Faith

I just had to post my notes from my study of the Book of Romans today, since it ties in with this article I wrote, here.

These are notes from chapter 2, verse 13.  Paul is laying out the principles on which God judges us.  We are up to principle #5--according to obedience, not knowledge.  (In order to explain how we can be saved, Paul must explain what our predicament is first, so we realize we are in need of a Savior.)

So we are judged based on our obedience, NOT our knowledge.  It is NOT how many Bible verses we have memorized, how many times we have read our Bibles cover to cover, NOT how much we KNOW about the Bible!  The question is, do we obey?  What we know doesn't count, it's what we obey that counts.

All of us are in jeopardy of being in a false comfort of knowing God's truth, but the gospel speaks of the obedience of faith.

We can believe something but we don't have FAITH in it until we show ACTION.  You can believe that a chair will hold you and do the mathematical calculations and everything, but you don't have faith in that chair until you sit in it.  Faith is belief in action.

It IS possible to believe in vain.  The devils believe and tremble.  Disobedience and unbelief are interchangeable words.

Now, this is NOT talking about being saved by our works.  Paul is explaining in the first few chapters of Romans how EVERY single one of us has fallen short of the glory of God, we ALL have sinned and so we ALL need a Savior.

In this passage, chapter 2, verses 11 through 16, Paul is showing that it is the habitual conduct of a person that reveals the condition of their heart, and THAT'S what God's is really after.  Our deeds demonstrate where our heart is really at.  Eternal life in NOT rewarded for good living, that would contradict so many other scriptures that CLEARLY explain that salvation is not by works, but by faith, faith in the work that Jesus did.

So, I had to share today, because I always get excited when revelation is confirmed for me.  We can't build doctrine on single verses alone.  In the mouth of two or three witnesses every word in established.  Confirm scripture with scripture.  (Deut. 19:15)