Faith is Action, Not Words

True faith, without which no one can please God, is not static. It acts upon what it believes. When we act upon God’s Word, it gives evidence of our faith. We act because we trust in who God is and what He says. This sends a message to people around us that we mean what we say when we tell them that we love God. This lifestyle of trusting God shapes our witness to those around us. Faith is not just saying that we trust God, it is proving it by the way we live! It is seen not just heard.

In the context of Hebrews, there were Jewish believers who were being enticed by unbelieving Jews and tough times to go back to Judaism. It was not popular to be a believer in Christ but it was acceptable to be a Jew. They actually wanted to walk back into the shadow of fleshly works and leave the substance of true life—Jesus Christ. 

But the author of Hebrews, under the leadership of the Holy Spirit, was resilient in seeking to refocus them on Christ. In chapter 11, he is reminding them of the examples of those who trusted God in far worse times in their own ancient history. Hard times are not unique to those who love God. Faith is the most compelling when it is seen in the way we trust God in those hard times! When it came to trusting God, these believing Jews had no excuse to plead ignorance. They had in their own ancient history all the evidence that they would ever need to understand how to walk by faith. 

Hebrews 11 talks about those who acted on very little information and those who acted on a lot of information but who had all trusted God at any cost. Their walk matched their talk. The examples of living by faith that are mentioned even predate Israel and go back to the very creation of the first family on earth.  In vs. 4-7, he is going to mention three ancient men who lived before the flood and yet demonstrate authentic faith. Abel trusted God in his worship; Enoch trusted God in his walk; Noah trusted God in his witness.

Abel, of course, was the second son of the first family Adam and Eve. His is a sad story because he brought an acceptable sacrifice to God when his older brother Cain did not. As a result, he paid the ultimate price and was murdered by his brother Cain. But, we see in him that no one can approach God except through the acceptable sacrifice that God requires. Aren’t you glad today that our acceptable sacrifice was the Lord Jesus, whose shed blood does not just cover our sin but remits it instead of a slain animal?

Hebrews 9:22 says, “Not through the blood of goats and calves, but through His own blood, He entered the holy place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption.” Aren’t you glad that His once for all sacrifice for us on the cross has opened the door forever for us who have received Him into our hearts to worship Him?  Hebrews 10:20 says, “By a new and living way which He inaugurated for us through the veil, that is, His flesh.” Unlike Abel, who, because of the sin of Adam passed down to all mankind, had to continually offer a blood sacrifice as a substitute for what he deserved in order to worship God. Christ, the God-Man, the promised Messiah, the Good Seed promised to Abraham, died for us in our place and has set us free from the barrier of sin forever!

Only those who have received Him can freely worship through Him. The sacrifice that is now required of us is our bodies, daily surrendered to Him, as Paul says in Romans 12:1, “Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship.” So, our faith is seen in the fact that we believe that Christ died for us and we live worshipping Him by surrendering to Him and to His Word. Our faith is seen in the way we live. 

The state of Missouri prints its motto on every vehicle license plate: “The Show-Me State.” I researched the origin of that slogan, and most sources believe it came from a U.S. congressman who served from 1897 – 1903. He served on the Committee of Naval Affairs and made a statement at a naval banquet in Philadelphia in 1899 which said “I come from a state that raises corn and cotton and cockleburs and Democrats, and frothy eloquence neither convinces nor satisfies me. I am from Missouri. You have got to show me.” Regardless of your politics the thought is the key: “Don’t just smooth talk me with pretty words; show me.” That’s the way True Faith is; it shows you! So, way before the flood, Abel demonstrated faith in his worship.

Continuing in verses 5-6 of Hebrews 11, we read how Enoch demonstrated faith in his walk. “By faith Enoch was taken up so that he would not see death; and he was not found because God took him up; for he obtained the witness that before his being taken up he was pleasing to God” (v. 5). This Enoch is not the one who is the son of Cain spoken of in Genesis 4:17. The Enoch that we are talking about in Hebrews was the son of Jared. He was born of the godly seed of Seth. “Jared lived one hundred and sixty-two years, and became the father of Enoch” (Gen. 5:18). We read on to discover that “Enoch walked with God; and he was not, for God took him” (Gen. 5:24). 

