Faith Without Deeds

As Christians who believe The Holy Scriptures is the authority for how we worship and serve the Creator God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, we know the scriptures teach us that we are saved by faith, God's grace to those who accept his Son as their Lord and Savior. All our good works cannot earn us a place in eternity with God; he gives it freely out of his great love.

Yet, those same scriptures teach us that what we do and why we do it is evidence of God's grace giving us a new life (Matthew 25:45-46; 1 Corinthians 13:1-3). New life without new deeds—is it really a "new life?" The answer is clearly a resounding "no." Intellectual belief is not enough to be saving faith. Being in conformity with a "statement of beliefs" is not enough to be saving faith. Being a member in good standing in a particular congregation is not enough to be saving faith. Jesus taught a faith which obeys what he said to do will stand the test of time and trials (Matthew 7:13-27).

On the other hand, we also have the assurance first, that God will finish what he started (Philippians 1:6), and second, that our inevitable mistakes as we live this new life does not threaten our salvation (1 John 1:8-2:2).

Faith involves trusting God enough to obey him (Hebrews 11; Hebrews 13:20-21; James 2:14-26). All of the biblical heroes of faith stumbled in their walk with God, yet, they turned back to God away from their sins and continued to trust him and serve him. They believed God meant his promise to be merciful, compassionate and forgiving. They grew in their faith by continuing to trust God enough to follow his instructions.

God is a loving Father who corrects his children for their good, but never abandons them. It is our choice to follow him into life, and as long as this is our desire, God will give us all we need to remain in his grace (Ephesians 1:13-14; Jude 20-25).