Day 3200 of the 7 day Bible verse challenge.

James 2:18 NIV

While salvation is indeed not based upon works, it's our works that evidence our salvation.

Because even though I can’t show you what I believe in, I can do something, say something, give something that shows you that I really do believe in it.

And honestly, there should be noticeable changes in our lives, in our words, in our undertakings having now been taken under His wing and loving led into this process of sanctification. Yes, process, ongoing, unending, a purpose for which He came to begin a good work in us, a work which He will carry onward until the day He returns, meaning it’s still unfinished as shown in that we’re still not perfect. And so why do we think we can be finished, that we are finished?

How can we be finished if there’s nothing in us that shows we’ve even gotten started?

The purpose of salvation is just that, to save us. But the mission of faith is to walk, to talk, to live, to breathe, to be in our very existence something that shows that we have been saved. But so often we stop at assuming the gift without giving any of ourselves in return. Why? Why do we fear works in regard to faith? Why are some so willing to argue against the necessity of evidence as shown in everything we now do being different than what we’ve done before? I just don’t understand the misunderstanding. He saved us, but what did He save us for?

To do nothing until we’re home? Ok, seems weird though to me. But then again, maybe I’m just weird.

And yet it’s not hard to find someone who’s more than happy to tell you that you don’t really need to do anything, that salvation is the end of it. That once you’re saved, you’re done. Well done, good to go, wait patiently until He returns. Hope you know what He looks like, sounds like, what that day will be like. But then again, you’d have to read the Bible for that kind of information, and well, reading is action, action is work, so maybe even reading the Bible is unnecessary.

And so no, don’t think I’m all that weird after all. At least not in regard to this one.

I've discovered this rather intense discrepancy over all the years spent doing this. It's this ongoing debate among those who are considerably or just considered theologically minded. There's a rather large leaning toward one side of this proverbial fence, but I fear that it's for all the wrong reasons, reasons all but entirely selfish in nature. In fact, I fear that any who don't understand a message like this here in James only misunderstand it because of a tendency toward stagnancy.

Works based faith.

For the last couple of days we've been talking about how Christ's gift of Himself resulting in salvation for everyone else has, by no means whatsoever, anything to do with any of us. It is a gift, a choice chosen by our Creator who chose Himself to give Himself to all of us who had forgotten who He is whilst forgetting whose we are. His call, His coming, His accomplishment.

"Not by works, so that no one can boast."

That's literally the word-for-word, copied and pasted perfection of Ephesians 2:9, the very verse discussed yesterday here in whatever you want to call this thing I'm writing every day. But the very point of the Gospel is that He chose what we wouldn't, as shown by our works having been focused supremely if not fully upon ourselves and our successes and our desires and our dreams and the plans we've wasted our lives perfecting and pursuing so as to reach all of the above.

He humbled Himself in leaving Heaven behind, exchanging a crown of glory for a crown of thorns so as to show an arrogant humanity that all we've become is inhuman on this wrong side of right living in whatever shadow that we hope can hide what we don't want seen in His sight.

And so the debate has nothing to do with whether or not we need to work in order to earn our salvation. That answer is clear because the cross makes it so. Salvation is not based upon a person's merits, achievements, mastery or material worth. Salvation is the gift of God given to all regardless of how egregious their lives lived apart from Him have been.

With me so far? Hope so, because here's apparently where it gets sort of dicey: Show me.

What do you see? What are others showing? Is there anything to be seen? Is there any changes to be seen? Is the person you are now the person you were before the cross? Can you undeniably testify to an alteration of attention, devotion, even a slightly lessened interest in worldly commotion? Is there anything in your life, in your heart, in your mind that is new, evidence that you've found what He came to lead us toward?

And there's where I think so many are choosing to get tripped up.

He came to lead us, not just to save us and leave us. But when you look at the different sides of this entirely mindless and unneeded debate, you'll see that one side is only fighting so hard because of this fear of investment. Movement. Requirement as required by our having been reacquired and now reacquainted with our Redeemer.

But those requirements, those movements, those obvious pieces of evidence showing that we're something different are met constantly with our tendency toward laziness. Yep, not sorry. Everything we do is done in the laziest way possible. We're a people of shortcuts, stop-offs, pit-stops and picnics. If there's an easier way to do something, we'll find it or we'll fake it just so that as little is asked of us as possible.

And my fear is that this whole idea of works in the realm of faith is being mangled into these misunderstandings simply because we'd rather sit than stand. We love that He came for us but that He calls us to not stay lost is another story. Because that demands something of us. And yes, it would seem that even something as relatively effortless as focus is well within our wondering if it's absolutely necessary.

Because, and here's where we need to be completely honest with ourselves, we again want to put forth as little effort as possible in regard to everything we do. And I think that that mindset has long manifested itself inside our approach to faith as well.

And that is what ought to be entirely unacceptable in response to what He’s done for which we’ll forever be undeserving.

We can give Him an hour on Sunday morning. Hour and fifteen is pushing it. Buck thirty, might miss kickoff. We can shift side to side to act like we're not bored out of our minds for three songs we sung last weekend, but do we really need that extra chorus? Oh good, plate’s coming around, gotta couple ones in my wallet, fair enough, why worry about the math? Prayer? Sure, repeat what's worked so far.

My point is that it seems as if Sunday best's and bumper sticker are sufficient as far as evidence of our redemption. But what we have to understand is that while we don't have to work for our salvation, He's still coming back to see if there will be faith on earth when He returns.

What will He see?

