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- 25/05/2010: God working in us
- 11/11/2009: God’s Sovereign Choice
- 10/11/2009: Have Faith to Chage 2
- 09/11/2009: Have Faith To Change
- 08/11/2009: Decline and Fall of People
- 31/10/2009: Your Heavenly Vision
- 28/10/2009: Be of Good Cheer
- 27/10/2009: The Poor in Spirit
- 09/10/2009: A Spirit Straight From God
- 08/10/2009: A Body Submitted to the Holy Spirit
Archive for 08/07/2009
How to Live by Faith
08/07/2009 by John Marsden.
There’s a lot of confusion about faith and works. Some people say it’s all about faith and works don’t matter at all. Others say that as long as we work hard enough we can get some eternal credit for it. To make matters worse some have pitted Paul & James against each other to make their points. Paul wrote in
Ephesians 2:8-9 “It’s by grace you have been saved, through faith…not by works.” James wrote in James 2:17 “Faith by itself, if not accompanied by action, is dead.” So whose right? Paul or James? Think about it this way… Paul was writing about legalism, while James wrote about laziness. The Ephesians wanted to work for their salvation, James’ readers did not want to work at all. Paul was writing about earning, while James wrote about evidence. The Ephesians wanted to be able to claim their works contributed to their salvation, while James wanted to get across the proof of faith that works provides. Paul was writing about inclusion, while James wrote about exclusion. The Ephesians wanted to feel they were included in a select group, while James warns about the seriousness of not having works that prove their faith.
Ephesians 2:8-108For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith–and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God– 9not by works, so that no one can boast. 10For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
How does this passage compare grace, faith, and works?
Why is there a warning about boasting? What would we brag about?Why are we created for good works if works are not important?
Galatians 5:6For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value. The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love.
The Galatians were placing higher spirituality on circumcision.
Faith, what you really believe has to demonstrate itself through your thoughts,
words and actions.
Show your faith by what you do and have a great day.
John
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