Motion Sick

Have you ever had motion sickness from swinging? I have, and let me tell you- It's not fun. You can be left queasy for days even after you get off.

Today, my spirit is motion sick: The swing of religion has made me sick to my stomach, but I just can't get off. Why? It's name is Salvation, and the two extremes are Faith Alone and Faith + Works. The problem they have is also the same as a swing's- you can't stay up on either side indefinitely. This debate which has been going on for thousands of years will most certainly not be fully explored in this tiny blog post, but I do want to give you a quick summary:

We are saved by the grace of God through our faith in Jesus Christ alone, but our works are evidence of what we believe.

Ephesians 2:8-9 sums this up easily. If you believe the Bible, you have to believe what it says.
For by grace you are saved through faith, and this is not from yourselves; it is God's gift— not from works, so that no one can boast. For we are His creation—created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared ahead of time so that we should walk in them. (Emphasis Mine)

Our works do not save us and they never will. Our works should come from the overflowing love and gratitude we have for what Jesus Christ has done for us. If there are no works, the question becomes, Are you not grateful enough to do something about it?

If I told my child I loved them, but never took any time to clean their clothes, cook their food, talk for hours, help with homework, cuddle them, or play Sorry! for the millionth time, would they know that I truly love them? What evidence would they have?

Even Jesus had something to say about this;
 ⁴³ "A good tree doesn't produce bad fruit; on the other hand, a bad tree doesn't produce good fruit. ⁴⁴ For each tree is known by its own fruit. Figs aren't gathered from thornbushes, or grapes picked from a bramble bush. ⁴⁵ A good man produces good out of the good storeroom of his heart. An evil man produces evil out of the evil storeroom, for his mouth speaks from the overflow of the heart.

   

 ⁴⁶ "Why do you call Me 'Lord, Lord,' and don't do the things I say? ⁴⁷ I will show you what someone is like who comes to Me, hears My words, and acts on them: ⁴⁸ He is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock. When the flood came, the river crashed against that house and couldn't shake it, because it was well built. ⁴⁹ But the one who hears and does not act is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. The river crashed against it, and immediately it collapsed. And the destruction of that house was great!"
Luke 6:43-49


The point is, your life needs to be evident to those around you that it belongs to Jesus Christ. 


Is it?


*For another great Scripture passage on this read James 2.