Faith and Deeds

"For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith--and this not from yourselves, it is a gift of God--not by works, so that no one can boast." Ephesians 2:8-9

"What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him? Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily good. If one of you says to him, 'Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed,' but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead. But someone will say, 'You have faith; I have deeds.' Show me your faith without deed, and I will show you my faith by what I do. You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that--and shudder. You foolish man, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is dead?"

Pretty strong words there.
In our modern culture and most modern churches they are always claiming that 'say you believe in Jesus, and voila! You are saved!'
Well...it's a little more complicated than just that. 'Even the demons believe that--and shudder'.
Yes, we do believe and are saved by God's grace and our faith in Him, but 'faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.'. Which means not saved. The modern church invites all kinds of heathen into their body and around their vulnerable children, and tell them its okay to sin. Or, this 'saved' person goes to church and acts all proper on Sundays but lives a life of sin through the week. According to scripture, this is wrong, and a person is not saved if they live this way. They would be just like some of the pharisees, calling themselves holly and saved, yet living such a black ugly life without true faith. If you are truly saved, you will have works. Other people should see your deed that you do. Because we have faith, we do deeds.
Of course, there is the issue of a person looking and acting like they are saved but their heart is actually evil, I'm not going to talk about them, but I did want to mention them, just in case you were thinking 'what about...'.
We are not saved by works, but without works and deeds, our faith is dead, the Bible says so, not me. This modern attitude of, 'I can sin all I like and not act remotely like a Christian but I'm still saved,' is wrong and unbiblical. Like I mentioned in an earlier post, we are Christ's servants, and we have to act like one or He will cast us out where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth. If you claim to be a Christian, there is no excuse for acting like a sinner. We are a new creation in Christ, so we need to act like it not only in our hearts, but outwardly as well.

The First and the Last, the Living One

"Then I turned to see the voice that was speaking to me, and on turning I saw seven golden lampstands, and in the midst of the lampstands one like a Son of man, clothed with a long robe and with a golden sash around His chest. The hairs of His head were white, like white wool, like snow. His eyes were like a flame of fire, His feet were like a burnished bronze, refined in a furnace, and His voice was like the roar of many waters. In His right hand he held seven starts, from His mouth came a sharp two-edged sword, and His face was like the sun shining in full strength. When I saw Him, I fell at His feet as though dead. But He laid His right hand on me, saying, 'Fear not, I am the first and the last, and the living one. I died, and behold I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades. Write therefore the things that you have seen, those that are and those that are to take place after this. As for the mystery of the seven stars that you saw in my right hand, and the seven golden lampstands, the seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches.'" Revelation 1:12-20

I have a rather vivid, wild imagination, and I really must to read verses like that. We can't read it just as a story, we read some pretty bizarre tales sometimes that we imagine what would be like, then move on to real life. John's experience is not just story though, this was real this actually happened. It's so incredible, so unbelievable, can we even truly imagine what it would really be like to see such a sight? This amazing, awesome, God, the vivid picture which John portrayed Him as, became a simple man, a man's body and in our cursed world. He died, but 'behold I am alive forevermore,' Breathtaking, that's what, and humbling. I really want us to get a true picture of this, our hearts should nearly leap when we read it, white hair, a face shining like the sun, a voice like the roar of many waters, his feet like burnished bronze, and my personal favorite, which really adds so much to what our Saviour looks like: "His eyes were like a flame of fire." Think of fire, not a little candle burning in your living room, but an actually fire a big glowing flame, His eyes were like this, it almost makes me shake because it's not just a random description, this is REAL. Real: alive, not fake, not just imagination. No wonder John dropped down 'as though dead', you would too. Yet, Jesus said, 'Fear not'. Fear not, when you've just seen what John saw? Wowee. But we need a good imagination to picture it properly. I wish I could post a picture of what I see it as, but I doubt I could find it on the internet, and I know I can't draw it, so I leave it up to your imagination.
Now, "from His mouth came a sharp two-edged sword." This, I personally believe, is not a sword sticking out of His mouth, but I believe it is an analogy for words, sort of the the 'sword of the spirit', except He is speaking them. Which I think, is the most powerful of all.
So, use that imagination God has given you, to picture this real, and to USE it. 'Use it?' you ask? Yup, use it. Figure that one out :)

Here's a hint

Horrid Tongue

"Look at the ships also: though they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are guided by a very small rudder wherever the will of the pilot directs. So also the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great things. How great a forest is set ablaze by such a small fire! And the tongue is a fire, a world of unrighteousness. The tongue is set among our members, staining the whole body, setting on fire the entire course of life, and set on fire by hell. For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by mankind, but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God. From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers, these things ought not to be so. Does a spring pour forth from the same opening both fresh and salt water? Can a fig tree, my brothers, bear olives, or a grapevine produce figs? Neither can a salt pond yield fresh water. Who is wise and understanding among you? by his good conduct let him show his works in the meekness of wisdom." James 3:4-13

Oh, that horrid, horrid tongue. Very few of us have learned to control it completely. Words come out and hurt people when we did not mean to hurt. Sentences slide off our tongue like ice melting down a the side of glass. They come out so quickly and sharply, over and over and over we say words and more words. Yet, how many of these words actually glorify God fully? How many of those long sentences have offended or hurt people because of our carelessness? I hate my tongue, I wish I could stop it sometimes--or at least control it a little. Sometimes we say too little, sometimes we talk till our throats are sore, but either way, are we trying to keep every word pure and from God? I'm sure I'm not the only one who wishes their brain had a processing machine. I think a thought, it goes through the processor which decides if it's fit to say or not. But, lo! Not many of us have been gifted with such a thing. Words poor from out mouth without us thinking of them first, I believe I talk before I think even, I say things that my brain had not yet even thought the slightest bit about. Usually we know when we've said something we should not of. A sudden pang darts into our hearts the moments we say it. But my pride stops me from apologizing. Yes, my pride. When I should be saying "I'm so sorry," I sit there growing ever more guilty inside, but not being able to say it out loud.
Horrid, horrid, awful, tongue. How shall I ever tame it just a little? When will I know to shut my lips and keep silent or just listen to others? I never will be able to: "no human being can tame the tongue." No human, that means me, that means my Dad, my Mom, nobody can tame my tongue. Wait...lets look at the verse again: "no HUMAN BEING can tame the tongue." Human being, God is not a human being. He is perfect, and He is loving and helps us to grow and to change. HE can help me tame the retched tongue. If I give all my thoughts and words up to Him, He can help me. May we all surrender our tongues to Him, and only let that which edifies and builds up others come out of it.
...and lets work on that pride too...