REFLECTION: Faith and Deeds

This post isn't a worship game plan, but just something I was drawn to really think about over this week. I was sitting in a discussion with a small group and the discussion was based on faith and deeds found in James 2:14-26. It was quite interesting to see how something so simple can sound a little confusing when we were trying to take this particular passage apart for our better understanding. I only started to really think about the passage when it hit me earlier this week. I was in Tim Horton's (definitely, a Canadian thing) enjoying my soup with my parents when a homeless man approached us asking for change for food. I didn't have any change with me, but I did offer to buy food if he was willing to wait in line with me since I only had my debit card with me. He looked a little hesitant to the offer and just walked away to sit somewhere else. I wanted to be wise how I was going to give to someone in need, so I decided to buy him food regardless, not because I felt bad, but it felt more like it was the natural and right thing to do. That's when I started to think - how come it felt natural to get up and do something kind for someone in need?

As I read the passage again, I started to see how faith and deeds work hand in hand. No work done can be justified without seeing a visible result. You can't just tell your teacher you did your homework without actually handing something substantial in. Imagine? I would have passed ALL my classes with flying colours.

Let's start with the basics. I broke it down how faith and good deeds relate to each other in a flow chart:

GOD

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God's grace

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Sacrificed Christ on the cross

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Salvation was given to us

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We are made righteous through faith

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We are saved

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We are free from bondage of sin = obligated to do good to follow Christ (John 14:12)

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We are changed = natural way of Christ-living

Justification is the act of God's declaration over sinners to be righteous through the work of Christ on the cross, but only by faith (Romans 5:1). Our good works does not free us from our sin, but Christ's doing does. We don't need to add our good works to Christ's sacrifice on the cross to justify our salvation, because He did that for us. If we look at it this way, if our good works could save us from our sin, why would Christ have to die on the cross? Our righteousness would have been based on the law, and we know that we would have been guilty right away. Christ needed to die in our place, which means our good deeds could not save us. However, that doesn't mean we are exempted from doing good. NO. Because we've been made right through faith, we are saved. This means, we are free from doing anything bad, evil, or worldly. Our faith in God, who is good to us, changes us to do good for others. What do you think? xBN.