Demonstration of Faith

Prayer-Soldier · Posted: Sat Mar 05, 2011 1:42 am Post subject: Demonstration of Faith

Therefore, take these words of mine into your heart and soul. Bind them at your wrist as a sign, and let them be a pendant on your forehead. Teach them to your children, speaking of them at home and abroad, whether you are busy or at rest. And write them on the doorposts of your houses and on your gates, so that, as long as the heavens are above the earth, you and your children may live on in the land which the LORD swore to your fathers he would give them. For if you are careful to observe all these commandments I enjoin on you, loving the LORD, your God, and following his ways exactly, and holding fast to him, the LORD will drive all these nations out of your way, and you will dispossess nations greater and mightier than yourselves. Every place where you set foot shall be yours: from the desert and from Lebanon, from the Euphrates River to the Western Sea, shall be your territory.

None shall stand up against you; the LORD, your God, will spread the fear and dread of you through any land where you set foot, as he promised you. I set before you here, this day, a blessing and a curse: a blessing for obeying the commandments of the LORD, your God, which I enjoin on you today; a curse if you do not obey the commandments of the LORD, your God, but turn aside from the way I ordain for you today, to follow other gods, whom you have not known. When the LORD, your God, brings you into the land which you are to enter and occupy, then you shall pronounce the blessing on Mount Gerizim, the curse on Mount Ebal. (Are they not beyond the Jordan, on the other side of the western road in the country of the Canaanites who live in the Arabah, opposite the Gilgal beside the terebinth of Moreh?) For you are about to cross the Jordan to enter and occupy the land which the LORD, your God, is giving you. When, therefore, you take possession of it and settle there, be careful to observe all the statutes and decrees that I set before you today. (Deuteronomy 11:18-32)

God did not give us His commandments for our oppression, rather, if we understand their true purpose, they exist so that the children of the Lord may live in peace with their God and one another. The commandments were given to us so that in their fulfillment, we would find peace in our day. It is the sins of man which destroy the peace and drive strife and misery among all who fall within its wake. Blessed are those who seek to turn from sin and towards the mercy, peace and forgiveness of the Lord.

God calls His children to love Him and to love one another, for in the fulfillment of this love, we remove evil from our midst. Our responsibility, however, does not end with the work of our hands, but we are also called to raise our children with the knowledge of the commandments so that the covenant of the love of God is passed from generation to generation. Blessed are they who teach their children well in the ways of the Lord, for what is taught are the fertile seeds for a blessed life, not just in this world, but in the kingdom of heaven.

But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, though testified to by the law and the prophets, the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction; all have sinned and are deprived of the glory of God. They are justified freely by his grace through the redemption in Christ Jesus, whom God set forth as an expiation, through faith, by his blood, to prove his righteousness because of the forgiveness of sins previously committed, through the forbearance of God--to prove his righteousness in the present time, that he might be righteous and justify the one who has faith in Jesus. What occasion is there then for boasting? It is ruled out. On what principle, that of works? No, rather on the principle of faith. For we consider that a person is justified by faith apart from works of the law. (Romans 3:21-2 Cool

The blessing of salvation is not earned by our works, rather it is a gift given freely by God; but what God freely gives, so many spurn in their disbelief. Without faith in our Lord, we turn our back upon the sacrifice made for our sins. If we do not accept Him, then, we have broken that through which He has reached out to us.

It is not the works of the law which is our salvation, it is the sacrifice our Savior made for each of the children of God. But if we have no works, how then, do we demonstrate our belief? If we say we have faith, but there is no works to evidence our faith, then, what is the strength of that faith? Still, we should make no mistake, our place in heaven does not come from our works for our place is provided only by the grace of God. Our redemption is only through the body and blood of Christ.

It is not ours, then, to brag of our works, for what we do would not be possible if it was not first for that of our Creator; but we do not honor our creator unless we seek to be part of His works.

Not everyone who says to me, â€œLord, Lord,â€ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, â€œLord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name? Did we not drive out demons in your name? Did we not do mighty deeds in your name?â€ Then I will declare to them solemnly, â€œI never knew you. Depart from me, you evildoers.â€ Everyone who listens to these words of mine and acts on them will be like a wise man who built his house on rock. The rain fell, the floods came, and the winds blew and buffeted the house. But it did not collapse; it had been set solidly on rock. And everyone who listens to these words of mine but does not act on them will be like a fool who built his house on sand. The rain fell, the floods came, and the winds blew and buffeted the house. And it collapsed and was completely ruined. (Matthew 7:21-27)

What we profess does not demonstrate what we believe. What we believe is proclaimed by what we do. What we say in words carries little meaning if what we do is contrary to the words. What we speak by our actions is far more powerful than our words; therefore, what we say will only have passion if it is demonstrated in our works, but works to have meaning must be guided by faith.

It is the combination of faith and works which gives meaning of one to the other. Our salvation comes from the sacrifice made for our sins so that whosoever believes in the Son of Man will not perish, but what is belief if it does not have the substance of action? We cannot earn our way to heaven through our works, for it is only through the Son we will come to know the Father, but will the Son know us if we only profess our faith in words, but deny Him through our works?

Let us, then, demonstrate our faith through our works; let us give meaning to our works through our faith. Let us give glory to God by using the gifts He has granted us to live His Word, to fulfill the commandments of love. Let us not waste His gifts by giving them over to the temptations of the evil one. Let us let our faith shine through all which we say and all which we do.

May the peace and blessings of the Lord be with you always,
Prayer Soldier