Question of Salvation and Works♦

A friend of mine stated on Facebook, "If our faith cannot take us to church, what makes us think that it will take us to heaven?" I liked that comment of his. Then another friend of his questioned that. It appears to me that he is of a "faith only" belief. Just believe that God is your savior. That's it. I almost replied with, "Consider Philippians 2.12. Of course that passage Paul is telling the church in Philippi to work out their salvation.

I didn't post it so that I could talk about it here, in my blog. Sorry Gary. :-)

Comes to me that this question is not about the gift, but the nature of the gift. One might use the Christmas gift to explain salvation. You might have heard it: A person was given this nice, probably expensive gift from a very wealthy friend. He set it on the mantle of his fireplace. He looked at the nice wrapping, and admired it. Yet he never unwrapped it. He has no idea what was in the box. The question is, did he truly receive the gift?

Yet, for this thought, that illustration fails. It perhaps is on the right track. Perhaps it's not. The biggest problem is our understanding the nature of the gift. From reading 1 Corinthians one can see that God's wisdom is not the wisdom of the world. The world really cannot understand God's wisdom and therefore looks at it as being folly.

So let us consider the gift of salvation from God through Jesus Christ. What is the nature of it? Is this something that we receive once, that we admire and stare at, such as one would do a crystal elephant? I sure hope not.

I got my wife a crystal elephant for Christmas, either our first or second Christmas. We both like to look at it. I bought a light box that changes colors to bring out different beauties within the crystal. And yet, it sits there. We stare at it. That's it.

That is typical of the gifts of the world. Sure, you may use a video game system or some other more usuable object. But does it change us? Does it motivate us to live differently? Maybe, depending on the item we may change our diet, we may drive more if we are so blessed, but will it change our attitude? Will it make us really transformed as with what we read in 2 Corinthians 3.18 or Romans 12.2? *Paul talks about how we need to be transformed through the renewing of our mind, becoming more like Jesus.

No, for that, the transformation comes from within. The gifts of the world brings perhaps transformations on the outside while the heart remains unmoved.

Yet there is another nature or aspect of the gift of God, being the motivation or the doing. James 1.22 says, "Do not merely listen to the Word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says."

So often we feel that if we pay our tithes, and attend church, then we have done our duty to God. Yet that is no more, nor better than what the Pharisees were doing when Jesus blasted their traditions.

James' letter is all about our motivation. It is about living our faith. Do we have faith in Christ? Let me back up, do you like to attend sporting events, such as a Dallas Cowboys game? What makes it better in person than on television? Perhaps because you are able to share your joy with other, like-minded fans? See where I am going?

Do we have faith in Christ? Do we show the same enthusiasm for Christ that we would our favorite team? Do we want to be around others who are like minded? Why wouldn't we?

Let us now return to what James wrote in 1.22. Let us do what the Word says. What does the Word say for us to do? Matthew 22.37-40, Jesus replied, "Love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul and all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. The second one is like it: Love your neighbor like yourself. All the Law and Prophets hang on these two commandments."

In short, we are to live fully for God, and show His love for our neighbors, even if we don't want to.

Then we have the passage from Matthew 28.18-20. Jesus said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey every commandment I have taught you. And I will always be with you, even to the end of the ages."

And there is one more. (Actually there are quite many more, but for brevity, I have only looked at just a scant few.) James, once again tells us what pure religion looks like. James 1.27, he writes: "Religion that is pure and acceptable to God the Father is this: to look after the widows and orphans in their times of distress, and to keep oneself from being polluted by this world."

Jesus lived His faith, because He loved God. He set the example for us to imitate. Now mind you, we do not live the faith to earn salvation, but because we have been given salvation. We live our faith not because we want God to love us, but because we already love God for what He has done for us. That is a different nature of the greatest gift you and I will ever receive.

God bless, and thanks for reading my thoughts.