Faith Made Complete
11/23/03
There is faith that has saving power and
there is faith that has no power!
Just because someone believes in God doesn’t mean
they know God.
Just because you go to church doesn’t mean you
will go to heaven.
You can get baptized and just get wet.
In Matthew 15:9, Jesus said: “They worship me in
vain; their teachings are but rules taught by men.”
Faith must be made complete!
We are not saved by our works, but our works tell if we are saved!
Ja. 2:14 What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but
has no deeds? Can such faith save him? 15 Suppose a brother or
sister is without clothes and daily food. 16 If one of you says to
him, “Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about his
physical needs, what good is it? 17 In the same way, faith by
itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.
18 But someone will say, “You have faith; I have deeds.” Show
me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do. 19
You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and
shudder. 20 You foolish man, do you want evidence that
faith without deeds is useless? 21 Was not our ancestor Abraham
considered righteous for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the
altar? 22 You see that his faith and his actions were working
together, and his faith was made
complete by what he did. 23 And the scripture
was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as
righteousness,” and he was called God’s friend. 24 You see that a
person is justified by what he does and not by faith alone. 25
In the same way, was not even Rahab the prostitute considered righteous for
what she did when she gave lodging to the spies and sent them off in a different
direction? 26 As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith
without deeds is dead.
Eph. 2:8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not
from yourselves, it is the gift of God—9 not by works,
so that no one can boast. 10 For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ
Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
Righteousness can never be attained by doing
great things!
There are many people in life who have made great contributions to society.
That’s good. But it’s not good enough to earn righteousness!
Rom. 9:30 What then shall we say? That the Gentiles, who did not pursue
righteousness, have obtained it, a righteousness that is by faith;
31 but Israel, who pursued a law of righteousness, has not attained
it. 32 Why not? Because they pursued it not by faith but as if it
were by works. They stumbled over the “stumbling stone.” 33 As it is
written: “See, I lay in Zion a stone that causes men to stumble and a rock that
makes them fall, and the one who trusts in him will never be put to shame.”
Genuine faith has to have action to be made
complete.
Mat. 7:21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom
of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22
Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name,
and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?’ 23
Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you
evildoers!’ 24 “Therefore everyone who hears these words of
mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the
rock. 25 The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew
and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation
on the rock. 26 But everyone who hears these words of mine and does
not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. 27
The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that
house, and it fell with a great crash.”
The sheep and the goats - Mat. 25:31-46.
Examples of faith being made complete through
action.
Heb. 11:7 By faith Noah, when warned about things
not yet seen, in holy fear built an ark to save his family. By his faith he
condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness that comes by faith.
8 By faith Abraham, when called to go
to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even
though he did not know where he was going.
24 By faith Moses, when he had grown
up, refused to be known as the son of Pharaoh’s daughter. 25 He
chose to be mistreated along with the people of God rather than to enjoy the
pleasures of sin for a short time. 26 He regarded disgrace for the
sake of Christ as of greater value than the treasures of Egypt, because he was
looking ahead to his reward. 27 By faith he left Egypt, not fearing
the king’s anger; he persevered because he saw him who is invisible.
31 By faith the prostitute Rahab,
because she welcomed the spies, was not killed with those who were disobedient.
It’s one thing to claim that you know God,
but something else entirely to confess Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior!
Titus 1:16 “They claim to know God, but by their
actions they deny him.”
Jo. 12:42 Yet at the same time many even among the
leaders believed in him. But because of the Pharisees they would not confess
their faith for fear they would be put out of the synagogue; 43 for
they loved praise from men more than praise from God.
Contrary to popular belief, faith is not private.
Mat. 10:32 “Whoever acknowledges me before men, I
will also acknowledge him before my Father in heaven. 33 But whoever
disowns me before men, I will disown him before my Father in heaven.