Faith & Works - Part III: Without Faith

Archived on Feburary, 2001

Part Three: Without Faith, Works are Dead too.
That's right, one without the other is dead. As we learned in the last part, like a body without the spirit. We have learned what Faith is, and how without works that faith is dead, but did you know that works are dead without faith as well? In this last segment of our series on Faith and Works, I hope to show you how this is so.

Romans 3:10 As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one:
Romans 3:11 There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God.
Romans 3:12 They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one.
This was written in Psalm 14 and Psalm 53. None are good, none righteous by their own doings.

Let's go to that wonderful Gospel of Matthew, Chapter 19.

Matthew 19:16 And, behold, one came and said unto him, Good Master, what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life?
Matthew 19:17 And he said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God: but if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments.
Jesus here states, there is only one who can be called good, and that is our Father. Yet Jesus answers his question. Only keep the commandments.

Matthew 19:18 He saith unto him, Which? Jesus said, Thou shalt do no murder, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness,
Matthew 19:19 Honour thy father and thy mother: and, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
Matthew 19:20 The young man saith unto him, All these things have I kept from my youth up: what lack I yet?
The young man was well on his way to eternal life, he had kept all the commandments from his youth until the present. Did he lack anything? Yes, know what that was? Faith! Faith in the Father, Faith in Yahshua!

Matthew 19:21 Jesus said unto him, If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me.
Matthew 19:22 But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful: for he had great possessions.
Whoops, he didn't want to give up his money. He must have been pretty rich, but it wasn't the riches that would do the final sealing of eternal life, it was the ACT OF FAITH IN GIVING THOSE RICHES UP TO FOLLOW CHRIST. If the man would have trusted in the Father instead of his riches, If he would have had faith to follow Jesus, and prove it by an act of righteousness, then he could have eternal life. We are saved By Grace THROUGH FAITH IN JESUS CHRIST. Without faith in Yahshua, we cannot have that life that is promised. We cannot be saved by our works.

Ephesians 2:8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
Ephesians 2:9 Not of works, lest any man should boast.
Ephesians 2:10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.
We cannot be saved by our works. If God did it that way, eventually man would start boasting about how, "Look at me, look at all the good things I have done." There are those who think that by being nice and treating fellow man well, they will get into heaven, it don't work that way.

James 2:24 Ye see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only.
I hope you see how without works faith is dead, and also without faith, works is dead. It is our works that show the world who we belong to. Our good works, allow us to let His light shine. Yet, if we have those same works, but do not trust in God with all our heart, they are for nothing. They are in vain. So to sum it up:
James 2:18 Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works.
Let us all strive to live that life and let our light shine forth as the noonday sun! I suppose to really understand what this all means, we have to define what it means to have dead faith and dead works. Anything that is not alive by the Holy Spirit is dead, so if God isn't in it, it isn't really alive at all. If you have any questions or comments on this series, please e-mail me or check out the Ekklesia Forum and post your questions there.
Father Bless, Carl Towns

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Part III