As The Wheel Turns

As The Wheel Turns

Faith Without Works Is Dead

For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also. (James 2:26)

   Faith without works has been a great controversy since the beginning of the church age. A being with no movement of the Holy Spirit within, and without, has no affinity or membership in the body of Christ. Paul stated in Galatians Chapter 4 that false brethren entered unawares. They came to spy out the liberty of the children of God. I am sure that they did not declare themselves to be false brethren. So many today enter in through the door of churches who can be placed in the category of false brethren. One reason for this is the preaching of a false gospel. Paul also was very concerned when he was writing to the Galatians, he said about those who preached a false gospel that they would be cursed. So if we are to be correct in our gospel where do we begin?

   We begin at the hub of the wheel. And the hub of the wheel is Jesus Christ, our Lord. From the hub we have the spokes, each individual Christian holding the weight and doing the work of the Lord. Then once again, outwardly, we have the rim of the wheel. This rim unites the whole wheel, or the body of Christ. The wheel becomes one. The hub turns the wheel. The hub gives the wheel direction and stability. A wheel within a wheel by the faith of Jesus Christ who loved me and gave Himself for me. I am attached to the hub, which is Christ.

   Now I am just a spoke, but I carry part of the load. Every time the wheel turns, I am put under the burden of the cross and the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. I carry that weight so that others may come to know Christ as their Savior. I am attached to the rim which contains the whole. The whole wheel speaks of the body of Christ. All are inseparable, the hub, the spokes, and the rim. Remove the hub, and you have no wheel. Take away the spokes, and there can be no unity with the hub and the rim. Take away the rim and there is no reason for the hub or the spokes. The unity of the rim is the faith from the hub flowing through the spokes to make one whole. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus. (Galatians 3:28) We, as Christians, must see the body of Christ as a whole. The Spirit Himself has united us with the hub so that we may never be separated from His divine Being. We must see the body of Christ as a whole no matter what man may say or do to divide us from the hub. For the wheel must remain whole to function as a wheel. Therefore, in Ezekiel we are given a lesson of the wheel. (Ezekiel 1:15, 16; 10:9, 10, 13)

Side note: the word ‘wheel’ only appears in twelve (12) verses in the entire Bible. The number twelve (12) symbolize God’s governmental perfection.

   The hub directs as He sits on His glorious throne. The spokes do His bidding, and labor in the present evil world. As the rim goes, it travels in the direction of the hub, Christ in you, the hope of glory. This is a reality to the spokes for they know whom they have believed, and they are persuaded that He (the hub) is able to keep that which they have committed unto Him. The spokes are directly connected to the hub, for there must be a center and possessor of all faith. This faith flows from Jesus Christ to the spokes, and that faith is united by the rim. And the rim in its completeness of its circle contains the whole. All who believe in Jesus Christ are of one Spirit and on Savior, our Lord Jesus Christ. As the wheel turns, each spoke has a work, as the load comes to that spoke he is to hold up grace and truth from the power of the hub to the direction of the Spirit flowing unitedly through the rim throughout the world. To bear the load between the hub and the rim, the Lord Jesus declared, As thou hast sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world. (John17:18) As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world. (John 9:5) Then said Jesus to them again, Peace [be] unto you: as [my] Father hath sent me, even so send I you. (John 20:21)

   This is the work that the hub has given to the spoke. You cannot reach in and take one spoke out of its place, for then the whole wheel would collapse. If all the spokes were not united to the hub, the rim would wobble and not have strength or direction. The hub must remain the center, and the spokes must be the work of the hub, and they must be united in the rim, or the Spirit of God. It is not up to the spokes to hold the wheel in its place, but it is up to the hub. It is the responsibility of the spoke to keep the rim united with the other spokes. Faith without works is dead. (James 2:26) Three times God gives us the example of Abraham’s faith, and his walk before the Almighty God.

And the scripture was fulfilled which saith, Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness: and he was called the Friend of God.(James 2:23)

He therefore that ministereth to you the Spirit, and worketh miracles among you, doeth he it by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith? Even as Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness. Know ye therefore that they which are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham. And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall all nations be blessed. So then they which be of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham. (Galatians 3:5 – 9)

For if Abraham were justified by works, he hath whereof to glory; but not before God. For what saith the scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness. (Romans 4:2 – 3)

   Each one of these chapters, and each one of these verses is dealing with one spoke, the same spoke that is: faithful Abraham. These verses divulge the faith and works of Abraham. However, both faith and works have to come directly from the hub. Abraham received the promises, and these promises to him took in both Jew and Gentile. He acted on the promises by faith. And his faith and works were counted unto him for righteousness. Abraham saw the hub, was united to the hub, and he was exposed to, and had the knowledge of the hub’s fullness of time when God would send His Son into this ungodly world to be the hub, to bear the load, and give direction, and a path to heaven, and eternal life by the work of the cross. The hub declared of Himself, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man (no spoke) cometh unto the Father, but by me. (John 14:6) 　

   Let’s muse on the hub. The hub, Christ, is the Creator of all things. Everything was created by Him, and for Him. And He is before all things. He is the beginning of the creation of God. And all things that He created were for His good pleasure. The spokes of the wheel were also created, not only for His pleasure, but to glorify Him. They were created so that His faith could be revealed and displayed in an ungodly world. This faith comes from the hub, Himself, and flows through each individual spoke to glorify Himself in the fullness of the circumference of the rim, all is united around His throne. (Revelation Chapters 4 and 5) Faith is the movement of the energy of the Spirit of God within the believer. This energy produces godly works in each true believer. The first work that the Spirit of God works in the heart, and in the new birth is the answer to this question, Lovest thou me more than these? (John 21:15) In the unification of this love, each spoke has His love, and they (in turn) love each of the other spokes. Each spoke is seen by the Savior as His own. Each spoke looks to the hub as his own. Even though there are many spokes, each spoke has his own name given by the hub. The name that you will bear in heaven will be the reflection of what you were for Him on earth; how you magnified the Lord in your life, how you followed after Christ, and carried the burden of the cross. I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me. (Galatians 2:20)

   The Man in heaven sitting upon His throne depicts the hub. Around Him, praising Him, honoring Him, and glorifying Him are all the spokes. And then you have the completion of the circle, the rim in the seven Spirits of God.

Side Note: the phrase ‘seven Spirits’ is recorded only four (4) times in Scripture. (Revelation 1:4; 3:1; 4:5; 5:6) The number four (4) (of course) always represents all material creation, or the earth, or material completeness of God’s creation. It can be considered to be the number of the world. Thus, in this article it can be viewed as not only the circle of the earth, but the circle of the rim that compactly and completely holds all together.

   The hub never stops working for His own. Each and everyone who has been placed under His precious blood has the reality of His Spirit within them. And this Spirit never stops working. He is laboring to conform each spoke to the image and the unity of the hub. For as He was in the world, so are we in this ungodly world to work and labor for Him in the love of God. We have a throne sitter: the hub. We have the saints of God: the spokes. We have the united body: the rim. And all the spokes through the rim are all praising God from whom all blessings flow. Faith without works is dead. Amen.

© Copyright 2018, Michael Haigh

Article may be used, but not for gain. Freely ye have received, freely give.

All Scripture references are from the Authorized King James Bible. (KJV)