In all things we as Christians do, it must be done through faith. We must believe words that are read or preached or just spoken to us. Yet, hearing or seeing the words are not enough in themselves. Like a good recipe, if the message is not recieved along with the conviction of the Holy Spirit then the message will fall on a hard heart and not take root. God's Spirit is the key ingredient to everything we receive. If He doesn't give the hearer conviction then nothing happens.
It's the shock of having their hearts pricked in such a way that they cannot deny the presence of God working in them. The receiver knows their heart and how it had appossed God, then suddenly it's changed. It's that sudden change, that revelation of need, that glimpse into their destitute life that often wakes them up. Sin cannot be preached or shoved in people's faces and then the desired outcome be reached. For sin condemns people and piles on guilt which in turn cannot deliver hope. Love on the other hand has the power to heal and redeem and restore. It's the Spirit that introduces the heart to love and how Christ loved them enough to die for them.
People's first encounter with God is that change the Spirit does in their heart. After the heart is opened to Christ and is brought into the resurrection life, the mind must be renewed also. This is where faith comes in. After we are introduced to Christ, faith in Him should create a walk in Him. Faith without works after all is incomplete because faith should be followed by actions.
If I say I have faith in Christ and the gospel says Christ set us free from sin and condemnation, then my actions should be to walk without guilt. It's the walking out our faith that becomes the issue for many. Faith isn't the issue. We can believe we have been saved from sin but until our hearts and minds no longer walk in guilt and condemnation then faith hasn't produced fruit. Read James 1:19-27 with emphasis on 22-25.
Be doers of the word. Our mistake with most preached messages is that once we come to Christ then we do not have to do anything. This is a lie, one in which I fell for before. The lie being this, God will take care of my change. He will do His molding and making how He sees fit and all I have to do is the minimum effort of going to church once a week at best.
The beautiful thing about Christ is His sacrificial love which created a way for us to come back to the Father. Before Him, we had no way to do that. Now though, the veil between us and God is gone. This freedom from sin and guilt should create in us a grateful enough heart that we in turn want to pursue righteousness.
If a man has been freed from a life sentence in jail by another, wouldn't the freed man owe his life to the one who freed him. Consequently, our lives in Christ are not our own and we should be diligently seeking Him and His righteousness.
Pursuit is faith in action like James pointed out. We must actively pursue our appointed purpose, which is the fullness of Christ in us. How can this be done if some only believe parts of the message. We cannot pick apart the gospel of Christ and then only have faith in the parts that make us feel good and require nothing from us in return. In order for us to fullfill the call God has placed on all believers, we must first have faith in the call then walk it out.
Further into the book of James, in chapter 2, he says, draw near to God and He will draw near to you.
Galatians 6:7-10
7Do not be deceived: God is not to be mocked. Whatever a man sows, he will reap in return. 8The one who sows to please his flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction; but the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life.
9Let us not grow weary in well-doing, for in due time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. 10Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to the family of faith.
Now that we have been set free in Christ, we have a choice. As the Galatians quote so poignantly put it, our choice to do good is ours. The Holy Spirit will guide us in what is good and what is evil in the sight of God. We cannot judge that for ourselves but must rely on His gentle guidance for that. We cannot create laws for our behaviour as the law brings death. We fulfill the law of righteousness by pursuing well-doing which is dictated by the Spirit in us.
If we pursue right living without knowing what is right then we pursue blindly. The faith we have is in Christ to save and Christ to lead.
Our lives, by faith, must walk in constant contact with the Spirit in order for us to pursue good works. Most people follow the written laws in the Bible to model their lives by. However, one law may require to not be around people of bad character yet one of those people may be ready to hear about how God loves them. If your set rule prohibits you from entering a bar, and the man that needs God is in there, then the law you follow stands in the way of God wanting to move through you. We walk in pursuit of righteousness but God sets the rules of righteousness. We cannot walk with set laws as they did before Christ. We must walk in step with our hearts set on good works and being led by the Spirit.
Faith my friend is how we come to Christ and how we walk in Christ. As our walk is entirely dependent on Him, let the faith we have become actions by His leading.
May the Lord give you faith to find Him and faith to move in Him, faith to hear Him and faith to obey Him.
May God get all the Glory from salvation to our fullness in Him.
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