Thursday, November 10, 2022
Demonstrating Faith
When Jesus arrived on the other side of the lake, in the region of the Gadarenes, two men who were possessed by demons met him. They came out of the tombs and were so violent that no one could go through that area. (Matthew 8:28 NLT)
You may be surprised to know that demons and the Devil himself are neither atheists nor agnostic. You could even say that, in a very limited sense, they are quite orthodox in their beliefs.
They believe in the existence of God. They believe that Jesus is coming back, even if some liberal theologians don’t believe this.
They also believe in the divinity of Christ, as shown by what two demon-possessed men said to Him when He arrived in the region of the Gadarenes: “Why are you interfering with us, Son of God? Have you come here to torture us before God’s appointed time?” (verse 29 NLT).
Now, I’m not suggesting that the demons and the Devil trust in God. The Bible teaches the very opposite of this. It tells us that Satan is in rebellion against God and hates God and His people. The Devil knows that his days are numbered. He knows that his time is short. That’s why he goes out of his way to wreak so much havoc in the world.
However, the Bible also says, “You say you have faith, for you believe that there is one God. Good for you! Even the demons believe this, and they tremble in terror” (James 2:19 NLT).
The demons and the Devil know that Jesus is powerful. At the same time, they acknowledge that something is true without believing in it.
James shows us that we, too, can be quite orthodox in our beliefs. That is, we can believe that the Bible is God’s Word and that Jesus is God’s Son without this belief affecting the way we live. James goes on to say, “Can’t you see that faith without good deeds is useless? . . . Just as the body is dead without breath, so also faith is dead without good works” (verses 20, 26 NLT).
If we say that we have faith in Jesus Christ, then let’s show it by the way we live.
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