Can’t take the credit… my friend Keith penned and pinned the following to one of my posts that I really felt was apt:
“Faith without works is dead!
Love without expression is dead!
Hope without articulation is dead!
Worship without the spirit and truth is dead!
The Body without the Spirit is dead!
Have no idea if this original with him or he read it. Doesn’t diminish the truth. If we are ‘without’ in any of these areas, we are in need of life! Can you honestly, as a born-again Christian, see yourself as having and displaying Faith without works… or Love and not express it… or Hope without articulating what your hope is and built upon … or Worship apart from doing so in spirit and trust… or your body apart from your spirit. Each one ends in a death of some kind. But that’s what ‘without’ does, it’s how it’s define – without.
James (2:14) clearly states that if there are no works, then it’s impossible to see Faith in existence. Supporting this is Ephesians 2:10 which tells us that the Father has prepared, ahead of time, works that we should walk in them! Works are an expression of our Love, Trust, and Obedience because even our faith doesn’t come from us.
“For it is by grace [God’s remarkable compassion and favor drawing you to Christ] that you have been saved [actually delivered from judgment and given eternal life] through faith. And this [salvation] is not of yourselves [not through your own effort], but it is the [undeserved, gracious] gift of God; not as a result of [your] works [nor your attempts to keep the Law], so that no one will [be able to] boast or take credit in any way [for his salvation]. [2:8-9]
Works are expressions of our understanding… coming from the foundation of Faith and built on Love. Can you really express anything of value apart from Love? Does acting on your sense of duty… or obligation… or responsibility not come from Love? Not necessarily… maybe, maybe not. But those 3 do have a lot of baggage associated with them that can get in the way of seeing or diminishing Love.
Interestingly enough… we choose our attitude, we choose our expression. Do we want others to see Love? Or what, precisely, do we want them to see from our actions? It is our decision. With? or Without? For me ‘without’ smacks of hopelessness. Praise God – we, who place our hope in Jesus. are always With!
