Christianity Explained Information
Find Christian Unity in Biblical Explanations of the Doctrines That Count!
You
have a choice to make: You can either believe the opinions of
theologians, atheists, or agnostics, or you can determine for yourself
what the Bible says by studying it.
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Topics
What Is Christianity Explained Information?What Is Religion and Where Did It Originate?
What Is the Bible, and How Relative Is It to My Life?
What Are Messianic Prophecies?
Who Was Jesus of Nazareth, Really?
Why Are There So Many World Religions?
Why Are There So Many Christian Denominations?
What Is the Law and How Does It Apply to Me?
What's All This About the End of the World and End-time Prophecies?
Isn't the Book of Daniel a Closed Book?
Revelation: How can anyone understand all that symbolism?
Who or What Was Jesus' Mother, Mary?
Didn't Darwin Disprove Creation?
What's the Truth About Faith and Works?
Christian E-mails: the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
Complete Directory of Articles/Studies
Title Abbreviations for Books of the Bible
Genesis
- Ge
Exodus - Ex
Leviticus - Le
Numbers - Nu
Deuteronomy - De
Joshua - Jos
Judges - Jud
Ruth - Ru
I Samuel - 1sa
II Samuel - 2sa
I Kings - 1ki
II Kings - 2ki
I Chronicles - 1ch
II Chronicles - 2ch
Ezra - Ezr
Nehemiah - Ne
Esther - Es
Job - Job
Psalm - Ps
Proverbs - Pr
Ecclesiastes - Ec
Song of Solomon - So
Isaiah - Isa
Jeremiah - Jer
Lamentations - La
Ezekiel - Eze
Daniel - Da
Hosea - Ho
Joel - Joe
Amos - Am
Obadiah - Ob
Johah - Jon
Micah - Mic
Nahum - Na
Habakuk - Hab
Zephaniah - Zep
Haggai - Hag
Zechariah - Zec
Malachi - Mal
Matthew - Mt
Mark - Mr
Luke - Lu
John - Joh
Acts - Ac
Romans - Ro
I Corinthians - 1co
II Corinthians - 2co
Galatians - Ga
Ephesians - Eph
Philippians - Php
Colossians - Col
I Thessalonians - 1th
II Thessalonians - 2th
I Timothy - 1ti
II Timothy - 2ti
Titus - Tit
Philemon - Phm
Hebrews - Heb
James - Jas
I Peter - 1pe
II Peter - 2pe
I John - 1jo
II John - 2jo
III John - 3jo
Jude - Jude
Revelation - Re
Faith and Works
A battle has raged through the Christian community for eons about how one is saved. Some churches teach that you must attend (their) church every week. Some teach you must keep the Ten Commandments, while others say the law was nailed to the cross. Some have a catechism (list of rules) a mile long and others teach you need only "believe on the Lord Jesus Christ" (Acts 16:31). Some teach that you have to make pilgrimages, buy indulgences, and kiss icons, while others teach that you need only a heart-to-heart relationship with Jesus. Some say you can just do what you've been doing all along and Jesus will save you anyway. Some say obedience to the laws of God are "working your way to heaven", and others say obedience to the laws of God is a sign that you really do have a saving relationship with Jesus.
I wonder what the Bible says? Here are the first scripture that mentions believe and the first scripture that mentions faith.
And he
believed in the Lord, and He accounted it to him for righteousness.
And He
said: 'I will hide My face from them, I will see what their end will
be, For they are a perverse generation, Children in whom is no faith.
Faith seems to be a big deal to God. The thing is, how much of it are we expected to have, where does it come from, and how does it affect the way we behave?
Later
He appeared to the eleven as they sat at the table; and He rebuked
their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they did not believe
those who had seen Him after He had risen.
faith 
(f!th), n.
1. confidence or trust in a person or thing: faith in another's ability.
2. belief that is not based on proof: He had faith that the hypothesis would be substantiated by fact.
3. belief in God or in the doctrines or teachings of religion: the firm faith of the Pilgrims.
4. belief in anything, as a code of ethics, standards of merit, etc.: to be of the same faith with someone concerning honesty.
5. a system of religious belief: the Christian faith; the Jewish faith.
6. the obligation of loyalty or fidelity to a person, promise, engagement, etc.: Failure to appear would be breaking faith.
