12 February 2023
Two-Minute Features | 19 February 2023 | 05 February 2023

Summarizing Faith & Works Together (TMF:2030)

Friday, February 17, 2023
Peace to Live By: Summarizing Faith & Works Together (TMF:2030) - Daniel Litton
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       We can’t have it both ways. We either believe one thing and demonstrate that by what we do, (or we demonstrate what we believe and then say the reason why we are acting that way), or we say what we want to say and then do something totally different, something that doesn’t line up at all with what we have said. We don’t want to be a hypocrite. That doesn’t help anybody. If we are saying one thing, and doing another, that’s dumb. If you really don’t believe in Jesus, it’s best you say you don’t. If you do, however, then you need to examine your actions. Are you really behaving in a way, before or after what you say, that looks like, “Yes, you believe in Jesus.” This is important. No one wants to get shut out at the end. No one wants to find that they really didn’t have genuine faith. A human body can either live with its corresponding spirit, or it cannot live at all. It’s just not possible for the body to be alive, and yet no spirit within it. This is one reason why I think, and not to get off topic, but it’s one reason I believe that animals have to have some type of spirit.

Having Faith Without Any Works? (TMF:2029)

Thursday, February 16, 2023
Peace to Live By: Having Faith Without Any Works? (TMF:2029) - Daniel Litton
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       Finally, James makes it clear for us, verse 26, “For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so also faith apart from works is dead.” Anyone can say they believe in God. A person can say she believes in Jesus. If her life doesn’t match that, though, if nothing she does really demonstrates that, then James is calling your faith into question. He’s saying, “I don’t think you really have faith.” Our bodies die when our spirits depart. And so it is with faith. Faith dies when the works depart—really, when the works were never there to begin with. How can the body say it’s alive if the person’s spirit has departed and entered the afterlife? It certainly cannot. And our faith cannot say it is real—we cannot say we really believe in God—and then not do anything to back that up. I can say, “I really enjoy Coca-Cola. I like to have a can every so often.” But if you never see me drinking it, if a Coke is never in my hand, if I am saying pop is bad for you, then you have reason to question my original statement.

Relinquishing Any Self-Righteousness (TMF:2028)

Wednesday, February 15, 2023
Peace to Live By: Relinquishing Any Self-Righteousness (TMF:2028) - Daniel Litton
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       If we really believe what God has told us, then we will what? We will show that by what comes afterwards, by how we help people and tell others about what has happened to us. I think this mention here of Rahab provides us with a good test as to any self-righteousness we may be harboring. I mean, if when you read this verse from the book of James, does it bother you? Do you wonder how James could have referenced a prostitute as being righteous? Or do you feel better about yourself when you read this verse? Again, as I’ve been saying all along, it is our self-righteousness that we need to look out for. If it bothers us at all that James has referenced Rahab here then there is a problem within us. It is the feeling that we are superior to others. Even if you’ve never done anything seriously wrong, that doesn’t mean you are inherently more valuable than a lot of people. Like I said last week, the cost to make us all righteous is the same for everyone.

Demonstrating Belief by Works, Part 2 (TMF:2027)

Tuesday, February 14, 2023
Peace to Live By: Demonstrating Belief by Works, Part 2 (TMF:2027) - Daniel Litton
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       She was already demonstrating what she believed by her actions before she said anything to anyone. This is pretty amazing stuff. And it also goes to show that if Rahab can be saved, anyone can believe in and accept the truth. The Gospel isn’t for the righteous—those who’s lives look perfect—but it is for anyone who believes. Notice all Rahab had to do was believe. That was all that was required, and that’s what she did. That’s all that is required of anyone—to believe in God’s message, as he outlines for us in the Bible, that our sin problem is taken care of through Jesus Christ. He came to the earth, died for our sins, and rose from the dead, so that all of us, no matter what we’ve done in our lives, no matter what we’re currently doing now, can believe in him and be saved, be counted righteous through his righteousness. That’s available to everyone today. And if we really believe that, if we really believe what God has told us, then we will what? We will show that by what comes afterwards.

Demonstrating Belief by Works, Part 1 (TMF:2026)

Monday, February 13, 2023
Peace to Live By: Demonstrating Belief by Works, Part 1 (TMF:2026) - Daniel Litton
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       Our next verse in James states: “And in the same way was not also Rahab the prostitute justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out by another way?” (2:25, ESV). James here is referring to an account from the Old Testament found in Joshua chapter 2. In that account, the two spies from Joshua had gotten into a pinch, and a prostitute named Rahab had helped them out first by hiding them from the men who were after them, then by misleading the King, and finally be letting the men out of her window. I want us to look at part of the text back there in Joshua chapter 2. Do you see what happened here? Rahab stated that she believed the stories about the Israelites, that what had been told about God actually happened. Sound familiar? This is the way a person believes in Jesus. And Rahab demonstrated that she actually did believe by helping out the men before she said this, and then by helping them escape afterward. James said, “she received the messengers.” This occurred before anything she had spoken.