Faith Obeys. After showing the importance of belief, Jesus urges Nicodemus to action. But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God (John 3:21). In the original wording, lives by is from the simple verb do. The person doing the truth enters the light. Nicodemus must both believe and do. Jesus, of course, knows how Pharisees work for their self-righteousness. So He describes the action He requires as done through God (or more literally, worked in God). This work depends on God, not man. It credits God, not man. It submits to Gods will, not mans tradition (see Mark 7). Jews later ask, What must we do to do the works God requires? Jesus does not satisfy their desire to earn merit. He replies, The work of God is this: to believe in the One He has sent (John 6:29). Any work Jesus may demand is simply belief in action. When the Lord commands, true belief obeys. Disobeying proves ones confession of faith to be false. Why do you call Me, Lord, Lord, and do not do what I say? (Luke 6:46). Not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven (Matthew 7:21). Jesus describes people who seem confident, and who confess Jesus as Lord. Yet He rejects their faith. Why? They are evildoers, a word literally meaning ones without law (Matthew 7:23). Their sin is leaving out Gods commands. They go to the same place as demons, for their faith is demonic. Even the demons believe...and shudder (James 2:19). Demons confess, yet remain rebels until their miserable end (Matthew 8:29; Jude 6). James warns us against their kind of faith alone. Saving faith, he says, actively obeys. You see that a person is justified by what he does and not by faith alone... As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead (James 2:24,26). Paul agrees with this. He fights human works such as circumcision. Yet he knows that work done through God is essential. Notice what Paul says in Galatians 5:6: For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value. The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself [literally, working] through love. Now listen to the same apostle in 1 Corinthians 7:19: Circumcision is nothing and uncircumcision is nothing. Keeping Gods commands is what counts. Finally, hear him again in Galatians 6:15: Neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything; what counts is a new creation. New creation comes through faith; and according to inspired writers this kind of faith works...obeying the truth (Galatians 5:6-7). That sounds exactly like Jesus. While discussing new birth, He requires faith doing the truth. Dear friend, do you believe enough to obey? Only obedient faith can receive the gift of new life. God Himself makes your new purity - your new birth - a matter of obeying the truth of His word: You have purified yourselves by obeying the truth... For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God (1 Peter 1:22-23). Like Nicodemus, we need to believe in Jesus as more than a teacher. He is the Savior, without whom we will die. Faith in Jesus means that we accept facts about him as true, and we are willing to confess that belief. But beyond those things, it means that we place our trust in Him rather than in our own abilities. When we believe this way, God saves us because of His mercy, not because of the good things we do. Because we trust Him, He is able to lead us into eternal life. 1.Romans 10:17- Faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ. 2.Acts 4:12- Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved. 3.John 1:13- Yet to all who received Him, to those who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God - children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husbands will, but born of God. 4.Romans 1:16- I am not ashamed of the Gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes.... 5.Matthew 7:21- Not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven. God of grace, increase our faith in You. A man once said to Jesus, Lord, I believe. Help my unbelief. Like that man, we come to you with some belief and also some doubt, asking for your help. You have said that you can do great things with even a little faith, so use what we have. Please use our growing faith as we seek to know You and obey You.
Posted on: Wed, 09 Jul 2014 22:15:07 +0000
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