Faith and Works [Part 1]

Pastor author and Bible teacher Alan Wright.

We are part of the redemptive story is were telling the whole world about the love of Jesus. I'm telling you it's one story from Genesis all the way to Revelation it is all together by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.

I love the word of God as pastor come to another message of good news that will help you see your life in a whole new light. I'm doing the excited for you to hear the teaching today.

In this series word and spirit. The beauty of balance as presented in an older church in North Carolina that if you're not able to stay with us throughout the entire program to make sure you know how to get our special resource. Right now it can be worse for your donation this month to Alan Wright mysteries. So as you listen to today's message go deeper as we send you this resource. Today's special offer. Contact us@pastor.org that's pastor@a.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 right is your faith. Christians your faith is not dead. It's a lot a true Christian's faith is that life to edit its does the stuff that life.moving acts and feels, thinks works and and so faith without that would be dead but faith is real faith. Real faith that you have in Christ. It's something that is powerful faith works we say and by this nuanced meaning I I mean the first place. Faith works in a sense of like there's a factory for faith like a faith works place and is in the word of God and tenant is in this and the testimony of our lives. It's an is in the fellowship of the saints is the worship of God of our faith grows and is built in, so there's a way in which our faith that there's something working, that's building our faith but is also a sense in which faith works in the sense that it is it is effective in this. But once hot today about how it is that faith is demonstrated by the way that it works and the place to find this message of this mystery of the balance of faith and works is in James chapter 2 James chapter 2, an attorney, there are. This is an epistle that lovers of grace and of the gospel of grace may not turn to as often, but I hope that I'll be able to demonstrate for you today that James is not in conflict with Pauline gospel is not in conflict with the whole beauty and notion and power of being saved by grace through faith but that he is looking at this from the angle of what real faith is all about. So James chapter 2 verse 14 James to verse 14.

What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works that face-saving if a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking a daily food and one says them go in peace want filled out giving them the things needed for the body, what good is so also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.

But someone will say you have faith and I have works. Show me your faith apart from works now show you my faith by my works. You believe that God is one. You do well, even the demons believe, and shudder. Do you want to be shown, you foolish person that faith apart from works is useless.

Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered up his son Isaac on the altar. You see that faith was active, along with his works and faith was completed by his works, and the Scripture was fulfilled that says Abraham believed God, and was counted to him as righteousness. And he was called a friend of God.

You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone and in the same way, was not also Rahab the prostitute justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out by another way for as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so also faith apart from works is dead, so faith works is that message I read this week about an Amish man.

He had made his first trip with his family to a shopping mall, never been. Most places before with all of the decorations and lights and electricity only things never seen before they come into a strange sight. So these two metallic doors that were flush up against the wall and they were there in his seam in the middle of the tomb and the work circles over each of the doors at one they would light up sometime wanted G123 and over on the right-hand side of the wall there were buttons you can light up arrow pointing up arrow pointing down and he just sat there with his his son and he was just staring at these the states and what might it be and a woman walked up. She was unkempt and it was this is not an attractive woman and she came over, she pushed a button on the right-hand side and the doors magically opened up and she stepped in and the doors closed and a few moments later some lights up top flashed it was a dinging sound and the doors open back up in the most beautiful 35-year-old woman you ever seen spec that an Amish man turned to the boys@go get your mother that is no way my faith works a faith is something that is so on the one hand, mysterious, and on the hand so simple and any child can understand what it is to have faith leave something. Faith works in its effectiveness in the sense that faith in and of itself has an effect the basketball player who's got the game on the line with one second left and a free throw in his hands to win the game. If he has faith if he's confidence the word we use it as confidence that he's gonna make the shot, then he is more likely to make it. In other words, faith works is defective just in and of itself right like life works like that faith is effective in the sense naturally, but also, somehow, mysteriously, spiritually, God says possible to please him. Without faith is what you love seat. He loves a trust relationship with him. And so the essence of the gospel is that we are not saved by our works were not saved by our merits but instead God did something absolutely extraordinary that even the angels long to look into and no one could've ever guessed. Even with all the prophetic visions and all the shadows.

