What Rev. T. T. Quah spoke in church last week really challenged our faith, to really do a thorough checking on our belief in Christ. Many people have really mistaken that just believing in Christ would mean that we’re saved. Most do not pay attention the level of believing in Christ. The Bible clearly states that even the demons believe in Christ, but does that mean the demons are saved too?
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. You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder. Even people who are moving powerfully in their ministries, the Bible states that some of them may not even be able to enter heaven. - James 2:18-19
“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. 22 Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ 23 And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’ – Matthew 7:21-23
All these people mentioned above, who can prophecy, can do deliverance, can do mighty miracles, even they stand a chance of not entering heaven. Isn’t that so puzzling? So what does it really take to really be saved?
Rev. T. T. Quah explained that grace is free, Jesus died for our sins to redeem us from sin, many of us know that. But how many of us wonder the significance of the Resurrection? We’re usually always stuck at the free gift of grace and forgiveness, but salvation is not just about that. Through the death of Jesus, we are forgiven of our sin, but through the resurrection of Jesus, we’ve given the freedom to choose to live our lives in accordance to God’s will.
Don Moen, a great Christian song writer said this in of his articles on worship, “God will not anoint who we want to be, He anoints who we are”. We must understand that through God, we are given the chance to live life fulfilling the very purpose of why we are made, we don’t have to live day by day trying to become someone else, but the decision is still ours to make.
Grace is free because Jesus paid for it through His death without us having to lift a finger, all we have to do is confess that we believe in Him, but Living for God has a price. As believers, we cannot be stuck at the ‘Grace’ state forever, as we mature we must grow into living our lives for God. The highest expression of one’s belief is shown through his life. What we really believe will always be evidently seen in our everyday life.
Every day I drive my car because I believe that it can take me from one place to another fast, every day I put on my shoes before I go out because I believe that it will protect my feet from getting injured, every day I wear my glasses because I believe that it will correct my vision to help me see clearly, every day I make effort to go see Carol because I believe that I will definitely have a good time spent with her.
So what we truly believe in will definitely be expressed through our actions in our everyday life. How much do we believe in God that we will read His Word every day, pray every day and live our lives according to His will every day?
Some people just believe but they just are not assured of it. Example, if I’m scared of flying, I may believe that the plane can take me from country to another safely, but I’m not assured. Another good example, being overweight I may believe that having a good diet will give me better health, but I’m not assured enough to actually live out that lifestyle. The thing that hit me hardest is that I do believe in God, but am I assured in God enough to live it out? How much do I believe in God that I would trust everything I have and my life itself to Him?
It’s a good heart-check for someone as despicable as me can be saved by His grace without me having to do pay anything, and because I believe I'm saved, I now also am assured in Him. The fruit of this assurance is that I’m more excited about God and I’m more passionate about doing what I do for God. Belief with no actions is dead, nothing will happen. The power of our believe coupled with actions, be it with or without God, will always produce something. Can you imagine what we can produce if the power of our belief, with actions, is coupled with God’s awesome power?
“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. 22 Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ 23 And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’ – Matthew 7:21-23
What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him? Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. 16If 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? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead. . - James 2:14-17
You foolish man, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless? Was not our ancestor Abraham considered righteous for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? 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. You see that a person is justified by what he does and not by faith alone. 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? – James 2:20-25
Let’s learn to live our lives as an expression of our belief in Him. We all know that God’s ways are higher than our ways, His thoughts are higher than our thoughts, that He has thought about us to prosper us is and not to harm us, plans to give us a hope and a future. So what is stopping us from living it all out for Him? The decision is up to us, make the right choice today.
This week has been awesome, we had our very first Cell Harvest, my 1I Cell group had to join with the S1 Cell group because most of my cell people were back in their hometowns. Nevertheless, we had 28 people who turned up! Praise God! We got to meet a lot of awesome new people, Grace and I got the opportunity to share our testimonies of God’s faithfulness. I believe God really touched the hearts of the people; the seed has been sown, now we have to continue to reach out to them and pray for them. I believe one day, they will receive Christ and join our church =)
I had the opportunity to play bowling twice with Rev T.T. Quah, Ps Ryan and a few Harvest Generation leaders. It was not just about playing bowling for having fun sake, although that is really important, but even through these little times spent, I have caught so many principles from these awesome people.
Really excited about this coming weekend for Cell and Church service, I know God has prepared something great for us to receive. For this Sunday, if you’re looking for a church to come or have not been to church before, come visit us at Harvest Generation Church. That’s all I have for you this week, till next time, God bless!
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