RELIGION versus GRACE
Faith Works (a) Faith a gift
Faith Works (a) Faith a gift
For just as a human body without the spirit is a dead corpse,
so faith without the expression of good works is dead!
James 2:26, Passion Translation
so faith without the expression of good works is dead!
James 2:26, Passion Translation
Here’s the problem: As you read certain scriptures like Ephesians 2:8-9, “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, and not a result of works, so that no one may boast” - it seems so clear that we are not saved by works (Titus 3:4-7). You feel content revelling in God’s unmerited grace until you hear a sermon that quotes from James chapter 2, about works being part of salvation, and you suddenly switch over to ‘religious performance’ mode. So, down to basics: today, faith.
Faith is … a persuasion that God is who he says he is and will do what he has promised to do. As faith is a gift from God (2 Peter 1:1, Phil 1:29; Acts 3:16), the gospel does not demand faith from us but supplies faith to us. A spiritually dead person cannot make a decision of faith unless God first breathes into him the breath of spiritual life. Faith is simply breathing the breath that God’s grace supplies.
The story is told of a man who came late to a revival meeting and found the workmen tearing down the meeting tent. Frantic at missing the evangelist, he asked one of the workers what he could do to be saved. The workman, who was a Christian, replied, “You can’t do anything. It’s too late.” Horrified, the man said, “What do you mean? How can it be too late?” “The work has already been accomplished,” he was told. “There is nothing you need to do but believe it.”
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The gift of grace comes wrapped in faith
The gift of grace comes wrapped in faith