James 1:23-25 For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass: For he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was. But 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.
Sadly I have heard these very words used by preachers to guilt people into action. If a church body appears to be inactive in the mind of the speaker, a sense of desperation can set into his speech. Let me point out I have not heard this lately, but in churches I have attended. Needless to say, I am no longer there.
One critical point is always overlooked during those sermons. The man turned away forgetting who he was, not who he is today. We turned from a life that wasn’t working for us. Pain and suffering usually comes from thinking about that old life, the old dead man. We as born again believers are a new creature. But who are we in Christ?
Identity is a strange thing. We often associate our identity with our profession or our relationships. I’m an engineer, a police officer, a nurse, a father, a wife. Those are things we do but are not who we are in Christ. James made the inference that your works show who you are but the subject at hand was faith, not identity.
We all start out as babes in Christ and we are expected to grow, mature, increase in grace, mercy and love. Who we are in Christ has more to do with our spiritual nourishment and exercise than it does in works. Faith will produce works, but how is one to know what to do if he/she does not know who they are in Christ?
Want to know who you are in Christ? Eat right and exercise.
Larry, do you have some help on “eating right” and “exercise”? Thanks ahead of time.
The Holy Spirit gives me a healthy diet. It is just up to me to pick up the Word and let it get into me. As for exercise, I Walk daily. Hence my writings on Walking in the Spirit.
If by help you mean works written by other Godly men, I use the Blue Letter Bible often with a wealth of resources. I also tread the writings of A.W. Pink.
Thanks, Larry. The reason behind my comment was to help those who are new Christians who might not even know where the Gospel of John is in the Bible. I guess that the bottom line of my question was creating “appetite” for the things of God. I have been in workplace Bible studies most of my life and realize some of the needs of new believers. Thanks for this terriffic blogspot and I pray daily that there will be Spiritual needs met, and also that there will be many who will come to our Lord Jesus through your ministry on this spot and that it will grow into a healthy, robust audience.
Thanks Ron, my prayer also. As for appetite, having once tasted the divine pleasures, it si something that create is own appetite. But as with all babes, they have to be spoon fed first.