The basic fact about Enoch is that he simply lived a life day by day fully trusting in God. Then one day (after living a mere 365 years!), Enoch’s wife and family looked for him and he was gone. He was simply taken by God without physically dying. Enoch was the first to be taken from this world in this way, but he would certainly not be the last. The prophet Elijah would escape experiencing death as well.

The question is “what was it about Enoch’s life that so pleased God that God rewarded him in not having to taste death?” The author of Hebrews says “for he obtained the witness that before his being taken up he was pleasing to God.” It had to be seen in his life in order for it to be a witness. Enoch must have walked with God in such a way that told those who came in contact with him that God was his Master, Lord, and Savior—that he relied on the Lord for everything and gave Him all the glory. Faith was seen in Abel’s worship, and showed forth in Enoch’s walk.

We also see how faith was demonstrated in Noah’s witness. “By faith Noah, being warned by God about things not yet seen, in reverence prepared an ark for the salvation of his household, by which he condemned the world, and became an heir of the righteousness which is according to faith” (v. 7).

The first thing that we notice is that Noah was warned by God about an impending doom that had no visible warning. In Scripture, when judgment is spoken of, it has to do with sin. We learn from the Genesis account in 6:1-9 that the people of the world in Noah’s day had become so hardened of heart that God was left out of their vocabulary. We see that it wasn’t just man’s actions that caused this judgment, but it was his heart that God was about to judge. “Every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time” (Gen. 6:5).

In the midst of this wicked time God had His man who Trusted Him. “These are the records of the generations of Noah. Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his time; Noah walked with God” (Gen. 6:9). We gather from this that Noah’s righteousness wasn’t just determined by the fact that he built the ark, but it was his trusting God’s Word so much that he would do what God asked him to do even though he didn’t fully understand it. Noah’s life was a witness for God. 

The only way God could have considered Noah righteous was because he had already been trusting God by faith. What made Noah stand out from the rest of the world was his desire to please God and walk by faith when no one else would—even before God told him to build an ark.  “Then the Lord said to Noah, ‘Enter the ark, you and all your household, for you alone I have seen to be righteous before Me in this time’” (Gen. 7:1). 

What causes us to stand out in this generation? It is only when we live by faith, seek God, and desire to please Him, that He reveals His will to us. Otherwise it’s only trial and error. God revealed His will to Noah: build a boat! God also revealed what the boat was for: He was going to judge the earth by a flood. This was an amazing thing, because up to this point in human history, there were no such things as floods because there was no such thing as rain (cf. Gen 2:4-6). Rain is never spoken of in Scripture until Noah. So, for Noah, trusting God that it was going to rain (and to such a degree that it would cover the earth, destroying all life on land) would have been an overwhelming thing!

But Noah, by faith, did what God told him to do! This is what faith does. What is the “ark” that God has told you to build that nobody around you understands? Remember that God only reveals His will to those who are seeking to walk with Him by Faith! Faith must first trust the God of the Word before it obeys the Word of God. Noah fully believed that God would do exactly what He said He would do.

It’s no different for you and me in Christ. We are considered righteous by faith in Christ and, as such, are saved from the penalty and power of sin. Christ in us provides the means for us to walk with Him through His Word by faith. Faith looks to God and builds the ark, whether we fully understand every aspect about it or not. God gives us the patience to endure until His plan is worked out in our lives—it took Noah at least 100 years to finish the ark.   

Peter tells us, “[God] did not spare the ancient world, but preserved Noah, a preacher of righteousness, with seven others, when He brought a flood upon the world of the ungodly” (2 Pet. 2:5). The Word “preacher” means a “herald” which is “one who proclaims; who announces something; who declares it publically.” In what sense was Noah a preacher of righteousness? Noah warned the people of the coming judgment of God not only by his preaching but by the life he lived surrendered to God in a time when people laughed at God. This was a sermon of reproof in itself. When we live a life surrendered to God and to His Word, we become a sermon to those around us and a witness of God’s judgment to come just by the way in which we live.

So, we see Faith demonstrated by Abel in his worship—He came to God through the sacrifice that God required. Faith is demonstrated by Enoch in his walk—even death could not deter him. And faith is demonstrated by Noah in his witness—he preached not only in what he said but in how he lived before a lost generation. How is faith seen in your life?

Wayne Barber is senior pastor of Hoffmantown Church in Albuquerque, New Mexico.