“Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone. Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works. Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble. But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead?” James 2:17–20 William Booth, the founder of the Salvation Army, had a great burden to reach those no one else cared about. He preached and promoted an active religion—one that stretched beyond the walls of Sunday morning worship and made a difference throughout the community. Booth said, “Faith and works should travel side by side, step answering to step, like the legs of men walking. First faith, and then works; and then faith again, and then works again—until they can scarcely distinguish which is the one and which is the other.” Faith in God does not stay internal. The works that we do from God are entirely apart from our salvation. Nothing we do or do not do gains us merit or favor with God. While many attempt to do “enough” good works to get to Heaven, such attempts always fail because of our sinful natures. We cannot save ourselves or work for God’s grace. However as part of God’s family, we are to be workers. Jesus said, “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven” (Matthew 5:16). We work not to earn salvation or to impress others, but to glorify God. Our gratitude for the gift of salvation should motivate us to a life that is observably Christian, not so much in our words as in our actions. As the old saying goes, we should be able to easily say, “If you want to know if I am a Christian, ask my neighbor.” Today’s Renewal Principle: Everyone who knows us should be able to tell from our actions that we have a living faith in God.
Posted on: Mon, 17 Mar 2014 13:32:20 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015