Faith Alone

I saw a poster which read "Going to church doesn't make you a Christian, believing that Jesus Christ died on the cross for you and rose again, does." Now I have a problem with this statement because it doesn't define 'believe.' Even the demons believe but are they saved? How to believe was also debated during the apostles time and James answered fairly definitively;

“What does it profit, my brethren, if a man says he has faith but has not works? Can his faith save him? If a brother or sister is ill-clad and in lack of daily food, and one of you says to them ' Go in peace, be warmed and filled' without giving them the things needed for the body, what does it profit? So faith by itself, if it has not works, is dead.
But some one will say, 'You have your faith and I have works.'Show me your faith apart from your works and I by my works will show you my faith. You believe that God is one; you do well, Even the demons believe... and they shudder.” James 2:14-19 RSV

Belief is only the first step, by itself, it is not sufficient. Belief needs right action. The depth of our belief and our relationship with God is demonstrated by our relationships with the people He brings to us, not by the things we claim to do in His name.

Matthew 7:21-23 RSV “Not everyone who says to me 'Lord, Lord,' shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, Lord, Lord did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name and do many mighty works in your name? And then will I declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from me, you evildoers.”
Jesus elaborates on this teaching with the parable of the goats and sheep in Matthew 25 :31-46. Both groups addressed Him as Lord, but only the group which helped those in need were commended, the others were separated from Him for eternity. Jesus tells us when we help anyone, we help him.

We need our initial faith to believe in Him and accept what He has done for us, but we have to keep renewing that faith daily, hourly, minutely. (“Lord, I believe, help my unbelief' Mark 9:24 KJV). Thinking our initial acceptance of God's grace is going to last the rest of our lives is like thinking our one and only introductory, free visit to the gym is going to keep us fit for the rest of our lives. Following Christ is hard work and maintaining faith is difficult, it's a work out. But we persevere and as we get stronger in faith we are expected to do more. As Jesus told his disciples “Freely ye have received , freely give.” Matt 10:8 KJV
Salvation and works are joined together.

“Once saved, always saved” is a heresy which can lead people to selfishness and separation from God. Our salvation is ongoing. Any time we are free to reject all that which God wants for us. No one forces us to accept the gift and no one forces us to keep it. We demonstrate our acceptance or rejection by our actions... everything we do in relationship to others.

'Saved by faith alone.' is also heretical. Martin Luther developed that dogma at the time of the reformation. He also wanted to ignore the Book of James because it contradicted him. The only place in the Bible where 'faith' and 'alone' are together (at least in the KJV) is James 2:17 “Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone.”

Authority

Authority is a word that a lot of people don’t like. When these people think of authority, the words oppression, dictatorial and abuse often come to mind. Unfortunately, these are all results, not of authority itself but of the abuse of authority. True and non-abusive authority brings peace and stability.
When I received my commission in the military, I was rather uncomfortable. There I was, a twenty-one year old full lieutenant. The men who knew, trained and verbally abused me as a wet-behind-the ears officer cadet were now calling me "Ma’am", and saluting me.

These were men who had sweated through ten or twenty years of hard work to obtain experience in their trade and the respect of their co-workers and they became accountable to me. Me, an inexperienced know-little who by the power of a piece of paper with BSC on it plus three summers of classroom work was made their boss; men who had more military knowledge in their little finger than I had in my whole body.

I authorized their work and took responsibility for it. I was in charge, at least within the confines of my section and I was granted my position of authority by those who were in authority above me.

I was in authority because I was under authority. Unless I obeyed my superior officers and did what was expected, I would have had no authority. I was also responsible to those under me; to protect them and to assist them complete their assignments. A good officer takes care of his men first and then himself.
Nearly two thousand years ago, a military officer approached Jesus and asked Him to heal his servant. The officer was a Roman centurion, a man who commanded 100 other men. He could tell his men to jump and they would ask "how high?". He was a man who knew discipline and expected obedience. He was a man in authority.

When Jesus agreed to come and heal the servant, the centurion stopped Him and told Him it would be unnecessary for Him to come to the house, all He had to do was to say the word and the servant would be healed. The centurion went on to say that he recognized the authority in Jesus to do this because he, the centurion, was also a man under authority. Note, he did not say IN authority, he said UNDER authority.

He knew he only had authority because he was under authority, just like Jesus had authority because He was under the ultimate authority of God the Father. Being under authority did not make Jesus less than His Father, it meant He was in submission to His Father.

Our problem today is that we are too quick to view authority from a hierarchical position, a worldly position, where those with more authority are somehow considered superior to those with less. Biblical submission and authority does not imply either inferiority or superiority.

Having authority means being brave enough to delegate the authority and taking responsibility for the results. Authority used properly, should be a co-operative venture, where different people assume different roles, all roles being equally important to the project at hand and recognized as such. Yes, some one person is designated to make decisions, but if all are truly working for the Lord, then there should be no resentment from those who do not make those decisions.
Being under authority doesn’t mean giving up your opinion and identity. Rather, it brings fulfilment of your potential as you co-operate and do your part towards completion of a goal. Being under authority can also bring greater authority and responsibility. As our Lord said, 'show yourselves to be faithful in small things and you will be given charge over many'.

Authority provides structure and structure provides stability in all areas of our lives. Without authority, without voluntary submission, without accountability and responsibility we build a self-centred world without laws, without conscience and without compassion.

In short, we build a world without God, the source of all authority. This is a world where we look out for number one, where ‘if it feels good, do it’, where there are no absolute truths and where chaos reigns.

Jesus said, "He that would be greatest among you must be the servant of all."
Many want authority, but only those who submit to being under authority will have true authority, the authority that God gives.