Tag: Jesus is Lord

Explaining my thoughts

I had a discussion with a friend about the works vs faith debate. How do we settle the differences in opinions that seem apparent between James and Paul. There are people, far smarter than me that can be called on to give the fine debate points. It can be a complicated argument. Bogged down by historical doctrines and even personal opinions about which is more important. Works based religions are very attractive, as we can see by the abundance of them.

My issue with this has always been that if we focus on works alone we are making it about us, not Jesus. This is not what James was suggesting, and it is what Paul is speaking about directly in his letter to the Ephesians.

I was thinking how can I represent this visually. So I tried laying it out in a diagram. I came up with this.

I wanted to make sure Jesus was at the centre. But then I realized this actually shows my problem with the basic debate. Whether we gain our salvation by works or faith is not the point. Both are products of our own efforts. They are both about us.

It needs to be about Jesus and His gift of grace. Without Jesus we have no redemption of sin. Without Jesus we have no salvation. So the diagram should look like this.

Paul says it best and it seems quite simple to me. Faith is what we bring to the party, along with our efforts and works to show the love of God to the worlds. But EVERYTHING else God and Jesus provided.

Ephesians 2: 8-9 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast.

How do we ‘know’ Jesus?

We get to know Jesus by using the collected books, letters, poems and histories that have been collected for us. A great place to start is the gospels.

For example Luke, written by a Greek, in a plain straightforward language is often seen as a good place to start.

But Luke starts almost like legal paperwork. There is a pedantic solemnness about the start, as thought Luke understands the great import of what he is about to undertake. The great burden of carefully and accurately passing down the information that will eventually help millions to come to a belief in Christ.

This wasn’t done lightly. These early disciples, suffered, worked and persevered for the gospel, for Christ. We should meet them with the same spirit and be willing to devote our time and effort in understanding the words they recorded.

Luke 1: 1 – 4 Many have undertaken to draw up an account of the things that have been fulfilled among us, just as they were handed down to us by those who from the first were eyewitnesses and servants of the word. With this in mind, since I myself have carefully investigated everything from the beginning, I too decided to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, so that you may know the certainty of the things you have been taught.

The light of men

The other night I had to go to the bathroom. I normally walk around with the lights off, but I had something stuck in my throat, so I turned the light on to take a look. It took me a few seconds before my eyes adjusted to the light. I took a look, couldn’t see anything, had a drink of water and turned to go back to bed. I now staggered in what was complete darkness. By the time I got back to my bed my eyes were starting to adjust again and I could see a little.

As I crawled back into bed, I thought about Jesus calling himself the light. What does this mean? How often do we consider how we interact with light.

Sometimes light is unbearably bright. We all know not to look directly at the sun – it’s intensity will blind us. And when we move from a bright sunny day into a dark space we feel blinded by the darkness. Light isn’t always gentle or unobtrusive. Light can be shocking, both in its brightness and in its absence. It is a basic human need, but we still need to protect our eyes from it.

When Jesus came to earth as a human, He came in a form that we can see and understand. He came as a lantern that lights a path. But His true nature would shock us. We wouldn’t be able to gaze on him directly. His light is what defies the forces of darkness. His light is a weapon.

John 1: 4-5 In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.