"Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it?"
James says in verse 17 that dead faith is useless. And what is dead faith? It is a lack of compassion and concern for your brother or sister. It allows you to see suffering and simply go on your way. It makes you feel great about yourself while another goes without the things they need to survive. It tricks you into thinking you are alive when you are not. Dead faith walks past God's children and leaves them to starve.
And if the faith is dead, it is not good for anything. When batteries die, they need to be recharged or thrown out. Dead faith does nothing. It doesn't work. It bears no crops. It yields no harvest. There is no righteousness reaped. There are no works to be had because the faith cannot produce them. It is dead faith. Dead.
But if faith brings forth the fruit God desires, then it is alive. If it remains in the vine, then it will bear fruit. Works make complete the faith and brings it to maturity. Faith must be made complete in order for it to save. Faith must have works, else it is a dead faith and a dead faith is no faith at all. Faith is dead without works, so we need a faith that works!
Monday, July 4, 2011
Sunday, July 3, 2011
John 15:13
"Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends."
Someone once asked me what it means that I loved them. I thought about it for a second and this was my reply:
"It means that I would do anything for you, even if it hurt me."
Indeed the deepest and truest love is self-sacrificial in nature. It gives of itself and never expects return. It is crazy love, the kind of thing that makes you do all sorts of things you otherwise would never dream of doing. What's crazier is that when Jesus says this, he is only foreshadowing his own death for his friends. And while we were still enemies (Rom 5:10), he called us friends! (John 15:15)
God would do anything for us, even if it hurt him, even if it cost him his one and only beloved Son. He paid the price anyway because of his love, he knew it would all be worth it in the end. Oh how he loves us! It's a love that overlooks all of our faults and failures and sees only us. God is crazy to love us because he is crazy in love with us.
Someone once asked me what it means that I loved them. I thought about it for a second and this was my reply:
"It means that I would do anything for you, even if it hurt me."
Indeed the deepest and truest love is self-sacrificial in nature. It gives of itself and never expects return. It is crazy love, the kind of thing that makes you do all sorts of things you otherwise would never dream of doing. What's crazier is that when Jesus says this, he is only foreshadowing his own death for his friends. And while we were still enemies (Rom 5:10), he called us friends! (John 15:15)
God would do anything for us, even if it hurt him, even if it cost him his one and only beloved Son. He paid the price anyway because of his love, he knew it would all be worth it in the end. Oh how he loves us! It's a love that overlooks all of our faults and failures and sees only us. God is crazy to love us because he is crazy in love with us.
Saturday, July 2, 2011
Genesis 24:51,67
"Here is Rebekah; take her and go, and let her become the wife of your master’s son, as the Lord has directed."... Isaac brought her into the tent of his mother Sarah, and he married Rebekah. So she became his wife, and he loved her; and Isaac was comforted after his mother’s death."
In the Old Testament tradition, it is your father's responsibility to find you a suitable wife. You can pick out one that you want, but ultimately the father has the last say in obtaining a wife for you. Such is the story of Isaac and Rebekah with an interesting twist; It was Abraham's Father in heaven who directed and arranged the marriage.
Notice in v67 that Isaac loved her, despite having just met her. Why? Because the LORD already knows who is compatible because he searches their hearts. If you submit to His will for your wife, you will not be disappointed (and same goes for ladies). Because you know that the LORD has made directed your marriage, you know already that your marriage will stand on a firm foundation for what God has joined together let no man separate. (Mark 10:9)
Be content with where God has you. He knows what you need and when you need it and if he sees fit to give you a wife or a husband it will be not only the right time, but also the right person. Give up the chase and let God give you grace! Hallelujah!
Footnote: Of course this is all contingent on God actually being your Father...
In the Old Testament tradition, it is your father's responsibility to find you a suitable wife. You can pick out one that you want, but ultimately the father has the last say in obtaining a wife for you. Such is the story of Isaac and Rebekah with an interesting twist; It was Abraham's Father in heaven who directed and arranged the marriage.
Notice in v67 that Isaac loved her, despite having just met her. Why? Because the LORD already knows who is compatible because he searches their hearts. If you submit to His will for your wife, you will not be disappointed (and same goes for ladies). Because you know that the LORD has made directed your marriage, you know already that your marriage will stand on a firm foundation for what God has joined together let no man separate. (Mark 10:9)
Be content with where God has you. He knows what you need and when you need it and if he sees fit to give you a wife or a husband it will be not only the right time, but also the right person. Give up the chase and let God give you grace! Hallelujah!
Footnote: Of course this is all contingent on God actually being your Father...
Friday, July 1, 2011
Acts 10:15
"Again a voice came to him a second time, "What God has cleansed, no longer consider unholy.""
Are you holy? Have you been washed by the blood of Jesus Christ? Has the cross taken away all of your sins?
Truly if you are in Christ by faith in his blood then you are holy. God has pardoned you. Because you believed God has done what he has promised, it has been credited to you as righteousness.(Gen 15:6) So what God has cleansed, no longer consider unholy. You are a new creation (2Cor 5:17) not because of anything you did, but because God cleansed you. You are holy because God is holy and is the one who makes you holy. (Lev 21:7,15,23;22:9,16,32)
So do not blaspheme God by calling what is holy unholy. If you have believed in Christ, do not dare to deny what Christ has done through confessing your sinful nature. You are no longer sinners, but you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God. (1Cor 6:11) You have died to it,(Rom 6:2) how can you still confess to be in it? Profess that "Though I was once a sinner, Christ took away my sin, and by his Power I am kept holy, pure, and blameless" lest you deny the reality of that which justifies you, Christ Jesus and him crucified.
Or do you not believe the gospel of grace so generously poured out on your behalf?
Are you holy? Have you been washed by the blood of Jesus Christ? Has the cross taken away all of your sins?
Truly if you are in Christ by faith in his blood then you are holy. God has pardoned you. Because you believed God has done what he has promised, it has been credited to you as righteousness.(Gen 15:6) So what God has cleansed, no longer consider unholy. You are a new creation (2Cor 5:17) not because of anything you did, but because God cleansed you. You are holy because God is holy and is the one who makes you holy. (Lev 21:7,15,23;22:9,16,32)
So do not blaspheme God by calling what is holy unholy. If you have believed in Christ, do not dare to deny what Christ has done through confessing your sinful nature. You are no longer sinners, but you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God. (1Cor 6:11) You have died to it,(Rom 6:2) how can you still confess to be in it? Profess that "Though I was once a sinner, Christ took away my sin, and by his Power I am kept holy, pure, and blameless" lest you deny the reality of that which justifies you, Christ Jesus and him crucified.
Or do you not believe the gospel of grace so generously poured out on your behalf?
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