Pastor John Collins:
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| Your work begins with your obedience-Pastor John Collins |
“Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is
dead.” James 2:17 (NKJV).
We are blessed creatures to be able to experience life.
There is a cost, though. In the end, we must all stand before the judgment seat
of Christ. That means we must come to know of our condition, what caused us to
live under this impending judgment and what we must do to be found acceptable
in the eyes of God. Sin entered the world through Adam and Eve and all of
mankind enters this world with a choice; obey God and accept Him and the
Salvation that He offers or don’t. Sounds simple enough, right? The Salvation
that He provides is reconciliation which means that all mankind has sinned, all
have broken His Commandments and all will fall under that judgment someday.
Jesus was sent by God to die for us and it is through Him that we are able to
lay hold of that grace that is the supreme mercy of God toward us. Sound like
old news, right?
Unfortunately, grace has been distorted, misunderstood and
abused. Grace has been preached incorrectly and there is a carelessness that
has become woven into the principals of grace. Yes, Jesus died for you and your
salvation is free, it is the grace of God that sanctifies you. It is your
reception of this free gift that should produce a gratefulness in you that
prods you to the works that you should be doing in the name of the Lord. Many
people think that means they need to leave the country and go become an
evangelist or humanitarian in some other part of the world, or that they need
to give more money to their churches, but that is just not so. Your works begin
with your obedience. Do you keep the 10 commandments, do you forgive others, do
you care more about what others think of you than God, do you care more about
your lifestyle, stuff and your looks than you do about God, do you care more
about your love life than your bible study and do you live a godly life at home
keeping your family firmly in the word of God so that they have the tools to
remain unspotted in this world? It all began with a marriage, a union that
produced a family and we need to make sure that our families are truly Christ
centered, praying together and knowledgeable about the instructions of God so
that we can follow those instructions and keep ourselves unpolluted and on the
path of righteousness.
Charity is fine to do, but, what good is charity if you
leave from your volunteering to go home and gossip and slander those who were
there as well, or just write a check to some non-profit and consider yourself
good? You can go and dig a well for some foreign nation all the while you are
full of hate toward your brother. You must check your heart and be honest with
yourself about your feelings, motives and desires because it will be the
fleshly temptations that trip you up and you must be on guard against the
dangers of becoming lazy in your faith.
It is necessary to understand that the grace of God is not
meant for willful sinners. We all sin, we all stumble and we are meant to
repent and seek forgiveness and go and sin no more. We are not meant to think
that Jesus died for all of our sins yesterday, today and tomorrow so we have
complete assurance and no need to worry about whether we are in obedience to
God or not. We should never take the gifts of God for granted, whether that be
the breath that we have in our bodies or the grace that He has provided for our
souls. We must always strive to purify our lives through our choices, our
actions and remember that tomorrow is not guaranteed and we need to be right
with the Lord today.
“He who says he abides in Him ought himself also to walk
just as He walked.” 1 John 1:6 (NKJV).
