Faith, Works and Obedience

The life that a Christian is supposed to live has been watered down over the years. The lives of those that live in the world and those that live for The Almighty has fewer and fewer differences. It is to the point where it is almost impossible to tell the difference, only way to tell for the most part is that Christians go to church. Jesus even prayed that we would be separate from the world in John 17:9-18. Here we see that we being Christ-ians are to be separate from the world, we should not resemble the world. If we being in the world are not to be of the world why has it become so impossible to look different from those in the world? What went wrong came upon the believers so subtly that they were caught sleeping. Today if you look at the billion plus Christians through the eyes of truth you can see what has gone wrong, but because it has gone on so long very few want to change from the path on which not just they are on, but the path that their family has been on for so many generations.

Saved by grace is one of the poisons that had seeped into the church, interesting thing is that you will only find any resemblance of this in Ephesians 2:5-8. Grace being in truth having the favor of the LORD on you, and they connect this grace to faith, faith in Jesus. The problem lies in that, which is as far as the church goes with their messages. Is faith then the only thing need to be shown grace from the LORD that in turn will deliver unto us the promise of eternal life? Faith is but one key to a Christ-ians life. Faith is very important; it is like the glue that will help hold together the other two keys. James speaks of its importance in James 1:3-8, where faith has a heavy baring on our relationship with The Almighty. When we ask we must do so with full faith and not wavering, such as those that were in Jesus’ home town. Regardless of the power that he received from his Father, even Jesus could not heal people that did not have faith (Mark 6:5-6).

James goes on to show another aspect of a Christ-ians life in James 2:14-26. Yes, that is correct I speak of works, you know that dreaded word that a lot of Christians and preachers bulk at. Oh we need to merely have faith; works are not needed at all. If they are of no importance then when then are we rewarded according to them (Matthew 16:27; Revelation 22:12)? Are works really that bad? Works are good deeds that we do for others as well as in the name of God (Matthew 10:41-42).

So far we as Christ-ians need both Faith and Works and yet there is one more important component that is missing and it is a huge one, but so easily forgotten. This one goes all the way back to the beginning, all the way back to Adam and is brought up again later by Samuel (1 Samuel 15:22). Obedience is the third and most pushed aside of the three key ingredients that are to be found in a Christian’s life. Christians have the hardest time doing this because it effects your life the most and it also determines how separated you are from the world. When the message is about faith everyone is happy, for the most part. If we speak of works in the terms of doing good deeds then you will get, for the most part again, most people to agree and or support such things. Now when it comes to obeying God’s commandments and obeying His voice (Deuteronomy 13:4; 27:10) you will find the biggest fractures within the Christian world. Why is that the case? Simply put, people want to do what they want to do without having to TRULY change.

I would not have ever thought I would say it, but it can be said that we are saved by grace. The catch though is that to receive grace we need to have all three key and when we have them all we will receive that most honorable favor from our LORD and be accepted into His Kingdom.

Where do we want to find ourselves? Part of the World or No part of the World? The choice has always been ours to choose. The problems is that to many rely on their feelings of a clear conscience to measure up to God’s Standards and not simply listen to His voice and obey.