Command 11 : Be Perfect | Day 76

Be Perfect in Your Faith!

No one will be completely successful in life without faith. By faith, great works are achieved for God, and “without faith it is impossible to please him” (Hebrews 11:6). By faith, Noah built the ark. By faith, Moses refused the treasures of Egypt, choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God and esteeming the riches of Christ more valuable than all the wealth of Egypt. (See Hebrews 11:24-29.)

There are different levels of faith. Scripture speaks of "little faith," "increased" faith, and "great faith" (see Matthew 6:30, Luke 17:5, and Matthew 8:10). Faith grows by the Word and is perfected by being tested and put into action; faith without works is dead.

The testing of our faith produces patience. "But let patience have her perfect [teleios] work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting [lacking] nothing” (James 1:4).

What is the perfecting work of faith and patience? God describes the process. We are justified by faith, and by faith we have access to God's grace wherein we stand, and we “glory in tribulations also, knowing that tribulation worketh patience; and patience, experience; and experience hope: and hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost ...” (Romans 5:3-5).

“Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word [rhema] of God" (Romans 10:17). A rhema is a verse or portion of Scripture that the Holy Spirit brings to our attention with application to a current situation or need for direction.

Faith is perfected by works that are motivated by the rhemas of Scripture.

One Sunday morning, I was sitting in church listening to a speaker tell about the need to give Bibles to schoolchildren. These words of Scripture clearly came to my mind: “Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: for where your treasure is, there will your heart be also” (Matthew 6:19-21).

It was then that I surrendered my bank account to the Lord. As I gave it all away, I did not want more money in return; I wanted more faith. I knew that with faith I could obtain whatever I needed to carry out God's works. The results were not immediate. That is where patience must have her perfecting work. However, in retrospect, the whole IBLP ministry is the reward of that little faith!

When God gives a rhema for us to act upon, He often confirms it by a second rhema, that “in the mouth of two or three witnesses shall every word [rhema] be established” (II Corinthians 13:1). What rhemas has God given to you that He wants you to take action on, so that your faith may be perfected through works and patience?