Good morning and welcome in everyone. Today, we are going to take a look at a passage of scripture, but before we do that, I wanted to share something with you.
To inherit eternal life requires a little bit of effort on our part. What I mean by this is that the gospel should cause a reaction in the way that you live. If you truly believe in Jesus Christ and what he did for you at the cross you’re going to have a desire to undergo a change in your life. Many people nowadays will claim that they believe in Jesus but the word that they need to understand is the word ” believe “. What does it really mean to believe in something? I will give you a few examples that I’ve used with my family over the years.
If I’m sitting in the living room, and I really believe one evening that it’s going to rain overnight, my belief will cause me to go up onto the road and shut the windows on my truck. So you see, when we believe something it results in an action. Let me give you another example. If you believe that your dad is going to stop by and pick you up to take you fishing on a Saturday morning, your belief will cause you to pack your things and stand by the door, waiting patiently for his arrival. Once again, when we believe something it causes a reaction.
Noah believed that the end of the world was coming, and his belief led to a reaction in his own life. It caused him to prepare by building a huge vessel to save his family and the animals from the destruction of the Earth. Genuine faith most certainly will result in an action. Once again, many people say that they believe in Jesus, but what exactly does the word “believe” mean? If I believe that there is a snowstorm coming, I will make sure to cut more firewood for the house beforehand. Faith will lead to actions. It’s more than just saying “I believe” but it’s having actions and deeds in your life that prove that you believe. Deeds are the proof that something is happening inside of our hearts. Moses believed in God and look what happened in his life. He walked away from all the treasure and riches of Egypt. Many might ask why he gave it all up. It is because he found greater riches in the things of God. God became his greatest treasure. When Moses believed in God, it resulted in an action.
There’s an old saying that actions speak louder than words. The Apostle James taught that we need to become doers of the word and not just hears only. It’s more than just saying ” I believe ” but it is about living what you believe. Those who profess to have faith in Christ but have no actions are only fooling themselves. What if Noah had said that he believed in God but never bothered to build a ship? The result would have been his family perishing in the flood along with the rest. There is more to Christianity than Just words. There is more to Christianity than just telling God that you love Him.
We prove our love to God by our actions. We prove our love to God through our obedience to His will. We prove our love to God through submission to His purpose. This is why the apostles taught that we need to prove ourselves worthy of God. It’s more than just saying the words, ” I believe ” It’s more than just wearing a t-shirt with a verse on the back. It’s more than just carrying a Bible in your pocket. It is about having results in your life that prove that you truly believe in Him with your heart.
In the Old Testament people were trying to be saved by the works of the law, apart from grace. In the New Testament, we are not saved in that manner, we are saved by the grace of God. We are saved through His forgiveness and mercy. But if you truly believe in your heart in His grace, there will definitely be results in your life. Look at the life of the Apostle Paul as an example of what happens when you truly believe in God. Look at what happened in his life when he got forgiven for his past. Look at the change that his left went through. His belief in the Lord Jesus Christ resulted in actions. His life went through a radical change in so much that it shocked a lot of people. It resulted in a change in his heart and in his life. A man who was once persecuting churches was now planting them. A man who is once trying to destroy the work of God was now building upon the foundation of Christ.
Actions are the proof of Gods sanctifying grace happening inside of our hearts. Without actions then it is only words. Words by themselves don’t save us, faith from the heart does.
When we say the words “I believe in God”, they are only words until you walk out the door of the church, and apply your belief to your life. Christianity is allowing ourselves to go through a change by accepting the teachings of scripture. Depending on where somebody comes from in the world, it can result in drastic changes in a person’s life. God can take the chief of sinners, as Paul claimed to be, and transform him into an apostle of God. God can take a fisherman, who called himself a sinful man, and use him to preach His word. If we are truly Christians in our hearts, then we need to prove it by our actions. We need to show it by our faithful obedience to the will of God. We need to become doors of His word rather than just hearers only. True faith will produce results that lead to eternal life and salvation. This is the kind of faith by which we are saved.
Without results of obedience, without the results of sanctification, without the results of transformation, then a person is only deceiving themselves. So as we begin talking about at the very beginning, what does it mean to believe in something? Christianity is more then words. Christianity is more then a profession of faith. Christianity produces the results of faith. These are results that people will see in your own life. They are the same results that happened in the life of Moses, Noah and Abraham. We too need to possess the same results of faith to eventually obtain eternal life.
Where is the proof of what you believe? Where is the evidence that shows God is working in your heart? Do you really believe that it’s going to rain tonight? Will your belief cause you to rise up to action? Will it cause you to prepare? Will it cause you go outside to the truck and……
……Shut the Windows
Let’s think about these things for right now. We can be found on your web browser by searching tlkjbc, where you can find our recorded diary lessons, distributed through different platforms, or by getting our entire podcast feeds directly, along with transcripts at tlkjbc.com, or I suppose, you can find us somewhere up here, in the Great Northern Minnesota woods. Lord willing, we will talk with you some more tomorrow. Till then, bye bye everybody. ❤️
Teufer Lake King James Bible Church 