Will He find a people sitting in a church building waiting for Him to hurry up and get around to it? Will He arrive to see a bunch of people twiddling their watches and winding their thumbs wondering when it might happen? Are the poor still lacking? Any food for the hungry? Anybody being told about His gift? Any fire or urgency to make sure others are safe and saved knowing that today might be it?

Does He see a kind of faith living as if today is it, our last chance?

What does He see?

Fishers of men. A body being sent into all the world. Come, follow me. Take up your cross. Get up, take your mat and go home. So much of what we read in the Bible is actionary in nature. It's movement made mandatory as it manifests our mission to follow. We have work to do, a Word to speak, a hope to share, a love to prove. Yes, prove.

Why are we so afraid to prove it if not because we might happen to find we’ve nothing by which to prove that we have been saved and set free? Why this arguing over works done in response to faith? No, it's not about working for our salvation as if we can either earn it or pay Him back. It's about what we're doing that shows we've accepted it. It's our hearts burning at the bit to say something, do something, change something just so that we know that we've not missed it.

Not because we can miss it but because there should a fire inside that reminds us that He came to move us.

Has He? Have we? Will we?

I believe our fear of works as related to faith comes down to this hesitancy to overextend ourselves. We know we don't need to earn His mercy, because we know we can't earn His mercy. That's the whole point of mercy! It's given to those who don't deserve it. So our deserving what He's done isn't the concern. It's what are we doing that shows we've been changed by what He's done?

Are we spending so much time trying to rewrite His Word just so we don't have do anything? Are we fighting amongst ourselves just so we can inject our selfishness into this story? Do we honestly think that He did all He did just to leave His followers to do nothing but wait until they either died or He returned?

Where's the investment in that? Not on His part, we know that part. What are we putting in to this gift we've been given, not to earn a greater share but to show that we've received it?

Friends, faith by works is nonsense as that's by no means how this whole salvation thing works. But works from faith, I can't see how any can't see the necessity of that. Because if our faith is nothing but words or opinions or ideas never acted upon, then what is it even? That's the very point James makes in the verse just prior to this one.

"In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead."

Do you have a dead faith? I know it sounds crazy to some, a faith dead? How can faith be dead if we know we believe? But no, how can faith be alive if it doesn't inspire you to do anything?

My whole point for today is that there ought to be action on this side of His action done to accomplish for us what we couldn't do for ourselves. Because now that He's cleared the way by clearing away all that kept us stuck, if we remain stagnant it is by choice. And if we choose to not move, to not change, to not serve so as to not extend ourselves, well then we've chosen to let Him down.

Because He deserves more than lazy people waiting for Him to come back and put an end to our waiting. He deserves a people so passionate about His promise that our feet can't run fast enough to find enough to possibly do to hopefully show Him just how much His gift really means.

But in the end, it's for each of us to decide what His gift does mean. He’s already proven how much this gift means to Him. And in order to prove it meant something, He laid down His very life so that all might see just how important this opportunity really is. But still, He doesn’t force anyone to take it that seriously themselves. In fact, billions have already come and gone who never found any reason to even admit His existence.

And while we claim to be among those who do believe, and that is good, what is there to point to that shows the world you mean it? Is there anything we’re saying, doing, sharing that proves that He’s begun a work in us that is in fact changing us from who we were before we accepted Him into our hearts, into our lives? Are we made new, and is there evidence that shows it?

No, He's not asking us to earn His gift of salvation, because it wouldn't be a gift at point. But my point is that He shouldn't have to ask us to get up off our rears and get ourselves on the field to fight this good fight considering the misery He went through just to give us that chance.

Are we taking that chance, or is it passing us by while we wait watching the sky?

Friends, a stagnant faith is a dead faith. And love of laziness aside, He deserves more than that. It doesn't matter how weak we are, how poor we are, how bad we are at speaking or writing or thinking or believing or cooking or reading or helping or whatever. We all have something that we can do to share Him with those who may not know Him. All of us have some skill that He gave us to use. Use it or lose it, they say.

And no, I’m not saying we can lose our salvation. But if we’re afraid or unwilling to work from faith so as to show the whole world that we do believe in Him, we just might be letting laziness convince us of something we don't actually have.

So, as the Bible says, show me. Not because I need to see it, not because you need to see what I’m trying to do. No, simply because He does see all that we do or could have done. With that in mind, will what we’re doing be met with “Well done” or “I never knew you”? It will only go one of those two ways. We should fight with all we have for the first, not because our salvation hinges on our efforts but because our efforts are all we can offer to the One who gave us all we have.

Friends, we can’t show the world what we believe in if what we believe in doesn’t inspire us to do anything. But if we really do believe in Christ and all He’s done for us, in us, we should be ecstatic to show the world all the changes He’s made in these lives we claim are vastly different than those we lived before. So what do you have to show, and if you can’t think of anything, then what do you really believe?

Do you really believe if you’ve no evidence that you can believe in?

In the end, not having to work for salvation will convince many that they don’t have to do anything to keep their faith alive. But if you’re willing to risk a dead faith, then I don’t know what to say. I’ll say again that He deserves more than that. But it all comes down to how much we’re willing to give in light of all He’s given for us.

Don't get to the end of this life only to find out you could have gone a little further, tried a little harder, testified a little louder and thereby found a deeper measure of this faith He came to ignite inside of us. This gift is worth everything we can give, not to earn it, but to show that we've loved it as much as He loved us in order to offer it to us who don’t and still don’t deserve it.

#LeaveNoSoulUntold