What a powerful thought. That there is nothing we can do to add to our salvation. As Pastor J said, why do we use our works as a religious confidence before Christ? It's as if we've brought a potato battery to a nuclear power plant, and said, "Look what I did, God".
How foolish.
When I first submitted myself to Christ, this was easy.
Of course it's by faith alone,
Of course it's by Christ alone.
Thank God, Christ has already done it all,
Because there's nothing I can do myself.
But as I got involved in college ministry, I somehow lost sight of it.
I became worried about whether or not I was doing a good job as a Christian,
Whether I was effectively teaching and sharing through bible study,
Whether people were getting closer to God through what I did.
And then somehow the status of my walk with God became how my service was. It was no longer about how my quiet times were, or how my personal relationship was.
This post is a bit of a mess. As I struggle with what it looks like to serve here in Houston, and how God has called me to serve, I pray that I would remember this. That my works are an outflow of my faith, and that I need to continue to work out my salvation.
I will show you my faith by my deeds.
James 2:18
- In justification, faith receives a finished work of Christ performed outside of us and counted as ours — imputed to us.
- In sanctification, faith receives an ongoing power of Christ that works inside us for practical holiness.
- In final salvation at the last judgment, faith is
confirmed by the sanctifying fruit it has borne, and we are saved
through that fruit and that faith. As Paul says in 2 Thessalonians 2:13, “God chose you as the firstfruits to be saved, through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth.”
from Desiring God
No comments:
Post a Comment