James 2 - Grace without works is dead. Why?

 "As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead."

Walk the talk. This phrase is seen all over. If you believe something, then show it. If you believe in Jesus, then follow Him and His ways. If you believe in God, do everything in your power to please Him.

Let us compare the body without the spirit. It is an empty shell. There is no life in it. So faith without action has no life in it. It is not saying that we will be judged by the Law but rather that if we live by grace, then life in grace shows a different fruit. If the fruit does not show, then the tree is dead. It needs to be nourished. It needs to be attached to the vine.

We need to be attached to Jesus and the fruit automatically shows. It is not the fruit that is important but the attachment to the vine. However, if we show no fruit, then it means that we are not attached to the vine. You can believe all you want that you are attached to the vine but the results prove otherwise. Just as you can say you have worked your hardest, but the results prove otherwise.

So live not for the fruit but for the vine but use the fruit to monitor your growth. Because if you lack action, then it means you lack faith.

Feeling Condemned?

Wednesday, March 27, 2013

Feeling condemned?

Romans 8:34

Who then is the one who condemns? No one. Christ Jesus who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us.

Because the Lord Jesus Christ sits at the right hand of God, interceding for us, we are no longer condemned. Condemnation is no longer a word for us to live in fear of. For because of Christ, the enemy cannot make us rejected by God. Now God accepts everyone who believes in His Son Jesus Christ and it does not matter if you slip into sin.

In Christ there is no longer condemnation. This of course does not mean that we are licensed to sin. In fact Christ did not die for us so that we can sin. He died to save us from the consequences of our sins. And when He did, He gave us the power to overcome sin. Those who believe in Christ and His resurrection power no longer have to be overwhelmed by sin. In fact in Titus 2:12, grace teaches us to deny ungodliness.

So why do we need to know that in Christ there is no condemnation? It is because directly or indirectly, we are naturally prone to live in condemnation. Take for example, if you fail an exam, are you still rested or do you feel condemned? If you fail to keep the ten commandments, do you feel condemned? If you fail to make a close one proud, do you feel like you have not done enough? All these are, to me, are examples of being condemned by your failures and mistakes. But fear not, everyone makes mistakes, everyone fails in life. To get to your success is to fail multiple times and learn from it.

What I am getting at is that our Lord Jesus Christ has already paid for you so that you no longer have to feel condemned. Because no sin on earth, nor failures you have made could separate you from the love of God. And as long as we know that, we can remain rested and stressed free because our God does not condemn us. In fact, He just wants to draw us closer to Him.

The Living Dead

Romans 6:1-14
Thursday, November 11, 2010

We have died to sin and are now living to God. Like the living dead, haha.

“Sin shall have no dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace.”

So grace is not license to sin because if you are under grace, then you have died to sin and sin should no longer be a problem for you to overcome. I remember the day I accepted Christ. Something changed in me that made me alive unto God and all the sins like speaking vulgar or causing trouble were all gone. That was when I was a kid.

I am sure you’ve heard stories of drug users coming to know the Lord and overnight, their habits just disappear. Smokers and alcoholics, when they received the Lord Jesus Christ, turned over a new leaf and stopped altogether their addictions.
Before this, sin had a grasp on us. But after we have been resurrected with Christ spiritually, our habits turn to dust. Now that we live for God, we are no longer in bondage and cannot get out - because God has given us the grace to come out of sin. Sin no longer has dominion over us.

So therefore, sin has no more dominion over us. The only problem we have is if we decide to go back to it. Christians who get disappointed with other Christians tend to turn back to habits to “satisfy themselves”. However, now that they are in God, they should know that the only thing that could satisfy them again would be to come into the presence of God.

God has given us the grace to overcome sin. It is like a gift given to us. If it remains unwrapped, then it remains unused. And we all know that an unused gift is like a gift not given at all. So use your gift, the gift of grace, to help you walk the life God has called you to live – that is the higher calling!