No one could have foreseen that God would do something so extravagant and so remarkable that he himself would take on human flesh to be a human being, so that he could represent fairly all of humanity and live a life that we could never live and pay a price that we could have never paid so that God could be at the same time, just, and that is punishing sin was just what justice does, but also justifier demonstrating that is a God of love and mercy. So through the cross of Jesus Christ. God is both just and justifier, and therefore we who are in Christ find ourselves in a whole new position in the cosmos in a whole new posture of our relationship with God that is now been reunited, not because we did something because God did something and when we believe that we have faith in faith is a mystery and it's a marvel and it's a gift, and it's powerful and what James is saying is I want you to see what this faith is really all about the great reformer Martin Luther called this epistle epistle and epistle of straw is soon done away with that there have been some scholars assemble James and Paul just don't agree with each other. James they were justified by works in Paul's they were just about the summons or just throw this epistle out of the book and others. But what I want to show you today is that this is James giving a perspective or a definition and angle to tell us here's what real faith looks like the words were saved by faith. But real faith looks like this faith works there so closely together that you can't just separate. This theologically, we separated, but what I want to show you today is, and this is what James is trying to demonstrate here and throughout his epistle that there is such a deep, deep connection that you can say things it will have more teaching 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 never meant to be separated, embrace the fullness of God's word and his spirit realm like never before with word spirit realm. Not helping someone else grow as well. And remember, when you partner with Alan Wright Ministries to be broadcasting the love of God to thousands every day. We are in our final days of offering the special product, seven 877-544-4860 877-544-4861 come to our website pastor.like today's teaching now continues you once again is let me first. Just address the question when you come if you're a lover of grace like I am in your love of the gospel and you come to the text like James has here in chapter 2, and you read lines like this. How do you interpret something like this. Sometimes people who have had a fresh encounter with God in heaven, especially those who have heard so much of the message we preach of grace and it's like you can be baptized in this you can just be immersed in the gospel and realize all I've lived so much my life under shame and legalism and to come into the glorious revelation of the finished work of Jesus and the burdens that lift off of us and the joy that comes and there's freedom and sweet savor of oh such amazing grace, and it sometimes will come to a verse like this and go on an effective lexicon. The manager say I was feeling so wonderful about all the revelations getting from God, and I think that read this verse and it feels like this is unraveling the whole theology. If you like. This is just taking it taking part in the first thing to say about this is it to understand any portion of Scripture, you must interpret that Scripture in the context of the whole of Scripture.

Have you ever if heard me preach much you you pick up on this and it want to reiterated 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 their 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 a cultural influence. It might have come in through these writings, 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.

It has to have been orchestrated by an author who is beyond it and bothered 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 sarcasm 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 earth have so much love and so much compassion and so much longing that he did the unthinkable became his only begotten son of God 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 is 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 thing you know for sure God is love the steadfast love of the Lord endures forever more. His loving kindness is new to us every morning. God is love.

If you come to a prophetic verse that says the Lord says Esau I have hated you don't always under own know everything from it's not you got it. Where does this fit into what I know to be true about who God is saying 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 visit Abby, we 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 others and have had it and 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 for 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 or the first thing that you do is you understand the nature of God. 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. This idea of God like he's ice in the been 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 law will barely fit into the rim. But the Rams not very far away and I win it every year I win 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 entitlement 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 for free. 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, to 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 when it every year and now you know Alan Wright tips along the way here on the program. It is faith and works part one of a three-part teaching series as we wrap up the entire bigger larger series of the beauty of balance.

Alan is back in a moment, maybe with an underhanded basketball shot in an additional insight for this in your life in a final word today.

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 spirit always belong together to keep your abundant life in Christ knowing your Bible. The secret of 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. No word both word and spirit umbrella. You make a gift of support this night will send you Alan 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 around like never before with wording spirit realm. Not 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 we are in our final days of offering the special product, seven 877-544-4860 877-544-4861 come to our website pastor.like so Alan II love that illustration there at the fair and you get the games and this is this is the strategy by this is the way to win.

And that is so often we can take that in a spiritual sense and and that can be contorted. I guess into into a workspace theology that goes again to that extreme, but where about the beauty of balance in the series. It is wonderful statement to say, faith works because what it means is that in many levels through our faith.

God is working and when you have faith everything within you is energized to work and yet it is not works righteousness. This is faith works because the faith that works is true faith that we haven't got. And so that's what we're learning about is really win-win.

Faith is alive in God how much it absolutely moves us on behalf of everything that we believe faith doesn't sit around and be lazy and idle, it is faith change is today's good news message is a listener supported production Alan Wright Ministries