"All these people earned a good reputation because of their faith, yet none of them received all that God had promised. For God had something better in mind for us, so that they would not reach perfection without us." – Hebrews 11:39-40 (MEV)
Real faith is the kind that empowers the faithful to move. Those who possess true faith in the Lord Jesus Christ can't stop but fulfill their role in the great plan of God for all of our lives. People in the Old Testament had faith in God and with that faith did great things. The question now is, "Is my faith authentic?"
Authentic Faith That Really Works
The men and women mentioned in Hebrews 11 are remembered in history as the people who believed God for what He says. These witnesses (see Hebrews 12:1) are people just like us: a people in need of God's grace and mercy.
One thing that we must all note, though, is the fact that back then they simple believed in God who is in heaven. Now, we who believe in Christ have God's Holy Spirit living inside of us. The only thing they held on to was God's promises to them. Us? We have God's promises, the New Testament, the Blood of Christ, and the Holy Spirit living in us!
This puts us in such a greater advantage, but what are we doing? Many of us say we have faith or we believe, but our actions say otherwise:
"What does it profit, my brothers, if a man says he has faith but has no works? Can faith save him? If a brother or sister is naked and lacking daily food, and one of you says to them, 'Depart in peace, be warmed and filled,' and yet you give them nothing that the body needs, what does it profit? So faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead." (James 2:14-17)
People Of Faith
To help motivate you into kicking your faith to first gear and embarking on doing faith-based good works, here are some people in the Bible who believed in Christ and acted accordingly.
1. Zacchaeus – Luke 19:1-10
Zacchaeus, a tax collector, believed in the Lord Jesus, and in his belief he did good things: He denied his comfort to be able to see Jesus; allowed Jesus to stay in his house; confessed his sins to Christ; and made restitution for his sins.
2. The Samaritan Woman At The Well – See John 4
We're all familiar with the story of how Jesus Himself spoke with the Samaritan woman in John 4, but let us not forget that after all their talk, the woman spread news of the Christ in their town. Her testimony brought people to Christ, and later on many of them believed.
3. Paul – See Acts 9 Onwards
Paul, whom we all know as the great apostle that he is, had great faith accompanied by actions. In Acts 9 alone, we read of his conversion from being a Christian-killer named Saul into a Christ-follower who is not afraid to speak up about Christ.
