“Even so faith, if it has no works, is dead, being by itself” (James 2:17, NASB).
James maintains that faith is a two-step process. Belief is the first step of faith and works is the last step.
According to James, faith is not completed without works because works is belief put into action. Faith starts with belief, but works is the culmination of belief. Belief is faith sitting down. Works is faith walking!
“Many will follow their sensuality, and because of them the way of the truth will be maligned.” (2 Peter 2:2, NASB).
In this chapter the Apostle Peter describes the rise and fate of false prophets. He says that heresy grows concurrently with truth. As the truth of the gospel is more widely and broadly proclaimed, there is a corresponding increase in the willful perversion of it.
Deceit is a growth industry that is fiercely competitive with the truth. In fact, the misrepresentation or distortion of the truth of the gospel seems to be as prevalent as the proclamation of the true gospel.
“Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord; seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence. For by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, so that by them you may become partakers of the divine nature.” (2 Peter 1:4, NASB).
The Apostle Peter declares that God has made a way for Christians to become like Him. You grow and develop your knowledge of Jesus so that you can become like Him and participate fully in His divine nature.
“And while being reviled, He did not revile in return; while suffering, He uttered no threats, but kept entrusting Himself to him who judges righteously” (1 Peter 2:23, NASB).
A law passed by Congress and approved by the President on July 30, 1956, declared “IN GOD WE TRUST” to be the national motto of the United States. This motto is engraved or printed on U.S. coins and currency.
So what’s so important about trust in God that we wanted it printed on our currency? It’s meant to show that the United States is a nation that trusts in God, a nation that recognizes God’s sovereignty over all nations on Earth.
“Trust” is a firm belief in the reliability, truth, ability, or strength of someone or something. Trust in God means recognizing or acknowledging that God is Sovereign and Mighty over His Creation.
But, in these verses the Apostle Peter tells us that when Jesus experienced suffering, He entrusted Himself to God.
“So they camped or traveled at the Lord’s command, and they did whatever the Lord told them through Moses” (Numbers 9:23, NLT).
When Israel was in the wilderness, God led the nation with a pillar of cloud or fire. The pillar regularly appeared as a cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night. When the pillar settled over the Tabernacle and the camp of Israel, it represented God’s presence and protection.
“There is wonderful joy ahead, even though you have to endure many trials for a little while. These trials will show that your faith is genuine. It is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold—though your faith is far more precious than mere gold.” (I Peter 1:6-7, NLT).
As Christians we talk a lot about faith and we profess to have faith. But, in this passage the Apostle Peter says that until our faith is put to the test by the trials of life, it is not genuine faith!
“O Lord, what is man, that You take knowledge of him? Or the son of man, that You think of him? Man is like a mere breath; His days are like a passing shadow” (Psalm 144:3-4, NASB).
Do you ever in your mind step out of your life and try to see the big picture, try to put your life in perspective, try to look at it from God’s point of view? If you do, you might see things the way David did in this Psalm. You might see that in the big picture of things, your life is like a breath or a shadow. You’re not here very long and your life in this world is soon forgotten.
Now, I’m not trying to be pessimistic or deterministic. I’m trying to make a point. We have a backwards view of life. We live our lives in this world like they are the main reality and life after death is the “afterlife.” But the reality is that eternal life is the real reality and our lives in this world are just an introduction, a pre-life training for eternity. And death is our graduation to eternal life!
“How precious are your thoughts about me, O God. They cannot be numbered! I can’t even count them; they outnumber the grains of sand!” (Psalm 139:17-18, NLT).
It’s hard to imagine that the Creator of the universe, our Heavenly Father, thinks about me! After all, doesn’t He have a universe to manage?
This Psalm assures us that not only does God think about each one of us constantly, but:
“If your hand causes you to stumble, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life crippled, than, having your two hands, to go into hell, into the unquenchable fire, where their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched. If your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life lame, than, having your two feet, to be cast into hell, where their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched. If your eye causes you to stumble, throw it out; it is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye, than, having two eyes, to be cast into hell, where their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched” (Mark 9:43-48, NASB).
This saying of Jesus alludes to the very last verse of Isaiah, which speaks of the punishment for rebellion against God as endless destruction.
John had asked Jesus what to do about someone who was casting out demons in Jesus’ name but was not part of the group of His disciples. Jesus answered not to be so concerned about someone doing good in His name but be concerned about false teachers. Be more concerned about someone who causes others to stop trusting in God or prevents them from ever starting to trust in God.
“Taking a child, He set him before them, and taking him in His arms, He said to them, ‘Whoever receives one child like this in My name receives Me; and whoever receives me does not receive Me, but him who sent me'” (Mark 9:36-37, NASB).
I am a trinitarian. I believe in God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. I believe that God reveals Himself to us in the Bible as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. My comprehension of God and my personal experience of God is trinitarian.
I want my children to have a complete and accurate knowledge of God as they grow up. Yet, I’m not sure that I really completely understand the Trinity.
So, how do you explain this complex trinitarian theology to your children when you don’t really understand it yourself?
Steve's Bible Meditations 