In His Sermon on the Mount, Jesus made one distinction between wise and foolish men (Matthew 7:21-26). Both the wise and foolish man heard the words of Jesus, but the wise man is revealed through putting it into practice. We do not become more wise through knowledge alone, but by doing what Jesus says. Like Richard Bennett said in a sermon preached in Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa titled "Church of Laodicea," "The Bible is not a textbook to be studied, but the Word of God to be responded to." Our response to God's word separates the wise from the foolish, even as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.
Because sinners are saved by grace through faith, we may not think the way we live matters. Based upon what Jesus says, how we live is the best indicator of what we truly believe. What we say reveals what is in our hearts. Sin avoidance is not as important as walking righteously. Jesus does not commend the righteous for sins they avoided but for the good they did to the least. We are not saved by works but saved to do good works as it is written in Ephesians 2:8-10, "For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, 9 not of works, lest anyone should boast. 10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them." Many people who will claim to know Jesus He will refuse because they did not truly follow Him in deed.
Consider this question: when you read the Bible is it because you want to learn something or because your primary aim to personally implement what God says? Knowledge can puff us up with pride, and hearing without doing leads to self-deception. Blessed are those who hear and do what God says. James 1:22-27 exhorts, "But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. 23 For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror; 24 for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was. 25 But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does. 26 If anyone among you thinks he is religious, and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart, this one's religion is useless. 27 Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world."
Knowing is the first step, but practising what you know is vital. The liberty we have through faith in Jesus Christ moves us to live righteously, loving one another as Jesus has demonstrated and commanded. It is in reading the Bible we see our imperfections and how we can live righteously by God's grace. If we are unable to bridle our tongues or walk in self-control, how effective is the work of the Holy Spirit within us? If we are polluted by the world in our thoughts and deeds, how can we claim inner righteousness? By a belief system? By our knowledge? The demons believe and tremble and are guaranteed hell as their eternal destination. There is no repentance possible for them, but there is forgiveness for us when we repent and turn from our wickedness. Let us be those who hear and do, reading God's Word with an intent to obey all God says.
Because sinners are saved by grace through faith, we may not think the way we live matters. Based upon what Jesus says, how we live is the best indicator of what we truly believe. What we say reveals what is in our hearts. Sin avoidance is not as important as walking righteously. Jesus does not commend the righteous for sins they avoided but for the good they did to the least. We are not saved by works but saved to do good works as it is written in Ephesians 2:8-10, "For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, 9 not of works, lest anyone should boast. 10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them." Many people who will claim to know Jesus He will refuse because they did not truly follow Him in deed.
Consider this question: when you read the Bible is it because you want to learn something or because your primary aim to personally implement what God says? Knowledge can puff us up with pride, and hearing without doing leads to self-deception. Blessed are those who hear and do what God says. James 1:22-27 exhorts, "But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. 23 For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror; 24 for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was. 25 But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does. 26 If anyone among you thinks he is religious, and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart, this one's religion is useless. 27 Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world."
Knowing is the first step, but practising what you know is vital. The liberty we have through faith in Jesus Christ moves us to live righteously, loving one another as Jesus has demonstrated and commanded. It is in reading the Bible we see our imperfections and how we can live righteously by God's grace. If we are unable to bridle our tongues or walk in self-control, how effective is the work of the Holy Spirit within us? If we are polluted by the world in our thoughts and deeds, how can we claim inner righteousness? By a belief system? By our knowledge? The demons believe and tremble and are guaranteed hell as their eternal destination. There is no repentance possible for them, but there is forgiveness for us when we repent and turn from our wickedness. Let us be those who hear and do, reading God's Word with an intent to obey all God says.
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