7/10/11

we be friends


You and I are friends!!! It doesn't matter if your skin color is a bit off or if you are a bit too large or even if your nose is bigger than everyone else's; we are friends!!!  Friendship with God is like that too, HE doesn't care what you look like or where you come from or what you do for a living; HE is your friend irrespective of these issues.  What does HE care about?  Read the following passage and find out...

James 2:19-26 (WEB)
19) You believe that God is one. You do well. The demons also believe, and shudder.
20) But do you want to know, vain man, that faith apart from works is dead?
21) Wasn’t Abraham our father justified by works, in that he offered up Isaac his son on the altar?
22) You see that faith worked with his works, and by works faith was perfected;
23) and the Scripture was fulfilled which says, “Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him as righteousness;” and he was called the friend of God.
24) You see then that by works, a man is justified, and not only by faith.
25) In the same way, wasn’t Rahab the prostitute also justified by works, in that she received the messengers, and sent them out another way?
26) For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, even so faith apart from works is dead.

Martin Luther called the book of James an "epistle of straw"; why, because it contradicted his doctrine of "faith only".  As I read it, Abraham's belief in God was coupled with actions and concrete action showed his faith to be real.  James also refers to Rahab, a prostitute, who helped the spies as the nation of Israel conquered the holy land.  What you do is important to God!  If even demons believe in God, then just believing in God isn't going to get you into heaven.  Again, its what you do as a result of your (confident trust) belief.  I may not be much to look at, but if God is my friend, I AM SOMEBODY SPECIAL.  Now, the only thing that remains is the question:  If I believe in God, then what am I going to do about it?  Hint:  Read Acts chapter two as a starting point.