The Good That Comes From Faith

Here's today's online worship with the people and friends of Living Water Lutheran Church of Centerville, Ohio. Have a great week. God bless you!

Tonight's Weeknight Bible Study of the Gospel of Matthew, Chapter 25

Worried That You're Not Doing Enough...Maybe You Shouldn't

The great thing we begin to see as we read the Bible is that we can not and we must not work to have the kind of faith in Christ that produces good works, God-honoring works, what the Bible calls "good fruit."

That's God's job! Totally!

All we do is make ourselves available to God and He fosters faith and He creates the good fruit. We say, "Here I am, Lord," and He does everything else!

"Everything else" includes freedom from sin, death, and the devil. It also includes the changed way of life that God begins to work in the life of any person who remains available to the God Who in Jesus Christ became human, died for our sin, and rose for us.

Ephesians 2:8-10 says: "For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God— not the result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are what he has made us, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand to be our way of life."

Think about that: God has already made the good works He wants us to do; we will find them along the way as we follow Jesus Christ!

As, with open wills, minds, and hearts, we expose ourselves to God's Word and to the Sacraments, God will give us growing faith, transform our wills, and work good fruits within us. All we do is supply our availability. The grace of Christ will do the heavy lifting.

Honestly, this is the hardest part of Christian faith for me: I am not in control. God is!

Faith is a matter of giving up control and letting God do His thing in us through Christ.

"Let go and let God," is more than a catchy motto then. It really is what it means to be a Christian.

Martin Luther on 'Loving Our Neighbors'

Yesterday's installment of Faith Alone: A Daily Devotional, extracted from many of Martin Luther's sermons, essays, and table talks, struck me both personally and as a commentary on trends in both the Church and in society:

"The entire law is summed up in a single command: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'"

Galatians 5:14

After having heard and accepted the true teaching about faith, the apostle Paul seriously admonishes Christians to practice genuine good works. This is because remnants of sin remain in those who are justified. These remnants resist faith and divert us from doing true good works. Human reason and the sinful nature resist the Spirit in believers and control unbelievers. Reason is naturally inclined toward hypocritical superstition. It wants to measure God according to its own thoughts rather than according to his Word. It does works of its own choosing more enthusiastically than the ones God commanded. That's why faithful teachers must teach and impress on people true love and true good works just as much as they teach faith.

No one should think they fully understand this command: "Love your neighbor." Certainly this command is very short and very easy as far as the words are concerned. But where are the teachers and learners who actually practice this in life? These words, "Serve one another humbly in love," and "Love your neighbor as yourself," are eternal words. No one can think about, urge, and practice them enough.

It's remarkable that believers will immediately have troubled consciences if they fail to do something trivial. But these same people feel nothing at all when they neglect love and when their hearts aren't sincere and affectionate toward their neighbor. Unfortunately, this happens every day. For they don't regard God's command to love as highly as their own superstitions.*

*Clearly, Luther, in agreement with the Scriptures sees that anything that we put our trust in more than we do in the God revealed in the Bible, is a superstition. This includes our own tainted reason.