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The Daily Word of Righteousness
Belief and Righteousness, #12
You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did. 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. (James 2:22,23—NIV)
"His faith was made complete by what he did"—by what he did!
We see that righteousness comes by obeying God. What else comes by obeying God?
We already have mentioned blessing, fruitfulness, dominion, and the ability to communicate Divine Life.
But there are other results of obedience to the commandments:
-The rewards to the overcomer.
-The new man in the image of Christ, as we choose to be the servant of righteous behavior.
-Entrance into the rest of God as we do God's works rather than our own works.
Let's consider the rewards to the overcomer. The rewards to the overcomer are found in the second and third chapters of the Book of Revelation. To my knowledge, none of these rewards is obtained on the basis of belief alone. Overcoming begins with belief but is accomplished by the necessary behavior.
To give you an idea of what Christ said about gaining the rewards we usually associate with the Christian salvation, notice the following. Each statement is taken from the second and third chapters of the Book of Revelation.
-"I know your deeds, your hard work and your perseverance. I know you cannot tolerate wicked men, that you have tested those who claim to be apostles but are not, and have found them false. You have persevered and have endured hardships for my name, and have not grown weary."
-"Repent and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place."
-"I know your deeds, your love and faith, your service and perseverance, and that you are now doing more than you did at first."
-"I will repay each of you according to your deeds."
The above quotations are characteristic of the Words of Christ as He describes what He means by "overcoming." Some are teaching today that all we have to do to overcome is to believe the theological facts concerning Christ. This obviously is not scriptural.
But what does obedience have to do with forming the new man in the image of Christ?
For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. (Romans 8:29—NIV)
First, we must believe God is able to change us into the moral image (and finally the bodily image) of Christ.
Then there are things we must do. Just believing this central promise of salvation is not sufficient to bring the fulfillment.
After believing God can and will change us, we have to choose to be the servant of righteousness rather than of sin.
Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so you obey its evil desires. Do not offer the parts of your body to sin, as instruments of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God, as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer the parts of your body to him as instruments of righteousness. (Romans 6:12,13—NIV)
To be continued.