musings
THE BIBLE SAYS, "Faith without works is daed." In fact, faith and works are as inseparable as sun and sunlight. Faith is the sun, good works are its rays.
To paraphrase James statement, we might say that if someone says he is full of faith and yet is devoid of works, he is only deluding himself.
A man who claims to have faith without works is like a man who puts all his efforts into building the foundationon a house and never builds anything on it.
I was hungry, and you formed a humanities club and discussed my hunger.
I was imprisoned and you crept off quietly to your chapel in the cellar and prayed for my release.
I was naked, and in your mind you debated the morality of my appearance.
I was sick and you knelt and thanked God for your health.
I was homeless, and you preached to me the spiritual shelter of the love of God.
I was lonely, and you left me alone to pray for me.
Real faith always issues in action! It hurries to meet a need. As gloves are to a surgeon's hands, so are Christians in service for God. It is actually "God's hand" doing the work. We are but used by him and therefore have nothing to boast of.
An old Scotsman operated a little rowboat for transporting passengers. One day a passenger noticed that the good old man had carved on one oar the word "Faith," and on the other oar the word "Works." Curiosity led him to ask the meaning of this. The old man, being a well-balanced Christian and glad of the opportunity for testimony said, "I'll show you."
He dropped one oar and grabbed the other called Works and began to pull at it. They just went around in circles. Then he dropped that oar and began to ply the oar called Faith, and the little boat just went around in circles again.
After this demonstration the old man picked up Faith and Works, and plying both oars together sped swiftly over the water. And as he rowed, he said to his passenger, "You see, that is the way it is in the Christian life. Dead works without faith are useless, and 'faith' without works is 'dead' also, geting you nowhere. But when they are pulling together they make for safety, progress, and blessing."
THE BIBLE SAYS, "Faith without works is daed." In fact, faith and works are as inseparable as sun and sunlight. Faith is the sun, good works are its rays.
To paraphrase James statement, we might say that if someone says he is full of faith and yet is devoid of works, he is only deluding himself.
A man who claims to have faith without works is like a man who puts all his efforts into building the foundationon a house and never builds anything on it.
I was hungry, and you formed a humanities club and discussed my hunger.
I was imprisoned and you crept off quietly to your chapel in the cellar and prayed for my release.
I was naked, and in your mind you debated the morality of my appearance.
I was sick and you knelt and thanked God for your health.
I was homeless, and you preached to me the spiritual shelter of the love of God.
I was lonely, and you left me alone to pray for me.
Real faith always issues in action! It hurries to meet a need. As gloves are to a surgeon's hands, so are Christians in service for God. It is actually "God's hand" doing the work. We are but used by him and therefore have nothing to boast of.
An old Scotsman operated a little rowboat for transporting passengers. One day a passenger noticed that the good old man had carved on one oar the word "Faith," and on the other oar the word "Works." Curiosity led him to ask the meaning of this. The old man, being a well-balanced Christian and glad of the opportunity for testimony said, "I'll show you."
He dropped one oar and grabbed the other called Works and began to pull at it. They just went around in circles. Then he dropped that oar and began to ply the oar called Faith, and the little boat just went around in circles again.
After this demonstration the old man picked up Faith and Works, and plying both oars together sped swiftly over the water. And as he rowed, he said to his passenger, "You see, that is the way it is in the Christian life. Dead works without faith are useless, and 'faith' without works is 'dead' also, geting you nowhere. But when they are pulling together they make for safety, progress, and blessing."
posted by kazookid | 10:14 AM
1 Comments:
Great illustration about the row boat. I often tell people that unles your fatih is coupled with doing, your faith is seldom tested. I believe that we should preach not a works faith but a faith that works! See comments on this subject on my blog - http://love-cc.blogspot.com
Rick
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