7. the observance of this obligation; fidelity to one's promise, oath, allegiance, etc.: He was the only one who proved his faith during our recent troubles.
8. Christian Theol. the trust in God and in His promises as made through Christ and the Scriptures by which humans are justified or saved.
9. in faith, in truth; indeed: In faith, he is a fine lad.
There are a whole lot of synonyms in that definition: confidence, trust, belief, fidelity, loyalty, obligation, allegiance. And there are a few more from the thesaurus: reliance, assurance, conviction. In the Bible it is also expressed as hope.
To truly understand the meaning of faith, we need to look at the definitions of all those nuances. But you can be sure, just saying, "I believe . . ." isn't faith. If you truly believe in something, it will affect you in some way. There will be visible evidences of your faith in your life.
The Biblical definition?
Now
faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not
seen.
This entire chapter of Hebrews describes faith, its practice, and its fruits.
And yet here is just one of the points on which Satan has managed to deceive mankind and destroy the Unity that Christ wanted in his Church:
For
by grace you have been saved through faith, and
that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God,
not
of works, lest anyone should boast.
That means no one can say that his or her own works supplied his or her faith. It comes as a gift from God. What you do with it determines whether or not it grows and becomes useful to you and to God.
| Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, "Why could we not cast it [a demon] out?" | |
| So Jesus said to them, "Because of your unbelief; for assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you. |
Scripture says that God, through His own grace, saves us through our faith and even our faith is not something we have within us. Neither grace nor faith is something we can develop by our works. Faith is the gift of God, given because of his grace, so that no man can boast that through his own efforts he obtained grace or faith.
Many base their salvation on one Bible verse:
| So they said, "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household." |
Some people preach that, to be saved, you only have to say those words. This is false teaching. The Amplified version of the Bible says, "Believe in, trust in, and rely on . . .", not just "Believe in". That puts a whole different spin on those words, doesn't it!
We all can believe that Jesus was the son of the Living God and that Jesus is one with his father and is therefore God, but if that knowledge doesn't affect our everyday lives, are we saved?
Satan and his demons believe in God, but are they saved?
You
believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons
believe--and tremble!
But
do you want to know, O foolish man, that faith without works is dead?
So, when I look at these texts, I see no contradiction between faith and works, but a close correlation, depending on which comes first.
When I was much younger and first read Romans 12:3,
| For I say, through the grace given to me, to everyone who is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, as God has dealt to each one a measure of faith. |
I complained that God must have dealt me a miserably small measure of faith compared to other Christians I knew. Studying with some advanced tools, however, helped a lot. I found out that "a measure" was a finite amount for a related activity, not a general term as it is now.
mevtron Metron
(met'-ron); Noun Neuter, Strong #: 3358
- measure, an instrument for
measuring
- a vessel for receiving and determining the quantity of things, whether dry or liquid
- a graduated staff for measuring, a measuring rod
- proverbially, the rule or standard of judgment
- determined extent, portion measured off, measure or
limit
- the required measure, the due, fit, measure
Each of us receives the same measure of faith; what happens to it, however, depends on whether we use it or stifle it. If we study the prophecies of the Bible and acknowledge God's ability to see the end from the beginning and warn us about what is coming on this earth, our faith grows. If we give God the credit for the good things that happen to us, it grows. When we refuse to believe that God wants what's best for us and warns us in advance of the bad things he is going to allow to happen to us, faith shrivels. If we want to increase our faith, we need to ask God to do that and he will.
And
the apostles said to the Lord, "Increase our faith."
Immediately
the father of the child cried out and said with tears, "Lord, I
believe; help my unbelief!"
He
did not waver at the promise of God through unbelief, but was
strengthened in faith, giving glory to God,
and
being fully convinced that what He had promised He was also able to
perform.
Furthermore, when we realize what God has done for us, our increasing measures of faith should result in works born out of gratitude and love.
| "I have hope in God, which they themselves also accept, that there will be a resurrection of the dead, both of the just and the unjust. | |
| "This being so, I myself always strive to have a conscience without offense toward God and men. |
The problem is not really the definition of works, but where they fit into the salvation plan. Some think that fighting sin in one's life is "doing works" trying to save oneself. They think that people who obey God's commandments are trying to save themselves. But again, that would depend on your personal relationship with God: are you doing works to be saved or because you are saved?
