Faith and Works [Part 2]

Pastor author and Bible teacher Alan Wright. If you look at faith from one angle and you see the gifts that faith celebrates then you can see from this side that faith is the receiving of the pastor come to another message of good news that will help you see your life in a whole new light. I'm excited for you to hear the teaching today. In this series word and spirit of unity of balance as presented in an older church in North Carolina that you're not able to stay with us throughout the entire program to make sure you know how to get our special resource.

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Contact us@pastor.org that's pastor out.org or call 877-544-4860 that's 877-544-4860. More on this later in the program but now let's get started with today's teaching here is Alan Wright any portion of Scripture, you must interpret that Scripture in the context of the whole of Scripture I've ever if heard me preach much you you pick up on this and I want to reiterate it over and over with you. The Bible is one great story is one of things is so amazing about the word of God. How could it be that people who have different pens in different cultures and different era of time or writing down scriptures that then compiled from all of these different eras of time protected in astounding ways with her accuracy and then come together in this one book that has in it, narrative literature and has wisdom literature and it an apocalyptic literature and has instructions in it and has stories in it and has all variety of of manner of of cultural influence that might have come in through these writers, but you put it all together and it's absolutely mindbending to me as a student of literature.

How anything like this could come to pass, when right from the very beginning on page 1, you begin to see shadows and types of understanding what will actually be fulfilled in Christ himself, so that the whole of the word of God comes together in this amazing, seemingly seamless tapestry that has been woven together and has to have been orchestrated by an author who is beyond it and buffet and transcended over the marvelous thing about the Bible is that it is one great big metanarrative telling the redemptive story of a God who made a beautiful world and made people in his own image, and how those people in their rebellion against God found themselves by their sin separated from God and a golf a chasm so great that no one could ever climb over it or get through it. No one could ever pay a price that was dear and often infinite price and ultimate price. No human being was righteous. Not one of them so no one could, climb their way back to God.

So this God. This God is Creator of the ends of the art have so much love and so much compassion and so much longing that he did the unthinkable. He came in his only begotten son of God who became flesh, who never heard of such a thing in this human being, Jesus of Nazareth lived a sinless life you live the life that we couldn't live.

He paid a price that we couldn't pay. He was a hero.

He was a hero to come to rescue the damsel in distress and this hero was not just a heroic character. He was a real man in real history, and yet he is God himself is ascended on high, and is made us to be his bride forever and forever. And so it is that we've been given a great co-mission in this world and we are part of the redemptive story because were telling the whole world about the love of Jesus. I'm telling you is one story from Genesis all the way to Revelation.

And it's all woven together by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. I love the word of God is when you read a text, you read that text saying where does this fit into the story as if it into the story. If you don't read it like that with this primary hermeneutical principle. Scripture interprets Scripture to become the unclear text unclear you don't don't get worried about a more clear scriptures interpret the less clear scriptures. We know this God is love. If you read the Bible and the universe your God is love the steadfast love of the Lord endures forever more. His loving kindness is new to us every morning. God is love. So if you come to a prophetic verse that says the Lord says Esau I have hated you don't always under own know everything wrong. It's not you got it. Where does this fit into what I know to be true about who God is. Maybe kind of a natural example in the natural you could see something eyes maybe make sense of how we also look at the spiritual things. Our daughter Abigail. 18. Wonder if my wife went to add is that Abby would need to clean up your room and let's say Abby responded and said which she would not do. But if she responded and said see there you just had me so I can work for you I'm nothing but a slave around here on this Cinderella and ashes. I'm just sick of it. I think I'm gonna run away from home because that's all this is about this whole time is nothing else about it.

Just work work work that's all anybody cares about right here that's all anybody wants for me that's all you care about vendors and have had it and she wouldn't say that she wouldn't say that the reason Rosie would say that is she might sound likely my room but she wouldn't say that is because there's a whole story. That if you try to sum up our story by Abby go clean your room you missed the story you can understand this story you have to go back to the delivery room and watch my wife laboring bring that child into the world and see the love that started then you will know the story you have to see the see the father stand. There were tears rolling down his face. You have to know the story included a time was a terrible car accident could take in a child's life Angels with their attending, so she was not harmed.

You have to know 18 years of parents sacrificing for her and loving her and speaking blessing over life every day so that it would go well with her. You have to understand from a parent's perspective.

What love really is and you have to know that father would be willing to lay his life down. How foolish it would be to say it sums up the story of this household by the verse, Abby, go clean your room.

