Today is Tuesday, January 18th, 2005; Karen's Korner #462
On Saturday morning, our Marys and Marthas group held our monthly meeting. In our three short years of existence, the M & Ms have gotten a pretty good reputation for "doing good things" in our community. I shared the following Bible verses and comments from my Bible commentary with the gals.
If we are such wonderful "doers", why does God tell us that it is more important to be "believers"? Doesn't He need us to "do"?
For me and my personality, I think it is harder for me to be a "believer" than a "doer".
God tells us to "believe" first and our "belief" will affect what we choose to "do":
Romans 3:27, 28 -- "Then what can we boast about doing, to earn our salvation? Nothing at all. Why? Because our acquittal is not based on our good deeds; it is based on what Christ has done and our faith in Him. So it is that we are saved by faith in Christ and not by the good things we do."
Commentary -- "Most religions prescribe specific duties that must be performed to make a person acceptable to God. Christianity is unique in teaching that the good things we do will not put us right with God. No amount of human achievement or progress in personal development will close the gap between God's moral perfection and our imperfect daily performance. Good deeds are fine, but they will not earn us eternal life. We are saved only by trusting in what God has done for us.
Why does God save us by faith alone? 1) Faith eliminates human pride; 2) Faith exalts God, not people; 3) Faith makes salvation available to all; 4) Faith admits that we can't keep the law or measure up to God's standards--we need help; 5) Faith is based on a relations with God, not on performance for God.
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