So previously we have spoken about grace and about the law. This being something I greatly struggle with. I tend to believe that God will hold us more accountable for our actions than what I feel the majority of Christians would as they rely heavily on grace. From what I get from the bible, God is a God of action. God is a God of righteousness. And I don’t understand why God is more concerned with people finding comfort in his sons sacrifice than people actually dying to themselves and living a life that actually honours him.
I know if I was God, I would rather people show their love to me by sacrificing their joy and happiness to do my works rather than sitting under “grace” and holding onto their lives.
My understanding of faith is that our life under Christ shouldn’t be easy. Life was incredibly hard for Jesus. It was rough for the disciples and it shouldn’t easy be for us now. People seem to live these lives where they have ‘faith’ but it doesn’t seem to truly impact them. And I guess, if faith doesn’t impact your actions then what kind of faith is it?
We are called to serve only one master and to serve him means to do his will over our own. To serve Christ would be to do his will. His will, I believe, is very straight forward. It is to share his word, openly. To go out into the world and do good works. To be kind to the poor, to love those who need love, to welcome those who need welcoming. To serve those who need serving. I don’t see how you can have a relationship with Christ and not do those things…
Any help there? How can someone be saved but not reflect the life of Christ? To know Jesus is to love Jesus and to love Jesus is to do his will. I don’t think you can truly have faith without works. Nor can you do good works without knowing Jesus (to some point) because if God/Jesus is good, righteous and loving then to show that in one’s life is to know God… okay, sure, that second part of the argument is a little weaker. But we’ll get there…
Answer:
John Eldredge points out in his book that many people who are religious are not true believers, and are not on their way to heaven. He makes a big point about Jesus being very contrary to the popular and highly dedicated religion of His day. James makes it clear that if a person’s works are contrary to what they ought to be, that person’s faith is questionable. OK, that’s gracious Jim saying that. My namesake said their faith is dead (James 2:17). The writer of Hebrews, speaking to Christians (Heb. 10:19), says that if we sin willfully (verse 26), that “It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.” (verse 31). That doesn’t mean that we lose our salvation, but it’s like if I as a child did something that I knew my parents told me I ought not to do, and then got caught out by them, it would be a “fearful thing.” Hebrews 12 points out that God exercises discipline, and that’s not something pleasant. Yet, in talking about that time when we give account of our lives before God, Paul points out that for the genuine believer who has come short, “…he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire.” (1 Cor. 3:15)