Gatekeeper
Shades of Reason
Faith is said to be the substance of things hoped for; the evidence of things not seen. The way I understand this passage is that our our faith in Christ produces grace, or rather the "substance" of our hope. When our faith is sufficient, the grace gained then produces the "evidence" of salvation, i.e "Works" (or Fruits)
Faith without works is dead, or so says James. As I understand it, this means that without the evidence, or rather "Works/Fruits" of our faith, then our faith is a false, and spiritless. Both Christ's commandments, and His grace or equally important in attaining Salvation, as without one (Grace), there can be no evidence, or rather fruits/works.
True salvation is to be filled with the fruits of God's Spirit, which are Love, joy, peace, kindness, goodness, meekness, gentleness, and self control. Only by the Grace of God, and through His son are we able to attain this type of evidence of our faith, which are the fruits of the Spirit, i.e "works". Certainly not the kind of our own doing ....
Col 1:27 To them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory
All righteous fruits come from G-d whether we recognize them as coming from Him, or not. I believe that G-d can, and does make His abode within us ~ no matter what our personal beliefs may be. Christ made this a reality, imo. He has allowed us to experience G-ds Spirit/comforter/helper in our lives, which leads us into all truth.
I certainly don't think mere belief ever saved anyone. It is our willingness to embrace G-d/His Spirit in our hearts. I'm also not certain that G-d cares about our mental concepts of who He is, but rather that we 'know' him within ourselves. Those who display fruits of the Spirit surely know Him/His grace, as these fruits cannot come from man, but from G-d alone.
[IMHO]
I believe we know G-d when we know love. The same is true for His son, as He is G-ds love personified, imo.
Joh 17:3 And this is eternal life, that they know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.
1Jn 4:7 Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God.
1Jn 4:8 Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love.
1Jn 4:9 In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him.
So, having said all this, I think our faith need only rest in G-ds Love, which was personified in His Son, Jesus the Christ. I think that when we experience the evidence of His grace, which stems from knowing G-ds love/Spirit, our faith increases in the knowledge of G-d Himself.
Any truth to this, or do you think it to be just wishful thinking?
James
Faith without works is dead, or so says James. As I understand it, this means that without the evidence, or rather "Works/Fruits" of our faith, then our faith is a false, and spiritless. Both Christ's commandments, and His grace or equally important in attaining Salvation, as without one (Grace), there can be no evidence, or rather fruits/works.
True salvation is to be filled with the fruits of God's Spirit, which are Love, joy, peace, kindness, goodness, meekness, gentleness, and self control. Only by the Grace of God, and through His son are we able to attain this type of evidence of our faith, which are the fruits of the Spirit, i.e "works". Certainly not the kind of our own doing ....
Col 1:27 To them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory
All righteous fruits come from G-d whether we recognize them as coming from Him, or not. I believe that G-d can, and does make His abode within us ~ no matter what our personal beliefs may be. Christ made this a reality, imo. He has allowed us to experience G-ds Spirit/comforter/helper in our lives, which leads us into all truth.
I certainly don't think mere belief ever saved anyone. It is our willingness to embrace G-d/His Spirit in our hearts. I'm also not certain that G-d cares about our mental concepts of who He is, but rather that we 'know' him within ourselves. Those who display fruits of the Spirit surely know Him/His grace, as these fruits cannot come from man, but from G-d alone.
[IMHO]
I believe we know G-d when we know love. The same is true for His son, as He is G-ds love personified, imo.
Joh 17:3 And this is eternal life, that they know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.
1Jn 4:7 Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God.
1Jn 4:8 Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love.
1Jn 4:9 In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him.
So, having said all this, I think our faith need only rest in G-ds Love, which was personified in His Son, Jesus the Christ. I think that when we experience the evidence of His grace, which stems from knowing G-ds love/Spirit, our faith increases in the knowledge of G-d Himself.
Any truth to this, or do you think it to be just wishful thinking?
James