Good morning and welcome in everybody. Today, we are going to take a look at a passage of scripture, but before we do that, I wanted to tell you a little story.
A lot of people up in our neck of the woods spend a lot of time fishing. After all, we have got quite a few lakes in our area, 10,000 I think, (give or take a few.) Sometimes when people go out onto the lake, they will spend three or four hours trying to catch their favorite fish, but many times they are unfruitful. They will go through their entire tackle box trying out a variety of different lures, and use up numerous types of live bait, but no matter what they do, they don’t catch anything at all. Eventually, they will pack up their stuff and head home empty-handed. But just for a moment, think about all the preparation that they had done for their trip. They had to clean out the boat, and hook it up to the truck. They had to put fresh lines and swivels on their fishing rods. They had to mix gas and pick up snacks at the grocery store. They had to get everybody into the vehicle and drive out to the landing. They had to launch their boat and make sure the motor was running properly. Finally, they had to get their life jackets on and make sure that everything was in the boat. But after a fruitless day, all of their activities were done in vain. Although they had good intentions and even believed that they were going to catch some fish, in the end, all of their efforts were in vain because they didn’t catch any fish at all.
This reminds me of the Christian Life.
When something is done in vain it is ineffectual, purposeless and produces no result. If you truly believe in Jesus, your faith is going to produce results. Unless there is a changed life and obedience to scriptural truth, then you are only believing in Him in vain.
1 Corinthians 15 ¹ Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; ² By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain.
The Apostle teaches that in order to enter into eternal life, we must remember the things that we have been taught. Sometimes in order to remember things, people will put a note on their refrigerator door, this way, when they wake up in the morning, they will see it and be reminded to do whatever it says. A forgetful hearer is somebody who hears the Word of God preached and taught, but it wasn’t important enough to do what it says. It’s like a dad telling their child to cut the lawn after school, but they never do it. Many people might know the Bible inside and out, but knowledge by itself doesn’t save us. It doesn’t matter if you can recite chapters of the Bible from memory, if you don’t apply them to your daily life, then you are only deceiving yourself. The seed of God’s Word must be combined with the fertile soil of an obedient heart in order to eventually enter into the kingdom of God. I’m sure there will be many people who have sat religiously in church pews for years that won’t be in heaven, simply because they never did what God’s Word teaches.
James 1 ²² But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves. ²³ For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass: ²⁴ For he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was. ²⁵ But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed.
We have the precious opportunity through our Lord Jesus to begin a brand new life. When we are baptized by submersion, all of the past sins before that point are completely expunged. But the requirement for us to obtain eternal life goes far beyond baptism, as it will require obedience and submission to God’s purpose for our life. God’s grace is the most incredible gift that you could ever possess, and it should result in a complete change in your life, just as it did in the life of the Apostle Paul. People must turn away from their sins and repent, because unless they do, they are only receiving God’s grace in vain.
“We then, as workers together with him, beseech you also that ye receive not the grace of God in vain.” 2 Corinthians 6:1
Many people feel that they can simply claim that they “believe” in Jesus and will enter into heaven, but salvation requires much more than that. We must remember the things that we have learned, and put them into action. Without active works of obedience towards Christ, then the faith that one professes will be fruitless in the end.
James 2 ²⁰ But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead? ²¹ Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar? ²² Seest thou how faith wrought with his works, and by works was faith made perfect?
²³ 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. ²⁴ Ye see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only. ²⁵ Likewise also was not Rahab the harlot justified by works, when she had received the messengers, and had sent them out another way? ²⁶ For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.
One of the very first and most important works is repentance and departing from iniquity, because without these things, the rest of the works are not going to matter.
Matthew 7 ²¹ Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. ²² Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?
²³ And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.
Titus believed in vain. He was appointed by the Apostle Paul to a heavenly task, but then he completely abandoned it. The grace that he had been granted, and the knowledge that he had been given was ineffectual in his life, because it never resulted in producing fruit. Judas is another example of someone who believed in vain. He turned away from his faith because he loved money more than the Lord Jesus. All the things that he had been educated in as one of the original Apostles of Christ was pointless, because it never produced in him, a faithful and obedient servant of Christ.
Some people will begin the Christian Life, but then forget that it is obedience to the will of God that leads to our own salvation. God will bless us when we faithfully serve Him. It’s more than just claiming to believe in Him, it’s doing the things that He wants us to do. The Lord Jesus wanted the disciples to become Fishers of men, but they needed to follow Him, and abide in His teachings. Unless people are converted, they will in no wise enter into heaven. Genuine faith will result in a changed life, because without obedience to the will of God, you won’t catch any fish, even if there are……
…….10,000 Lakes
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 diaries distributed through various platforms. We are not associated, nor affiliated with any other religious groups. You can get our entire podcast feeds directly, along with transcripts at tlkjbc.com or I suppose that you could find us somewhere up here, in the Great Northern Minnesota woods. Peace to you all, and Lord willing, we will talk with you some more tomorrow. Till then, bye bye everybody.❤️
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