The Faith That Saves- Part 2 Series

The Lord never says things to hurt us, He never says things without having a purpose. And because He is love, He wants to jolt us into repentance after we see our true state before Him. Jesus is all Love, but He is also the Truth. So, He will always give an honest appraisal of our true condition to help us to become righteous and stay righteous so that we can make it to heaven.

This is what he says in Mathew 5: 13[American Standard Version] Ye are the salt of the earth (talking about believers) but if the salt have lost his savor if you are the salt and you lose the saltiness - the Christian character and qualities, then what good is the salt, why should we use that salt? “It is” therefore, Jesus says, “good for nothing.” Notice He says, “You are the salt.” If you don't have the character of the salt, just like common table salt, we will trash it because it’s no use. It's used to give a certain flavor - to preserve - but mostly to give a flavor when we dine.

The Lord says, “That's how distinct your Christian life has to appear before the world and before the Father. If it is not what it should be by virtue of your obedience, then it is good for nothing and to be trodden under foot of men.” That's very clear that He is not just saying it’s good to put on the shelf so that it can renew itself and bring back the saltiness. That’s not what He says. He says, “You have to have the character or you don't.”

Similarly in John 15: “I am the vine, you are the branches.” He says, “If you have the fruit that goes with the character of the vine, then you are truly the branches”. But if not, what is he saying? “Let's prune it and let's graft some other things in to make it better?” He said, “It has to be cut off” and He goes further, “It's fit only to be burned.” So very graphically and very conclusively He says, “There is no middle ground. If you are my disciple, you have to obey me. If you don't obey me, you don't have the genuine faith.” Going further if Jesus is the light and we claim to be in the light but walk in darkness, who is the hypocrite and the liar? Is it the Lord or the person who is disobeying? Certainly not the Lord! He is always the Truth. He is always the ‘Yea and Amen’ of all the promises of God. So when the Lord finally disowns those who are in the churches or those who are even preaching for their disobedience, He is not the one at fault.

He says to the Church in Laodicea Revelation 3:15, 16 “I know what you do, I know your actions.” He says,

15. “I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I could wish you were cold or hot.

16. So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of My mouth.

He says, “You are not hot, you are not with me and you are not even against me verbally or vocally. You want to associate with me and get the blessings but you don't obey me. Therefore I will spit you out of my mouth.”

Again very startling and striking words from the Lord. The Jesus of love is the Jesus with the eyes of fire. We must always remember that Our God is a consuming fire. He is holy. When we have that reverence for Him, we will automatically obey Him because we know who we are dealing with.

A wrong and a sub-standard view of God is what gets people into trouble. When things become casual, then we start minimizing His warnings and we think I am saved by grace, I am Ok, don’t judge me, leave me, and my Lord, he understands me. The Word is given and preachers of righteousness preach the truth precisely because God wants to get that message to everyone including Paul and Peter, who said, “Judgment must begin at the house of God." "Brothers, know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God.” So that obedience again is so plain to see that it must be in the faith.

Now when people use the term works, that’s a confusing term for many because the moment "works" are mentioned our mental and spiritual block goes up, that I am not saved by works. It’s almost like a mantra. We are not saved by works; it is only by His Blood, is only by faith but, James says, “Faith without works is a dead faith.” So if we can make an equation we can say this: Obedience equals works; the works that God has created us, in Christ Jesus, to perform to be the light and the salt.