The Flash of Faith, The Thunder of Works

We have an annual ritual in our house. Typically every spring, during the height of the storm season, this ritual occurs about one to two times per week, usually in the late evening. It begins with a bolt of lightning. Upon seeing a flash through the window, the countdown begins. "One one-thousand, two one-thousand, three one-thousand, four one-thousand." Sound can travel approximately one mile in five seconds, so if the rumble of the thunder that inevitably follows that flash occurs before our count gets to five one-thousand, we know we have about five minutes to accomplish the final phase of our ritual; what I like to call "the great unplugging." We rush around the house disconnecting the power to everything from computers to cable television that might potentially be fried by a direct lightning strike to our house.

In Ephesians 2:8-10 we read "For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.

With all of the angst in the Christian world about the relationship between faith and works, I think we'd all do good to learn a lesson from nature.

The relationship of that flash of light to the thunder that follows is reliable and predictable. No one questions which comes first, or whether one can exist without the other. The lightning always comes first, and the thunder inevitably follows.

Paul very clearly teaches that, when it comes to salvation, it's the lightning flash of faith that saves us. Even in our best state we are altogether nothing. There is nothing that you and I can do, no degree of obedience, that can make us worthy of salvation. Our own attempts to be righteous are as filthy rags. It's God who gets the glory for our salvation, not us.

Continuing in verse 10, "For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them."

Do you hear the thunder?

While it is true that good works cannot produce salvation they cannot be separated from the faith that does. Obedience is the fruit of a life that has been saved by Faith. They are product of a changed heart and mind. Obedience doesn't save us, but it does reflect the fact that we have been saved. In contrast, if our hearts aren't set toward obeying Him, this is evidence that we never really accepted Him by Faith in the first place. There can be no thunder without the flash of lightning.

So how does that truth affect our Christian walk?

We all are familiar with the story of Mary and Martha. Martha was busy working and preparing in the kitchen while Mary, at least it seemed to Martha, was being lazy, just sitting at the Master's feet.

When Martha basically asked Jesus to tell Mary to get off her butt and start working, Jesus replied, "Martha, Martha, you are careful and troubled about many things: But one thing is needful: and Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her."

Jesus wasn't condoning laziness. Far from it. He was simply providing us a lesson in spiritual focus. Martha thought her worthiness came from working and serving. If she did enough work, then her Master would accept her.

Mary though, rather than striving to prove her worthiness to God, focused instead on developing her relationship with Him.

She understood that the key to her spiritual growth lay in seeking to put more of Him into her heart and mind. The more she trusted in Him, looked to Him, came to Him in Faith, the greater His power would be in her to resist sin and overcome this world.

To put it simply. Mary understood that the thunder of works follows the lightening of faith.

While Philippians 2 clearly commands you and I to "...work out your own salvation with fear and trembling",
in order to do that we must understand how that work gets accomplished. Paul, in the very next verse, provides the answer.

"For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure."

It's the lightning flash of faith, bringing us into relationship with Him, that allows His Spirit to produce within us the rolling thunder of obedience.

The take away?

The degree to which you and I am overcome is directly equivalent to the degree that we are growing in relationship with Him.  Inversely, if we are not growing, not overcoming, it's an indicator, not of a need to simply "try harder", but rather to "draw closer." The closer we are to Him, the more time put into growing that relationship through prayer, meditation and drinking in of His Word, the more strength we draw to help in our times of need.  How awesome is it to know that it is not my feeble effort, but His power, His mercy, His strength that helps me to stand!

Thunder follows lightning as works follow Faith. It's a physical law that mirrors a wonderful spiritual reality.