You simply love God's word. You don't pull out a little text from James ago, oh no, this unravels that instead you look at the text is I will what is God saying to us through this text. Since we know that God saves us, not according to her own merit. For the first thing that you do is you understand the nature of God that Allen Wright will have more teaching in a moment from today's important series being filled with the Holy Spirit shutting off your mind hearing for a wonderful surprise God's word and God's spirit were never meant to be separated in spirit always belong together to keep your abundant life in Christ knowing your Bible. The secret is being filled with the spirit, the answer is both word and spirit simulations emphasize studying Scripture, and some traditions emphasize the spirit to real Christian growth is both word and spirit as someone once said Pollard spirit you dry all spirit. Nowhere land. Both word and spirit umbrella. You make a gift of support.

This man will send you Allen Wright's newest album on CD or digital download wearing and spirit the beauty of violence, embrace the fullness of God's word and his spirit can grow like never before with wording spirit realm up helping someone else grow as well. And remember, when you partner with Alan Wright Ministries to be broadcasting the love of God, 2000 every day. We are in our final days of offering the special product policy 877-544-4860 877-544-4861 come to our website past Rowan.like today's teaching now continues here once again is our theology arises out of the word of God and that theology arises out of the understanding of the wholeness of the word of God. So in the end our theology matters and what you understand about who God is and why he came to justify us through his grace by the mechanism of faith as you understand that this God who created us in his own image loves us so very very much that he would rather calm and be insulted and persecuted marked tortured, suffocating and dying on our behalf rather than to simply annihilate us. God wants people in heaven.

God wants fellowship with his people.

It's who he is not trying to keep people out to be my this idea of God like you sites in the bedroom like this is messed up.

That was it didn't have enough works. You're out went to the Dixie classic fares. It is always this year and when I would play my regular game that I always win. I have hidden talents and one of them is the small basketball toss at the Dixie classic fair small basketball and a very small room. The ball will barely fit into the rim. But the Rams not very far away and I win it every year I went a stuffed animal basketball prize or something like that. I win every year. And so went over this year and I gave my five dollars, which entitled me to play three games you get to toss is gonna make both of them. No problem, and I went up and started my procedure. I'm gonna go ahead and clue you in. This is referring the secret to the small basketball toss at the Dixie classic fair you must do it underhanded. If you try to do it over handed what happens is that the ark and the height increases the level of difficulty which you hardly never make it any little mistake it will hit the RAM it'll bounce violently out if you toss it underhanded with a gentle backspin on it. I win it every year until this year I paid my five dollars. I went up I took my little spin the ball backwards a few times to get the feel for it, family backup, don't be. In my peripheral vision get my faith up pray in the spirit and then the magnetized and the man looks at me and he says I'm a let you do that over again. He said, but I need to look at this time I litter the sign in in real small print down the bottom of it. Something new had been added no underhand throws yeah no I begin my five dollars back logged on changing the rules only like that having gone I think for 20 years.

I am entitled to my animal give me my five dollars back and was not worth five dollars anyway. They God's like that like wrist down here. No underhanded throne.

I will make a little harder for you to get into heaven really. He died for you. Greater love hath no man than this, and he laid his life down for his he didn't come we want to make it harder for us to be in relationship with him. He wanted to make it possible. I come to the Scripture. Therefore, with this deep assurance, God is utterly for us and not against us. He so loved the world so come to James going own no undermines everything. Instead I remember Romans 320 pulses for by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight. I remember Galatians 2 yet we know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, Galatians 3 for all who allow works. The law are under a curse. Spurgeon, the prince of preachers said it succinctly and well.

Whatever the statement of James may be, it could never have been his intention to contradict the gospel. It could never be possible that the Holy Spirit would say one thing and one place and another and another. Statements of Paul and of James must be reconciled and if they were not.

I would be prepared sooner to throw overboard the statement of James than that of Paul.

Luther did so. I think most unjustifiably if you asked me then how dare I do say I would sooner do so. My reply is I said I would sooner throw her James and Paul.

For this reason because at any rate, we must keep to the master himself, the Lord Jesus Christ. He goes on to preach that Jesus himself said whoever believes that it was through faith. See mountains move Jesus himself was the one who died in our place and did the work in our behalf mentioning thing is actually if you read James more carefully and you look at James chapter 1 verse 21 James says therefore put away all filthiness and rampant wickedness, and receive with meekness the implanted word receive a revelation, he saying receive the word of God and look what he says about the word of God, which is able to save yourselves nothing. Your work site using the word of God which comes in is by that word it. Faith comes our lives. James also says in chapter 2 whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become guilty of all of it. So James is making it clear that you had every work of righteousness.

But you failed at one point then you build guilty of the whole law you read it more carefully. You realize that even when James says in chapter 4. There's only one lawgiver giver and judge. He who is able to save and to destroy will save ourselves.

