964. Identifying as a Doer... Or a Believer

When we shrink the message of the good news down to a few Bible verses which have been yanked out of context, it can turn into a scary place to hang out. For example, Jesus spoke about some people who would one day be told to depart from Him ... and that He never knew them. Believers can misunderstand such a passage and make it their life's goal to work at doing whatever it takes to never hear those words being spoken to them.

Jesus told some religious scholars that harlots and tax collectors would enter into the kingdom of God before they would. Why?

The disciples asked what they must do to work the works of God. Jesus didn't dictate an instruction manual but answered by saying, "This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He has sent."

Understanding our identity as believers in Christ is a foundational launching pad for us to come to a place of peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. The one who strives to be identified as a doer by performing what they consider to be mighty works in the name of Jesus ... will mistakenly think this entitles them to a reservation in the kingdom.



   
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833. Things Seldom Heard in Church: Rahab "The Believer"

Her story is in the book of Joshua in the earlier days of Israel becoming a nation. Many years later, this woman named Rahab was still known as “Rahab the harlot,” as referenced a couple of times by New Testament writers. Like many people today, she was identified by something she did.  In this case, it was considered negative, and something looked down upon.

Something that easily gets lost in between this gentile woman’s occupation and her willingness to help Israeli spies … is that she was a believer in the one true God before she ever did anything to help the Israelites. She wasn’t one who was under the law. There was nothing that she (or anybody) could “do” to be accepted by God—she was justified in the same way as all people are … whether Jew or Gentile. She believed in God by faith because of what she heard that He had done.

   
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