Our faith becomes evident to others through love. If you follow Jesus, you should serve others, and love them as yourself.
That is why you will not bring anyone to Christ by pointing fingers at their sins, but rather by showing them love even though they have fallen and sinned.
The law is given to show us that we need a savior. That we will never be able to be “good enough” and “holy enough” on our own to earn a perfect, clean slate.
We cannot earn salvation through keeping the law, but are saved through the love of God by sending his only Son to die and atone for our sins. He is the sacrificial lamb, that died in our place. The result of sin is death, but because our sins were atoned for by Christ’s blood, we are forgiven and set free.
All the laws of Moses can be summarised in these 2 as outlined by Jesus
- love God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength
- love your neighbour as yourself
When we come to faith in Jesus, He will give us the ability to do these 2 things, even these we cannot do from ourselves.
So even though we are not saved by how good we can keep the law, our faith becomes evident to others by the way we treat them, how much love we walk in.
The love of Jesus will start to flow through us to hurting people around us, as we start to help, pray for, serve others. Faith without works is dead (James 2). Someone that says they have faith, but walks in hate, unforgiveness and offense, are kidding themselves. As you follow Jesus (spend time with Him in the Word), you will slowly be transformed to look more and more like him. Always with the help of the Holy Spirit in obedience.
Thank goodness we don’t have to (and can’t) do this on our own! We cannot do this without the help of the Holy Spirit. It will not be possible to sustain this level of sacrifice, love and obedience without Him.
We thank you Lord for your perfect sacrifice on the cross. We praise you and honour you for your gift of faith and love. Please guide us, please remove any offense, unforgiveness, self-righteousness and selfishness from our hearts. We give you permission to take control of our thoughts, will and emotions, so that your love can flow through us. Please give us the mind and loving heart of Christ. Amen.
Please share this with someone else, this way you are also sharing the love of Christ to others.
You have become estranged from Christ, you who attempt to be justified by law; you have fallen from grace. For we through the Spirit eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness by faith. For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything, but faith working through love.
Gal5: 4-6For you, brethren, have been called to liberty; only do not use liberty as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this: “You shall love your neighbour as yourself.” But if you bite and devour one another, beware lest you be consumed by one another!
I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh. or the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.
Gal5:13-18For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.
John 3:16And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ This is the first commandment. And the second, like it, is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”
Mark 12:30-31What does it profit, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can faith save him? If a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food, and one of you says to them, “Depart in peace, be warmed and filled,” but you do not give them the things which are needed for the body, what does it profit? Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.
But someone will say, “You have faith, and I have works.” Show me your faith without your works, and I will show you my faith by my works.
James 2:14-18
Please share this with someone else, this way you are also sharing the love of Christ to others.
Words by Mariana Engelbrecht