8/12/15 Ken
late 40’s
Ken, late 40’s,
was out fishing at a local park lagoon when I reached out to him with some
questions – first about fishing but then about his spiritual beliefs. Ken reminded me of Peter, after Jesus’ crucifixion. Peter had just spent three years with Jesus
and the other disciples – beginning with Jesus’ command to “follow me, and I will
make you fishers of men” Then, during
the fifty days after Jesus’ resurrection, Peter sort of shrugged his shoulders
and went back to his former occupation – fishing for fish. Like Peter, Ken had a strong spiritual
background, but seemed to have shrugged his shoulders also when it came to
going forward in his faith.
I believe Ken’s struggle
to answer this question was caused by – or was the cause of – some confusion he
had regarding what it means to be a Christian in the first place. I had asked him what he believes the
difference is between someone who ends up in heaven and someone who ends up in
hell. “After all”, I asked, “no one is
perfect, so how does God decide who is saved and who is not on Judgment Day? What is God’s standard for judgment?” “Well”, Ken said slowly, “If you believe in
Jesus, you can go to heaven” I pushed back a little. “You mean, that’s all we have to do, just
believe in Jesus? I mean, it says in
James that even the demons believe. Is
it enough to believe in Jesus as an historical figure like, say, George
Washington?” “No,” he answered, deep in
thought, “You need to do good deeds.
James also says ‘faith without works is dead’. So you need to believe in Jesus and do good
deeds in order to be saved” he concluded.
This is a confusing
point for many believers. On the one
hand, it seems that someone should do more than just say they believe in Jesus
in order to go to heaven. On the other hand, the Bible says that we are
saved by grace through faith – not by works. (Ephesians 2:8-9) Trying to explain, I told Ken that there are
at least two different kinds of faith.
One is ‘dead faith’, which also implies there is ‘living faith’, and there
are different things to have faith in – like the lawn chair he was sitting in. He has faith that it would hold him up, but of
course this doesn’t qualify as “living faith”.
I told him the relationship between faith and works is this – ‘faith works’. Faith is a noun and works is a verb. Good works are the result of a true, living
faith in Jesus, but it is only the faith that saves. We can’t add anything to what Jesus did on
the cross for us. He did it all. We can only receive it by repentance and faith
and respond with good works. As James so
rightly said, “Show me your faith without deeds, and I will
show you my faith by my deeds.” (James
2:18) We are saved through the kind of faith that works!
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