The Basics

Sigh. Somehow it became Saturday night and I haven't blogged yet this week. I don't feel as bad about this as I did a couple weeks ago though, because it wasn't for a lack of ideas that I fell down on the job. I've just been busy. I thought about writing about Judas this week, or some of the other things in the book of John because that's where I'm reading right now. Honestly though, I'm really tired and I want to go to bed, so I'm going to just write something really basic that I've been thinking about a lot. That doesn't mean it's not profitable, but I do apologize that I may not be giving it 100% tonight because we should always be giving 100% to spiritual things. 

 

"If you love me, keep my commandments" John 14:15

If I don't try to keep the commandments of The Lord, I don't love him. 

"Even so faith, if it has no works, is dead, being by itself" James 2:17

If my faith doesn't make me do something, I don't have faith. 

These verses show us that it's not really a matter of "stop saying and start doing" when it comes to our spiritual lives. (Works, after all, don't make you righteous. God justifies you because he is gracious to those who have faith in him.) It's more of a matter of not being honest with ourselves and realizing that if we aren't following God's commandments, and doing good things because God is God, we don't have the qualities of faith and love that we think we have. 

So we need to just stop it right now with the "I love Jesus, but I'm going to get drunk every weekend" or the even more subtle "I love Jesus, but maybe I don't have to try so hard to stop thinking this kind of bad thought...I like this thought." And we certainly have to stop saying things like "Works can't save me so I'm just going to believe in Jesus and live only for myself" or the much more insidious "Faith saves me, so I shouldn't do this or that good thing lest people think I believe justification comes through works."

That's not love and that's not faith. If I have true love for and faith in my Lord, I will do things for him and for his people. It's the natural consequence of those attitudes. I know it's hard because no one can be perfected in love and faith on this earth, but we have to push in that direction. As we work on our hearts, the outward signs of the goodness of the inner man will increase and be perfected along with us.