith is a living faith, and a living faith will by nature produce works of faith. It is the word of God believed in the heart that produces the faith, and the faith that produces the works. You cannot work to produce the faith. Rather, it is the faith that you have in you which produce the works, and that is the thing that every man will be judged upon, according to:
Ecclesiastes 12:13-14 "¶ Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man. 14 For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil."
It is the work which originates from the "faith" (secret thing) in a person that God shall be judging him, and there will be no excuse: "without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him." (Hebrews 11:6)
Galatians 5:22-23 "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, 23 Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law."
Notice the word "fruit" in this passage. Earlier, we have learn that an apple seed will produce an apple tree which in turn will produce more apples and more apple seeds, but the genes will always be faithfully duplicated from one seed to another. The source of faith is the word of God, and the fruit of the Spirit are: love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, and temperance. It need not be compelled, and it cannot be faked.
Luke 3:8 "Bring forth therefore fruits worthy of repentance, and begin not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to our father: for I say unto you, That God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham."
Salvation is always about what the heart does to the word of God. There is a "reaction" of the heart to the word of God when the two meet up face to face. The heart will either receive the word of God with gladness, and the sinner will repent; or it will reject the word of God, and the sinner continues to abide in sin. This is that which is plainly taught in the Parable of the Sower in Matthew 13, Mark 4 and Luke 8. No decision was ever involved, and no works were ever necessary. This is the real "Bible Way to Heaven" and there was not an alternative way prescribed.
John 5:39 "¶ Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me."
The keyword in this verse is "search" and the place to search is the scriptures. If there was ever a "work" that someone with an honest and good heart will do when he first heard the gospel, it would be that he went and search the scriptures for answers. This is his natural response, because he wants to know the truth. He did not compel himself to do it, but it came naturally for him. This is just like king Nebuchadnezzar who dreamed the dream, and it got him all worked up because he wanted to know the truth.
John 8:32 "And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free."
The truth is in the scriptures, and the truth shall make you free. If you a born again believer, it is certain that you didn't work for it, but that the truth has made you free. You certainly didn't "do" to believe. It is the "seed" (word of God) that has worked in your honest and good heart that caused you to produce the "fruits worthy of repentance" (Luke 3:8) i.e. it is the goodness of God that led you to repentance (Romans 2:4).
Acts 26:28 "Then Agrippa said unto Paul, Almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian."
Luke 16:31 "And he said unto him, If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead."
No one can believe in the gospel and repent except they be fully persuaded. Sadly, many modern-day churches today are into songs and music that seems to tug the heart strings. They employ these things in their worship, songs that are filled with words that hardly reflect Bible truths, lyrics that speak of a perverted form of Jesus, and music that seems to soften a person's heart! They even made the congregation cry using worship leaders that knows how to arouse emotions by their voice and words. Then after the worship and the church service, an altar call will be made and people who come up to the altar will be asked to pray a sinner's prayer or perform a set of actions after which they are declared saved and heaven-bound, confirmed by hearty congratulations received from leaders and members of the church. The Devil is that subtle.