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Romans 1:5 NIV Through Him and for His name's sake, we received grace and apostleship to call peopleā¦to the obedience that comes from faith.
Obedience comes from faith. Faith comes from our consistent intake of the Word (Romans 10:17); therefore, obedience is the result of our habitual intake of the Word. Too many Christians forget this fact and try to prove their faith by feigned obedience. They will even use the verse in James that says that faith without works is dead; however, they forget where faith originates. Faith comes from repeatedly ingesting the Word; it is a Spiritual fruit and it is not something we can achieve apart from Christ. James 2:17 is not a challenge to us to prove our faith; it is simply describing Spiritual faith to us. Spiritual faith will produce fruit.
Faith without works is dead - faith that is dead is not Spiritual faith. For example, you may have "faith" that lying is wrong, but your faith is dead in this area if you are still speaking lies. You simply have knowledge that lying is wrong but you lack the Spiritual power to overcome it. When you see victory over lying, then your faith has been brought to life and it is complete; it is Spiritual. The work of the Word has produced the fruit that God promised it would - God's Word will not come back void; it will produce Spiritual fruit. God promised us that our mouths would be a source of life - as we consistently fill ourselves with the Word, we will see that promise manifested in our lives over time. Lying, talking bad about others, gossiping, and so on, will no longer control us, but through Christ we will have control over our tongues. It is impossible for man to tame the tongue, but thank God it is not impossible for Him (James 3:8, Matthew 19:26)!
Faith is a process - it takes faith and patience to see God's promises come to pass in your life (Hebrews 6:12). Faith takes time - that is why Paul warns us to avoid laziness. Faith is not for the lazy; it is for those who will continue in the Word and continue in the Word until they see the Word manifested in their lives.
Anything that does not find its roots in faith is sin. We can make ourselves "obey" but we cannot produce Spiritual obedience apart from faith. The Bible tell us that our works will be tried by fire. God wants to know "what sort" of works they are (1 Corinthians 3:13) - this denotes the origin. Where do your works originate? Are they a product of your flesh or a product of your Spirit? Do your works find their origination in the Word or do they find their origination in you?
Revelation 3:2 (Amplified) Rouse yourselves and keep awake, and strengthen and invigorate what remains and is on the point of dying; for I have not found a thing that you have done [any work of yours] meeting the requirements of My God or perfect in His sight.
Do your works meet the requirements of God? God requires faith. Anything that is not of faith is sin and it does not meet His requirements (Romans 14:23). We have a choice to make: we can try to perform for God or we can receive from God and let Him work through us and produce Spiritual fruit in our lives.
1 John 4:9 This is how God showed His love among us: He sent His one and only Son into the world that we might live through Him.
Are you living through Christ or are you trying to live the life of a Christian on your own? Apart from Christ we can do nothing of Spiritual value (John 15:5). We need Him and He is the Word (John 1:1). Thank God for the Word and all that it does for us! It will produce the Spiritual faith that we need to see the Spiritual fruit of God in our lives! Spiritual obedience comes from Spiritual faith. Thank You, Lord!
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