Hearing my pastor share on this passage in the Bible, the fall of King Saul due to his disobedience to God's word, brought to mind many things that had happened the past day. It is a difficult message to write on, but something I feel compelled nonetheless to share.
For those who have read James 2, or were with us yesterday at Bible Study.. =) Sometimes in our christian walk, we may struggle with the concept of faith and deeds. Hebrews 11 explicitly says, "And without faith it is impossible to please God...", while in James 2 we find a strangely jarring statement "You see that a person is justified by what he does and not by faith alone." How can we define faith? Can we, and should we contrast the fiery evangelist and the so-called 'lukewarm' christians? The thief on the cross in Luke 23 certainly had done nothing, no good deeds in his life to redeem him in the eyes of Jesus, yet his simple profession of faith, "Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom." gave Him the assurance of salvation, "I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise."
I believe the reading of James calls for a revision of what 'faith' and what 'deeds' are. And this is where obedience to God's will comes in. Reading 1 Samuel 15, Saul certainly appeared to have strong faith in the Lord, and deeds as well, intending to take the best of the enemy's sheep and cattle 'in order to sacrifice them to the Lord your God at Gilgal.' But the Lord's explicit commands to him were, "the Amalekites; make war on them until you have wiped them out.", leading Samuel to reply "To obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed is better than the fat of rams..."Despite Saul's faith, and the deeds that he had intended, his disobedience to God's will cost him his crown.
Too often we try to rationalize our faith and our deeds, worrying whether we've done enough, passing judgment on other people's faith... When it all boils down to simple obedience to God's will. And what is this obedience? Jesus says in Luke 9: 23 "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me." Dying to our old selves, and coming to embrace the new self that Christ's sacrifice on the cross has freed us to become =) This I believe, are the deeds James speaks of, obedience to God's will, that natural expression of our faith.
And is this faith? I've heard of so-called practical atheists, who view christianity as some sort of 'marshmallow grace' (to quote Ben Sim), made of hypocrites who continue sinning, and only have to just say sorry and they will be resolved of their guilt, to continue sinning again. I'm not here to pass judgment on anyone, but to just simply state that no amount of apology on our part, or deeds for that matter, can reconcile us to God other than through the blood of Jesus Christ. And this I believe, is how the first section of James 2 comes in, "For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it."The chasm between us and the Lord at the start is inevitable, given our sin and God's perfect and moral character, starting from the Fall at the Garden of Eden, where we stopped being fully human in the sense of separation from God. And so it is by Jesus' sacrifice on the cross alone that we can be reunited with our heavenly Father once again, and freed to be truly human in this reconciliation =) And that's the power of praying in Jesus' name, not just mere apologies, but true repentance and a commitment to a new way of life! "But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound." (James 5:20) And so faith is that combination of repentance and obedience, that make up true belief in Christ.
For this reason I believe that no one can make you feel 'unsaved', much less should we compare our faith against another's and feel more superior or inferior. After all, "The Lord does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart." (1 Samuel 16:7) Jesus himself highlighted this in the parable of the two sons found in Matthew 21:28-32, the son who responded to father's command to work in the vineyard with "I will, sir" but did not go, while the other answer "I will not" and later changed his mind and went. The pharisees at the time professed their faith, but did not carry out what they preached, while the tax collectors and the prostitutes, initially resistant to the gospel, proved to be the true followers of Christ, obeying God's will.
For that reason, I can only say on Fusion night 2009, to agree with Ted, in asking 'Lord, complete the work you have started today, if not tonight, then in your own time'. Truly, it was a deeply troubling night that has renewed once again my burden for the people, but nonetheless, I believe God's love alone enough to bear this burden for us all. For in the end "what does it matter? The important thing is that in every way, whether from false motives or true, Christ is preached. And because of this I rejoice." (Philippians 1:18). I'm guilty myself of judging others many times, struggling with pride and self-righteousness. May God's love alone give me strength to overcome this weakness, and I humbly ask the forgiveness of anyone I may have hurt or made to feel that way ._.
Fusion 2009, 'We LOVE our God.' As Nicole said, it definitely isn't just solely what we want people to see, but rather how we can answer that to God himself. I pray that this declaration will have come from hearts humble in obedience to the almighty God, true hearts of worship, a generation of God's people ready to take up the cross and lay down their lives for Him. And may we continue to look forward, with hope and joy in our hearts, to the day when Christ shall say, "I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise." =)
Nevertheless, I thank the Lord for a truly wonderful event, Fusion, that has brought so many people, from all walks of life and from the many churches of Singapore, to come and celebrate the work He has done in this nation! Thank you Lord, for the ACJC CF, Andrea, Jeannette and so many others, for the ACS(I) christian ministry, for your many other ministries in the churches and schools all over Singapore, brothers and sisters united as one body of Christ! Truly Lord, it was a wonderful time of worship, lifting hands in praise to you in the quiet lull of that Saturday afternoon =)
God bless,
Petrina
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