~ In Jesus We Have The Fruit of Righteousness, 2 ~
Introduction ~ In
this series we look at a few of the verses which state what we have when we are
“in Christ.” Consider our series theme
verse:
“God,
who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even
when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by
grace you have been saved), and raised us up together, and made us sit together
in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come He
might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ
Jesus. For by grace you have been
saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of
works, lest anyone should boast. For we
are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God
prepared beforehand that we should walk in them” (Ephesians 2:4-10).
Scripture ~ “What
does it profit, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but does not have
works? Can faith save him? If a brother or sister is naked and destitute
of daily food, and one of you says to them, ‘Depart in peace, be warmed and
filled,’ but you do not give them the things which are needed for the body,
what does it profit? Thus also faith by itself, if it does not
have works, is dead.
“But
someone will say, ‘You have faith, and I have works.’ Show me your faith without your works, and I
will show you my faith by my works. You
believe that there is one God. You do
well. Even the demons believe — and tremble!
But do you want to know, O foolish man,
that faith without works is dead? Was
not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered Isaac his son on the
altar? Do you see that faith was working
together with his works, and by works faith was made perfect? And the Scripture was fulfilled which says, ‘Abraham
believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.’ And he was called the friend of God. You see then that a man is justified by
works, and not by faith only.
“Likewise,
was not Rahab the harlot also justified by works when she received the
messengers and sent them out another way?
“For
as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also”
(James 2:14-26).
A
Critical Differentiation ~ The only good works which God recognizes are
those that result from faith in Him.
Works of an unbeliever are worthless in God’s sight!
“For
by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves;
it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in
Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should
walk in them” (Ephesians 2:8-10).
Additional
Scripture ~ “I
say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the
flesh. For the flesh lusts against
the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one
another, so that you do not do the things that you wish. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not
under the law.
“Now
the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication,
uncleanness, lewdness, 20 idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies,
outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders,
drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I
also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not
inherit the kingdom of God.
“But
the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness,
goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law. And those who are Christ’s have crucified the
flesh with its passions and desires. If
we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking one
another, envying one another” (Galatians 5:16-26).
~ Robert
Lloyd Russell, ABUNDANT
LIFE NOW blog.
* * * * *
Bible
Version: Quotations
are from the NKJV unless otherwise noted.
Emphasis is added.
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