James knows it and he knows it full well what he's saying is that if you look at faith from one angle and you see the gift that faith celebrates then you can see from this side that faith is the receiving of a gift. And so it has nothing to do with human activity, but if you were to look at it from the other side. You could see that faith. Real faith is by its very nature going to act or else it wasn't faith. He saying that faith and activity faith and works faith in the demonstration of faith are so closely connected that on the one hand, they seem to be diametrically opposed opposite of faith and works. Yet what he's saying is that you actually look at it. It's one and the same. We are all suspicious of these timeshare deals way off your promotional the give you something free if you come in and listen to the spiel and I did one in Orlando Florida. One time, and we were going to be given a festive luau. That night, it was neither festive Northeast and you have these things happen for the funniest one. My father-in-law talked about that years ago. He and his wife, the law I went up to look at something in the mountains and they took them up the hill to the beautiful units in a beautiful big Cadillac and they gave him the spiel and they declined.

They said see you later, and they so how do we get back down the mountain as it would walk the walk back down the mountain so you get something that tells you, you've won $1 million. July yeah sure sure, but let's say you just say you got a phone call and it sounded legitimate summer said that you have won $1 million. All you have to do is go lawyers office tomorrow sign some papers and received the cashiers check which got well you would go if you believe it unless you got so much money that the million dollar debt, meaning they do, in which case please see me after church I want to contact a few things, but you go if you believe that right so you could say the people that were down there signing and receiving their check, you could look at it from one angle and say there signing for it and their activity of coming down here to get it is what got them the check but on the other side you say that didn't have anything to do with it. It was a free gift. And so it was just their faith that believed it. But if you look at another site yeah but the reason you know that they believed it was. I went down there and they signed the check I sent the check so you can vote once I said not just about anybody that didn't come down and sign the check they didn't get it yet but, in other words, action of going and signing for it was so much evidence of the faith that if you didn't sign for it. You have to say you didn't believe it. It was the faith but that action the work. It was the demonstration that that faith was real.

If somebody said all I believe that million dollars is for me, but they don't go down there and sign for and get it you not say you don't believe it is what James is saying faith in you really believe something ends up getting demonstrated and what you do in fact the matter.

I think what he saying is that when you really believe something, it just shows quite naturally you can just say all I love people I love God's face urgently. I believe they got it any and you meet somebody and you have this compassion for them and you feel the love of God bursting in your heart towards them and you have provision and available means to help them and to say okay, off you go be warm, be fed and I know if you if you've got. If you've got a faith in you. There's a mission that's in you also.

And it just starts working like you can't. You can even hide it if you try. If it's real things you believe in you feel strongly about. You can hide it right.

True faith and works is the teaching and you're probably thinking 1/2 a gray space ministry and they are talking about works get Alan back here in a moment with additional insight on this for your life in a final word yet will explain that being filled with the Holy Spirit shutting off your mind hearing for a wonderful surprise God's Word and God's spirit never meant to be separated in spirit always belonged to gather the key to abundant life in Christ knowing your Bible. The secret is being filled with the spirit, the answer is both word and spirit subdivisions emphasize studying Scripture, and some traditions emphasize the spirit to real Christian growth is both word and spirit as someone once said all word spirit you dry all spirit. No word both word and spirit umbrella.

When you make a gift to support this man will send you Alan Wright's newest album on CD and digital download titled word and spirit clients embrace the fullness of God's word and his spirit realm like never before with wording spirit realm up helping someone else grow as well.

And remember, when you partner with Alan Wright Ministries to be broadcasting the love of God to every day. The gospel is shared when you get Alan Wright Ministries. This broadcast is only possible because of listener financial support. We are in our final days of offering the special product, six 877-544-4860 877-544-4861 come to our website pastor at work so Alan you have faith and works. How does this work, pardon the pun. Race based teaching where you really still have the language of works still involved here what you mean by that. Well, when we say grace works or faith works as we call today's message were really affirming what I hope is being communicated in every message that we bring forth and that is that the grace of God at work within us, does produce good works through us.

But it is not as many people suppose right works is something that is an external attempt to conform to external laws in expectation. But faith works in this way when there is a gospel awareness that comes in your life and you see the finished work of God in Jesus Christ.

Faith comes because by hearing faith comes by hearing the word of God.

And so when you have faith, you naturally act on it. I hope that's what people blisters are picking up on. If you believe that you need step in the dark room that that lightswitch is going to cut it on as faith. And so what you do you turn it on it be foolishness to stand in the dark when you believe that you can cut that lightswitch out. Well, if it's so simple. If it is real in a simple situation like that. How much more so the greater matters of life, faith by its very nature moves us into activity. So we never meant to say have never met that grace leads to idleness, grace and the faith that joins it is active, today's good news message is a listener supported production Alan Wright Ministries