April 19th 2017 / FAITH AND GOOD WORKS OR GOOD WORKS AND FAITH?

The age old argument that the letter of James presents is about our faith and good works. People have confused this issue with an idea that good works are a part of being saved. But it is not at all what James was talking about. James was explaining that faith is the root of our salvation and that good works are the fruit of having been saved or an outward expression of our salvation but not what saved us. Now James was also explaining that once you are saved by faith alone you should be led by the Holy Spirit to want to do good works for God and others. If you ignore the Holy Spirit urging you on to do good wholesome things then you will bear no fruit (no good works) on the tree of your faith. All you will have are the roots of faith with nothing to show for it.

James 2:20-26Christian Standard Bible (CSB)

20 Senseless person! Are you willing to learn that faith without works is useless? 21 Wasn’t Abraham our father justified by works in offering Isaac his son on the altar? 22 You see that faith was active together with his works, and by works, faith was made complete, 23 and the Scripture was fulfilled that says, Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness, and he was called God’s friend. 24 You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone. 25 In the same way, wasn’t Rahab the prostitute also justified by works in receiving the messengers and sending them out by a different route? 26 For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead.

Prayer: Father, give us guidance and let us listen to the Holy Spirit to do good and reject evil that our faith will be the salt of the earth, in Jesus name, amen.

Comments

POISONING THE FRUITS OF THE HOLY BIBLE

The Holy Bible has many beautiful truths within its pages and the most wonderful story in the world of how a loving and gracious God came from Heaven to Earth to save us from sin and ourselves. What I have seen that saddens my heart is when men and women distort the Bible's precious truths. Sometimes they play mental gymnastics with a rubicon of verses to put together their own view of a topic and make the Bible appear to support their side. Both the liberal and conservative Christians do it and even those who are not even believers play this game. People who want all answers to life and faith but only from the Bible are some of the most toxic and unhappy people I know. Where is their Christlike love? Jesus dealt with this kind of mindset in his mortal time on earth and they were called Pharisees. We must be willing to take the Bible as it is written and what the writers led by the Holy Spirit meant. We must be authentic and transparent. Some things in the Bible are uncomfortabl

WHAT VOICES ARE YOU LISTENING TO?

Since the internet entered our homes and social media dominates the culture of the world we as a human race have rapidly lost our humanity in many ways. People are so vicious to one another and it is so sad to see how narcissistic we have become as a species. I am often balancing what I read and what I listen to so I do not become toxic and filled with false understandings and beliefs. So it is very important to consider just what voices you are listening to and what voices are you reading. What is the mindset of the people, shows, and music you are allowing into your life? We need to be more alert to not allowing trash into our minds, ears, and eyes. Let us not become a landfill for society's useless trash. If you let garbage in soon it will be garbage out. What is most in your heart will eventually come out the mouth both spoken and written. Matthew 15:18-20

ELECTION YEAR 2024! OH BOY!

Yes, folks, it is an election year and of course, both parties believe they are going to save the world. Sorry, but Jesus Christ already did that some 2000 years ago. Now the other fun fact about this is every election year it is a Chicken Little story all over again, which is the sky is falling if the Republicans get into office, and the sky is falling if the Democrats get into office. This reminds me of how news on the weather is nowadays. There will be one inch of snow coming which is the great white death from above so stock up on everything. The exaggeration from political parties and the news is absolutely off the charts in this day and age. Gone are the Walter Cronkite and Tom Brokaw days of newscasting. Social media can be used for good and even to spread the gospel message but also it can perpetuate lies and deceit. I hope it is used more responsibly than what I have been witnessing. So back to politics and voting, I would say do your best to try and find reliable informati

Rewired for the Journey

Search This Blog