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The UK Bible Students Website Christian Biblical Studies |
THE WORKS OF FAITH
All citations are to the King James
(Authorised) Version
Whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he
being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed
in his deed.
–
James 1: 25 –
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THE WORKS SPOKEN of by James are not such as earn us a reward, but refer to those internal and external actions which demonstrate that we are living a life consistent with our claims of faith. As Jesus came to seek and to save the lost, so should we emulate His humility and attitude of a servant. In addition, the Apostle instructs us that ‘pure religion’ consists in helping the poor and unfortunate, never forgetting that we must pass on the good word of the Gospel at every suitable opportunity (v. 27).
In the modern world the progress of individual liberty is desirable and inevitable.
But personal liberty of the sort preferred by the natural mind is a heady mixture, and in our sinful, fallen condition we may easily get drunk on it.
The loosening of private restrictions presents special difficulties for the Christian man and woman.
For although the Christian, as citizen, enjoys the same rights to civic and political freedoms enjoyed by everyone else, the Christian is bound to a code of behaviour which is increasingly viewed by many in Britain with sneering contempt, making it risky to go against the trend.
The basic question is not how many restrictions we should rid ourselves of, but rather which ones we ought to keep.
It is a spiritual question, pertinent to a society such as ours, which has been transformed over a relatively short period of time into a secular state, in which Christianity is given the heave-ho.
The progressive trends of the past century-and-a-half which brought the remarkable benefits of industrialisation, national and individual wealth, and the resultant economic and social freedoms, have at the same time taxed personal integrity. True freedom demands self-restraint. As bond-servants of Christ we give up the right to do what we choose. Being ‘free’ in the Christ-like sense implies a heightened regulation of our conscience, by which we habitually monitor how we think and how we behave.
The consecrated Christian puts Christ first in his or her aims and calculations.
This internal regulation opens up a godly liberty, the security of which comes from knowing that we are His and He is ours and that He is infinite in power. We need not fear anything, for Christ’s love in us pushes out fear and cultivates the peace which the world cannot understand nor obliterate.
We cannot expect perfection in this life, for sin is ever present, and sometimes tie us in knots, despite our best efforts to resist. We should endeavour to untie our hearts and minds from the strings that bind us to the nasty, squalid aspects of our private nature: selfishness, prejudice, impatience, covetousness anything which degrades our relationship with the Lord. In this age of personal esteem, the Christian must put the Self last. This is contrary to one’s natural instinct, as the Apostle Paul reminds us (Rom. 8:10):
. . . if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness.
The true worth of the Christian faith lies in the demands it makes on the
willing heart: the self-denial which seeks the will of God above the will of the
Me. It is a commitment which does not ease up on weekends or holidays.
From it will flow a healthy regard for others, a readiness to forgive, an
outflow of compassion and mercy, and a robust, intelligent prayer for the
blessings of salvation yet to come to all of humanity through the Kingdom of
Christ on earth, for which we ought to pray.
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July 2017