FAITH

Faith, as defined by scripture, is at Hebrews 11:1

"To have faith is to be sure of the things we hope for, to be certain of the things we cannot see". (The Good News Translation)

"Now faith is assurance of things hoped for, a conviction of things not seen." (The American Standard Version)

"And faith is assuming the validity of hopes, putting unseen things to the test". (The Bible in Living English)

How do we manifest faith in our relationship with Yahweh and His Son, Jesus Christ?

According to James 2:19, simply believing is not enough, for even the demons believe in Yahweh and Jesus, yet that doesn't give them a good relationship with them. Therefore we are told in scripture that faith must have works in order to have real meaning (James 2:14). So, in order to show that we actually have faith, we must show it by our actions (James 2:14-17,24-26). It is reasonable to require we show our faith with action. For example, if your spouse tells you daily that they love you, yet does nothing to show it, would you believe you are loved anyway? Of course not! The same goes with faith: If we don't show our faith in God or Christ, it's the same as not having it at all. How do we show our faith by our actions? There are several different ways this can be accomplished:

One way to manifest our faith is by putting active trust in the power of God and His Son, Jesus Christ (Matthew 9:20-22, Matthew 15:21-28, Mark 2:2-5, Mark 6:5-6, Mark 9:21-29, Mark 10:46-52, Romans 10;11, Hebrews 11:4-30). This is to be done without a hint of doubt (Matthew 14:25-31, Matthew 21:21, James 1:6-8). More examples of this active trust can be also be found at: Matthew 8:5-13, Matthew 9:27-30, and Mark 5:35-40.

Taking care of our families to the best of our abilities is also a work of faith (1 Timothy 5:8).

We must also show faith in Christ's sacrifice, otherwise we cannot be saved (Romans 3:25). How do we show active faith in his sacrifice? By living according to what the sacrifice means. In other words, accepting that the sacrifice has forgiven our sins, (Hebrews 9:22) and then live in such a way that we sincerely try to refrain from sinning further (because repentance is required for and repenting means to refrain from sinning - Hebrews 10:26-27). It also means actually believing that when we sin and truly are repentant, that we are also truly forgiven (2 Corinthians 7:11).

Also, if we have faith in Jesus Christ we'll be willing to do whatever he commands of us (John 15:14). Some of those commands include: making disciples, baptizing believers, teaching them Jesus's words (Matthew 28:19-20), loving Yahweh, and loving others (Matthew 22:37-40, John 13:34, John 15:12,17).

Jesus taught that one who stumbles another's faith is better off dead (Matthew 18:6), that if you pray for anything in faith you will receive it (Matthew 21:22, Mark 11:24), and those exercising faith in him will be blessed with resurrection after they die (John 11:25).

However, we must remember that works/actions alone doesn't save us. We must have works with faith, because without the faith all is lost. Faith alone doesn't save us either, for as the scriptures point out, even the demons have faith (James 2:19). We must have the faith and the works together in order for it to mean something (Hebrews 11:6, James 2:14-26).

For those with true faith, this really won't be a difficult task. If you truly believe in something, you automatically perform the actions that belie your belief. For example, if you have real faith in the competence of your doctor, you will accept his treatment plan and live according to his orders. Having faith in your doctor, you find yourself going along with these actions with relative ease. If, on the other hand, you do not have faith in your doctor, you'll tend to disregard his instructions and do something else instead.

It is much the same way with our faith in Yahweh and His Christ: People's real faith will automatically incline them to perform actions based on their belief. This is why faith and works are inseparable, this is why faith is shown by works/actions.