Works Without Faith Is Dead

The Lord says:

“These people come near to me with their mouth
and honor me with their lips,
but their hearts are far from me.
Their worship of me
is based on merely human rules they have been taught.
Therefore once more I will astound these people
with wonder upon wonder;
the wisdom of the wise will perish,
the intelligence of the intelligent will vanish.”
Woe to those who go to great depths
to hide their plans from the Lord,
who do their work in darkness and think,
“Who sees us? Who will know?" (Isa 29:13-15)
 

Sunday morning rituals and then the rest of the week what do we do? On Sunday mornings we praise the LORD with our lips, but how much honor do we give the LORD during the rest of the week? Some of the saddest moments of my life are when I realize someone worships on Sunday morning purely out of ritual or because they think this "act" is the good work that will grant them eternal life. Or, maybe, it's to enhance their political or business life. I assure you; any works without faith is totally useless.

James tells us "In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead. But someone will say, “You have faith; I have deeds.” Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by my deeds. You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder." (James 2:17-19)

It is useless to call yourself Christian if you have no faith. It is useless to pretend that you know Jesus if you do not. You may fool some of the people; but, you can never fool God.

We are not and cannot be saved by any good works including showing up for worship. But, by hearing the Word during worship, faith just may be fired up inside of you by the power of the Holy Spirit. It is by faith alone in Christ that we are saved. He did the good work for us!

God's Peace – Pr. J

Message of the Cross

For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written:

                   “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise;

                   the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate.”

                                                                              (1 Corinth 1:18-19 NIV)

For those who do not know Christ it is impossible to believe that through death on the cross eternal life is available to all people. It is impossible to believe that in order to live we must die. But, that is exactly what has happened. Christ was put to death to atone for our sins and yet he lives and because he lives, we live. This is foolishness to those who put their hope in the knowledge of the world. Yet, it is most certainly true.

I have not found the wisdom of the world to bring much comfort or peace. The ways of the world cannot save us no matter how wise we might think we are. Only Jesus can save us. Hear the message of the cross: the Good News that Jesus was crucified on the cross that we might live and live life abundantly in the presence of Almighty God for all of eternity. Foolishness? The world may say it is. But; I prefer to live, so I will trust in the message that we are saved by faith in Jesus and his life giving sacrifice for you and for me.

God's Peace - Pr. J