What is a fascinating subject when discussing it with those who go to church? They have been indoctrinated to believe they cannot go above sin. A sinner saved by grace is their god. Confessing Jesus is Lord, but not living it. At what point do churchgoers finally stand up to sin and say, “NO MORE!” When are they going to finally believe Jesus defeated sin and they are in Christ and Christ in them? “For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace.” So if you have been truly saved by grace, then sin has no dominion over you. I know this sounds foreign to you, but at what point do you look in the scriptures for yourself and realize that the truth has set you free?
We who are followers of Jesus have been saved by grace through faith and not by works. This doesn’t mean that you don’t do good works. You have been saved to show the world that Jesus is alive and active, sharper than any two-edged sword. “First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all, that your faith is spoken of throughout the whole world.” If you have been saved by grace through faith, do you live by that faith? “For in it (the gospel) the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith.” Faith without works is dead. “What does it profit, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can faith save him? If a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food, and one of you says to them, “Depart in peace, be warmed and filled,” but you do not give them the things which are needed for the body, what does it profit? Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. But someone will say, “You have faith, and I have works.” Show me your faith without your works, and I will show you my faith by my works. 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? Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered Isaac his son on the altar? Do you see that faith was working together with his works, and by works faith was made perfect? And the Scripture was fulfilled which says, “Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.” And he was called the friend of God. You see then that a man is justified by works, and not by faith only. Likewise, was not Rahab the harlot also justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out another way? For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.” I said all of that, but many will revert to Ephesians 2:8-9. I agree with them, but sadly verse 10 is left out. If verse 10 is added, then all of what James wrote above makes sense. “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. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.”
I pray that your eyes of understanding be enlightened to what God did save you from. Once you know the truth, the truth has set you free. For where the spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. “Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. 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.” Be blessed, my friends.
