Friday, July 8, 2011
Matthew 7:24 Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock: and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock.
EMPHASIZE THE OBJECT OF YOUR FAITH
The Scripture emphasizes that we are justified (declared not guilty) by faith not works. Praise God that this is correct. But we make a mistake when we emphasize the act of believing rather than the object of our belief.
You can see how this could easily happen. In contrast to a work-based religion, we emphasize faith as the means by which we're granted forgiveness. Yet if we are not careful, we too can focus too much on what we do, namely on our act of believing. When I was teaching confirmation classes, the very last question on my written examination was, "Why do you think that you're going to heaven?" Over the years over 90% would answer, "Because I believe in Jesus." Now, there's nothing wrong with that answer, but wouldn't this answer give a different focus: "I believe that I'm going to heaven because Jesus lived for me, died for my sins, and rose again from the dead." Perhaps that's a subtle difference, but you catch the difference in emphasis. You're not the answer. Jesus is.
Such a foundation of Jesus is the difference between wisdom and foolishness. Those who have genuine faith are labeled as wise. The person who has his faith founded on Christ not only hears but does, not only speaks but does. Yes, though these acts are not complete and do not generate salvation they are fruits of faith and reflect the Savior.
