The story of the paralytic man as told in Mark 2 offers another case study on expression of faith. The record states that  the man was carried by four other men to where Jesus was teaching. Having no access through the door or window, the men did something ridiculous. They tore off the roof of the house and let the man down in the midst of the crowd. Jesus saw that effort as faith. Their effort yielded two things. First, the man obtained forgiveness for his sins. (It would seem that the man’s plague was a result of some underlying sins). Second, he was healed of his infirmity.

“For every faith confession there is a corresponding faith act that must be put in place.”

Apostle James taught a couple of things about faith. He acknowledged that faith is discernible by what we say. But more than that, an even greater proof of faith is what we do. He reasons that just as the body without the spirit is dead if it is alone, so is faith unless accompanied by works. Faith is not opposed to efforts. In many cases, it is the efforts that we make that give back-up to the faith we profess. For every faith confession there is a corresponding faith act that must be put in place. Our role is to find out what the faith act is and do it. When we do what we can, God takes it over to do what we can’t.