I have been really looking over Scripture lately, and it is true that there is a holiness that we must have in our lives if we are to go to heaven when we die. Please read that sentence over and over until you see what I am, and am not, saying. What I am not saying is that we do good deeds to get justified, or that we do good works in order to get forgiven. We are justified by God's grace alone, through faith in the atonement of Christ alone. However, what I am saying, and something I think we can very easily forget, is that true faith works. What I mean is, saving faith desires to live righteously and fight against the sinful deeds of the flesh. As James says, "Faith without works is dead," and "works complete faith." The command by Jesus and likewise Paul was to repent, and "bear fruit in keeping with repentance." The good works that are the natural outflow of saving faith are the good fruits which Jesus and Paul speak of. So it is true, then, t...
Thoughts on the Reformed faith, preparation for ministry, and doing all to the glory of God.