Belief, faith, grace, obedience, and works. These are words that seem to be in constant contradiction, but they aren’t. They are really complimentary, and in many cases can be seen as a different manifestation of the same thing. Just as steam, ice, and water are merely the different states of H2O.

How can you have grace and be disobedient? And how can you have faith and do nothing?  The greatest theologians of all time struggled with these concepts and failed to harmonize them. Martin Luther called James an epistle of straw, failing to see it was a complimentary work to the Pauline letters. Neither Paul nor James called for a return to the Torah to find justification. Because both recognized it to be impossible. Both talked of faith in action and used Abraham’s example. Both criticized believers for their actions not matching their beliefs.

The person that seems to understand this isn’t even a Christian, but an agnostic. And that’s Jordan Peterson. In an interview, he said he doesn’t like to answer the question, “Do you believe in God?”  He doesn’t like it because no one truly understands the implications of belief. He said that belief is not just an affirmation of what you see as a truth, but a transformation. He pointed out that if one truly believed they would have to change. He gets it!

Paul pointed it out in the negative when he said, “Should we keep sinning so that grace may abound? God forbid!” And again, when he said he was willing to forego meat if it helped a struggling brother. James pushed the positive when he said he would show his faith by his works, and that true religion was taking care of the needy while not falling into the world’s trap of status and wealth.

Faith and works, grace and obedience all fit together to form genuine belief. Because only authentic belief will generate the Love for God that will transform us into true imitators of Christ.

#Faith, #Works, #Grace, #Obedience