Faith vs Action

As Christians, we acknowledge all are sinners and only by the Grace of God do we spend eternity with the Lord in heaven.  It is understood no matter what we do in life, doing our best to live like Christ, we will all most surely fall short of the example set by Christ.  So if all of the above is true, then what is our responsibility in getting to heaven and why does it matter what we do on a daily basis?

If our actions will not get us to heaven, then why not just do as we wish?  Christ teaches, as we believe in him, we will become a new creation; the old will pass away and will be born anew as a child of Christ.  So as we accept Christ as our Lord and Savior and he forgives our sins, then are we automatically in?  Does the new creation we become turn us into the perfect Christian?  The Bible teaches us this is exactly what happened to the sinner on the cross next to Christ.  But what if you are not on the cross next to Christ and not about to die when you accept his grace?  After you turn your life over to Christ and you have another 50 years to live, what then?  What affect does living in a society that does not know the grace of God have on you, the Christian?

There are too many scriptures in the Bible about God telling us what we are supposed to be doing and the actions we are to take.  Look at a few examples where God is telling us to take action and be responsible for what we do.

Ephesians 4:22 …put off your old self.

Matthew 18 3 …unless you change…

James 1:21 …get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent…

Colossians 3:2 Set your mind on things above…

Obviously these are only pieces of versus, but they were spoken to Christians in the early church and notice the words, “put off”, “change”, “get rid of”, and “set your mind”.  These are all words of action, intended for us.

The parable Christ tells in Matthew 13:3-9 about the farmer who sows the seed and it falls on various types of ground explains the above.  The seed that fell on the path represents the Word of God that fell on deaf ears and was rejected.  The seed that fell on the rocky soil and among the thorns represented God’s Word that was accepted, but had no real commitment to it.  These plants immediately grew, acknowledging that God will do His part by forgiving our sins and giving us the power to become the Christians Christ is hoping for.  However, if these new Christians do not make the commitment to change, as the Bible teaches us is necessary, they fall out of grace.  These plants in the parable were not allowed to just exist, but died.  Only the seed that fell on the good soil, or was accepted by someone who makes a true commitment to use the power of the Holy Spirit, grew to produce fruit.

When we accept Christ and his saving grace, we are given the power over sin to change our lives.  However it is up to us to make the changes, with the help of the Holy Spirit, through the many choices we make daily.  We will often fall short, but the Lord will judge us by the intentions of our hearts.