For instance, if you visit a shrine and think that makes you somehow more worthy of being saved or your prayers will be heard at the shrine more than at your own bedside, isn't journeying to the shrine "working to save yourself"?
If you whip yourself or mutilate yourself, trying to "prove" that you aren't proud or trying to punish your sinful flesh, doesn't that represent works "of yourself" that you might boast that you've saved yourself?
This is the same as killing and sacrificing a lamb by which the Jews began to imagine they were saved. They lost sight of the real mechanism of the sacred sacrificial services: to make you aware of the horror of sin and its result—the sacrifice of his own son, the seed of woman, that God would have to make to "buy back" or "redeem" his creation because Adam had sold creation into slavery to Satan.
Of course, Christians believe that Jesus was God's sacrifice to end all sacrifices. As Abraham was willing to sacrifice his son Isaac on the alter, so God sacrificed his only son on the cross: God indeed provided the lamb that would save all humans who desire salvation from the condemnation of sin. No other sacrifice (work) is necessary.
However, some religions preach self affliction and special offerings and other "penances" that must be performed in order to be forgiven by God. These are the works that will not get you into heaven. The only works that will assure forgiveness are confession of your sins to God and repentence or heartfelt remorse for what you've done and determination to turn away from that behavior PLUS forgiveness of others.
| If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. |
| "For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. |
But get this: if you confess your sins without true remorse or if you profess to forgive others only to receive forgiveness from God, you won't get anywhere.
| Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. |
The only works acceptable to God are works that result from love for him and thanksgiving for the gifts he's given, not works that attempt to save self or punish self.
David put it this way:
| The Lord is near to those who have a broken heart, And saves such as have a contrite spirit. |
| The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, A broken and a contrite heart—These, O God, You will not despise. |
Jesus put it this way:
| "If you love Me, keep My commandments. |
According to the Amplified Bible, the actual meaning of the original language isn't a command; it's an explanation of the meaning of love:
If you [really] love Me, you will keep (obey) My commands.
This is confirmed by Jesus' later words:| "He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him." |
And this was echoed in the apostles' thoughts of how believers should respond to the traditions and rules of men:
| But Peter and the other apostles answered and said: "We ought to obey God rather than men. |
| Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are that one's slaves whom you obey, whether of sin leading to death, or of obedience leading to righteousness? |
We have a choice, a job to do. We must choose
whom we are going to obey!
Men have claimed
that The Ten Commandments were nailed to the cross, and that they are
no longer relevant. But It Is Written:
| For He Himself is our peace, who has made both one [Jews and Gentiles], and has broken down the middle wall of separation, | |
| having abolished in His flesh the enmity, that is, the law of commandments contained in ordinances, so as to create in Himself one new man from the two, thus making peace, | |
| and that He might reconcile them both to God in one body through the cross, thereby putting to death the enmity. |
What was nailed to the cross was not the 10-commandment law, written by the finger of God in stone, but the law of the commandments that God "dictated to Moses" concerning ordinances; that is, ritual washings, sacrifices, and feasts that pointed forward to the life and death of Jesus the Messiah.
| Since we have heard that some who went out from us have troubled you with words, unsettling your souls, saying, "You must be circumcised and keep the law"—to whom we gave no such commandment |
Thinking they are saved because of the rituals they perform (pride)—including circumcision—describes people depending on "dead works" to save them, when what saves them is their relationship with (faith in) the love of the living God for his creation. Instead of working to try to save yourself, God wants you to serve him because you are saved.
| how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? |
| "Behold the proud, His soul is not upright in him; But the just shall live by his faith. |
"He
who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe
will be condemned.
| For indeed the gospel was preached to us as well as to them; but the word which they heard did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in those who heard it. |
We can hear the Gospel, we can be baptized, and we can work in the Church, and we can still be lost because, though we say we believe, when the gauntlet is thrown down by Satan and God lets him work on us, our faith vaporizes. Our relationship with God, our willingness to allow him to be what he actually is, Almighty God, Lord of all Creation, Master of our lives, has not matured over the years.
We'd rather do it our way.
