A Walmart gift card is an interesting gift. It is just a piece of plastic that has no value at all. So, what do Walmart gift cards have to do with faith?

Grace is a gift

The grace of God is a gift, pure and simple. We don’t earn it, and we don’t deserve it. It is given to us much like a Walmart gift card. Its value is not always immediately apparent. In fact, until we respond to the gift, it does us no good at all.

Faith is a Response

Faith is often used as a synonym for belief, and depending on the context, it can be. But if we look at the way both Paul and James speak of faith in the Bible, we see that faith is more than just believing that the truth is true. In the next passage, James draws a line between believing that the truth is true and what he calls a living faith.

What good is it, my brothers,

Many will look at this passage and cringe a bit, immediately formulating a way to take the edge off of this very blunt statement. And I understand that impulse, I have it, but we have to do more with difficult verses than simply explain them away. James made this point very forcefully for a reason. I have only included part of his argument here. He goes on in the passage to give examples of how faith is connected to works.

Many throughout history have imagined a conflict between James and Paul regarding faith. But consider this passage from Romans.

because,

Paul describes a two part process to receive the grace of God, he couples belief with confession. Faith is a response to the truth, not simply believing that the truth is true.

What does this have to do with Walmart?

This, believe it or not, brings us back to the Walmart gift card. It takes an expression of faith to receive the blessing of the gift when you receive a gift card. The card is paid for before you ever receive it, but there is no blessing until you express faith in its value by handing it to the cashier. Do we earn the blessing by handing the card to the cashier? Of course not. But we do not receive the blessing that has been freely given unless we respond to the gift. This is faith. Faith is a response to the gift. Faith not only believes that the Gospel is a gift, it responds to that gift.

But isn’t that just letting works righteousness in the back door?

The Gospel was never intended to abolish good works. The Gospel makes good works possible. Consider this passage from the second chapter of Ephesians:

For by grace you have been saved through faith.

The gift of salvation is free, but its purpose is to produce good works. Faith responds to this gift via good works. These good works do not flow from us but are the product of Christ’s work in us. C.S. Lewis was once asked, “Which is more important, faith or works?” he responded with, “That is like asking which blade of the scissors is more important.”. I like that answer. We often try to separate things that cannot be separated. An egg cannot be taken apart without breaking it. And once it is broken, it is no longer an egg. It is a mess.

The gift of God must be responded to in order to have its intended effect. Much like the gift card must be responded to in order for the recipient to receive the intended blessing. Salvation has been given by the grace of God alone; that is not the question, that is simply the truth. The question is, “Will we respond to that gift and receive the blessing of salvation?”. Our response is not initiative. The initiative has already been taken by God through Jesus. Our response is simply necessary for the gift to have its intended result.

Walking in faith this week

I think there is a real danger of walking in a sort of clinical salvation, a cold and legal arrangement, a pardon that needs no expression or response. It is easy to think that grace is just a fact of God’s love, then, like trust fund kids, sit around doing nothing, waiting for the full release of our riches, regardless of how we live or respond to our privilege. I would rather be the poor kid who receives a gift from a stranger totally unexpectedly, to feel the joy of a love that is unearned, and be filled with the overwhelming desire to do something - anything to respond to this gift.

This kind of response, this driving thankfulness, is what I want to be my core motivation and my overflowing expression this week. This week I want to take Christ’s gift card to the store (so to speak) with faith and I want to give that blessing away, knowing that there is no spending limit on this gift card.

Have a great week!