Which do you think is better, for someone to go out in the community and tell everyone that they are the best building contractor in the entire state, but have no buildings to prove their claim, or someone who actually goes out and performs the work and has something to show that they are what they say they are? It is the latter of course, because anyone can say anything that they want and claim to be anything that they want, but it is through actions that the proof is shown.
Well this was kind of the situation that Jesus taught, because He was talking to the elders and chief priests of the temple and told them that the publicans and harlots would go into Heaven before them, because they believed and repented of their sins, while the religious leaders who claimed to be following God did not.
Matthew 21:28-32 But what think ye? A certain man had two sons; and he came to the first, and said, Son, go work to day in my vineyard.
He answered and said, I will not: but afterward he repented, and went.
And he came to the second, and said likewise. And he answered and said, I go, sir: and went not.
Whether of them twain did the will of his father? They say unto him, The first. Jesus saith unto them, Verily I say unto you, That the publicans and the harlots go into the kingdom of God before you.
For John came unto you in the way of righteousness, and ye believed him not: but the publicans and the harlots believed him: and ye, when ye had seen it, repented not afterward, that ye might believe him.
Being a Christian is way more than just calling yourself one. It is more than saying that you will do the will of God. They are merely words, but it is when you take those words and follow through by keeping them that you prove you are a Christian. One’s faith can be seen through their actions; how they live, what they do, how they carry themselves in life is indicative of who they really are.
James 2:18-24 Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works.
Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble.
But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead?
Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar?
Seest thou how faith wrought with his works, and by works was faith made perfect?
And the scripture was fulfilled which saith, Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness: and he was called the Friend of God.
Ye see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only.
The works that Jesus did proved without a doubt that He is indeed the Messiah and Savior of the world. All of the prophecies that taught about the coming Savior the Lord Jesus fit perfectly, and prove what He is. The men that the Lord chose to be His apostles, the works that they did showed that they were indeed apostles. They healed the sick, spread the gospel, started churches, even raised the dead. The things that they did showed who they were.
This is something that many people in today’s “modern Christianity” have failed to recognize. Many people that just saying that they believe in Jesus and that they are a Christian actually makes them one, but that is simply not the case. Just knowing what the Bible says and teaches does not make you a Christian any more than knowing the law in the law books does not make you a lawyer. It is when you practice the law, and use those laws to defend a client that someone is a lawyer, just as when someone reads and does the things of the Bible, that is what being a Christian is. Actions, not words.
Is your life a life that shows action? What could you point to that proves that you are a Christian?
In Christ
Andrew
Teufer Lake King James Bible Church 