Unfortunately, if we come before the judgment throne and say "I did it my way," God is likely to say, "That's too bad. In heaven, for all eternity, my will is done, not yours. If you refuse to rely on my Holy Spirit to help you do my will for an extremely short lifespan on earth (by comparison to eternity), how can you do my will throughout eternity?" Why even those who do good works in their own strength, presumably assisted by Satan, rather than by the power of the Holy Spirit (without the love of God in their hearts that leads them to obey him) won't make it!
| "Many will say to Me in that day, 'Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?' | |
| "And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!' |
If we truly believe Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God, we will believe not just that, but all of Christ's teachings. We will love him and God the Father for what they have done for us. Our love will constrain us not to just mouth the words, "I Believe", not to do grudgingly what we know we should do because we have to, but to live out the lives God wants us to live, to do those things that we now want to do because we love God every minute and we know he is in control and everything that happens to us happens for a reason, whether we can see what that reason is or not. And we will want everyone around us to experience the love and peace that results too!
The beloved apostle John says,
| My little children, let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth. | |
| And by this we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before Him. | |
| For if our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and knows all things. | |
| Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence toward God. |
My heart condemns me from time to time. That is, I know I am not worthy of the love of God. The Word of God, however, encourages me. It tells me that God so loved me (and you) that he gave his son to take the punishment I deserve, even though I don't deseve that gift. It is not my worthiness but God's love that matters!
Then my heart no longer condemns me, because I know that God will forgive me when I accept the fact that only he is righteous or holy, allow him to show me the cherished sins that infest my life and the ways I have been deceived into allowing them to continue, and acknowledge, repent, and turn away from them.
I haven't the strength to do that without Christ, but immersing myself in God's love through Bible study and prayer, learning to recognize deceitful teaching by comparing them with scripture, and asking God in prayer to create in me a clean heart moves me ever closer to that sanctification that Jesus prayed God to give me.
| "Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth. |
Lastly, staying in constant communication with God through prayer in every activity of my life gives him the opportunity to continue teaching me and demonstrating his love.
Then everything God asks me to do is a joy, a privilege—not a chore—because I am doing it with him.
We can become sanctified, though it is a lifetime process. In each step of the process we are "perfect" as we cooperate with God and believe what he tells us. We can be overcomers by faith that leads to works of gratitude toward and love of our Savior.
| But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord. |
Do not be deceived. Christ did the work that makes salvation possible for us, but we have a work to do. We need to know and love Christ and the Father. Then we can rest assured that he KNOWS us.
Related Links
Written in the HeartThe Truth About Mary Magdalene
Scriptures:
Within Text:
Genesis 15:6
Deuteronomy 32:20
Mark
Hebrews 11:1
Ephesians 2:8-9
James 2:19-20
Romans 12:3
Luke 17:5
Mark
Romans 4:20-21
Acts 24:15-16
Matthew 6:14
Galatians 6:7
John 14:15
Acts
Romans 6:16
Ephesians 2:14-16
Acts
Hebrews 9:14
Habbakuk 2:4
Mark
Hebrews 4:2
More Study:
Faith
Matthew
6:30
Matthew 8:10
Matthew 8:26
Matthew 9:2
Matthew 9:22
Matthew 9:29
Matthew 14:31
Matthew 15:28
Matthew 16:8
Matthew 17:17
Matthew
17:20
Matthew
21:21
Matthew
23:23
Matthew 24:45
Matthew 25:21
Matthew
25:23
Mark
2:5
Mark
Mark
Mark
Mark
Mark
Luke
5:20
Luke
7:9
Luke
7:50
Luke
8:25
Luke
8:48
Luke
9:41
Luke
12:28
Luke
12:42
Luke
16:10-12
Luke
17:5-6
Luke
17:19
Luke
18:8
Luke
18:42
Luke
19:17
Luke
22:32
Works
Matthew
5:16
Matthew
11:2
Matthew
11:20-23
Matthew
13:54
Matthew
13:58
Matthew
16:27
Matthew
23:3-5
Mark
6:2
Mark
Luke
10:13
Luke
19:37
John
5:20
John
5:36
John
6:28
John
7:3
John
7:7
John
8:39
John
9:3-4
John
10:25
John
10:32
John
10:37-38
John
11:47
John
14:10-12
John
15:24