Emily Fridenmaker is a regular contributor at 'for we have rebelled.'
You can find her at A Relentless Embracing of Good.
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We are not saved by works.
Let me say that again.
WE ARE NOT SAVED BY WORKS.
Jesus’ death on the cross and his capture of a sinner’s
heart does that.
However, we as Christians are saved TO works.
When we trust in Jesus, when our present and future hope is
in Him and all that He is, we get to experience the mercy that gives us not
what we deserve (hell), but a relationship with the Creator that extends into
eternity. We get to experience His gifts—gifts that we enjoy freely and that
are far better than those a good dad would give to his son. We get to
experience his love—His relentless, undeserved, perfect, entirely one-way love.
These are wonderful things and they are not meant to terminate on us.
Mercy, gifts, love, time, money...we get to experience these
things with open hands.
None of these things belong to us, we don’t deserve any of
them…God gives them to us in order that other people might see HOW GREAT HE IS.
We are stagnant consumers, taking what the church has to offer...
If the extent of our involvement in the working kingdom of
Christ is saying a half-hearted prayer for someone and throwing a check in the
offering plate twice a month, no one is seeing the tangible outworking of the
Gospel in our lives. We are stagnant consumers, taking what the church has to
offer but not loving it enough to live and speak the Gospel back into it. This
can cripple a church. Because after all, the church is a body and we are a part
of it. One does not function optimally or efficiently when part of one’s body
is refusing to work. Giving of ourselves strengthens the Body as a community of
believers that GENUINELY love and care for our brothers and sisters.
And lest we be deceived that works in the Kingdom are only
for ‘others,’ let’s remember that reaching out to help is for us too. Giving of
our money, our selves, and our time strengthens our faith and our trust in
God—it brings about the realization that He
will provide for our needs in all situations. It is vital for us to know in
our heads and our hearts that nothing that we can do for ourselves, no amount of
possessions or time can satisfy our need for a Savior. If this is true, then why
do we cling so tightly to them, ignoring God’s commands and his people?
...it brings about the realization that He will provide for our needs in all situations.
When we are satisfied in Christ and totally experience His
goodness, how could that goodness not overflow
in our lives, reaching those in our communities?
What I don’t want to happen is for someone to read this and
think, “Alright, now I just have to go do all these things and help this person
and volunteer here and etc. etc. for Jesus!” The conclusion I hope you as a
reader will come to is as we press in to
Jesus, as He draws nearer to us, our hearts will begin to be broken by that
which breaks his. We will love Him more, and in turn love His people more.
Ultimately, the thought I will leave you with is this: HOW can we possibly be saved and
transformed by Jesus and the Gospel and not be motivated to follow his commands
and love his people—people who are sinners….exactly like us.
James 2:14-17
What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him?
If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, and one of you says to them, "Go in peace, be warmed and filled," without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that?
So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.
