Matthew 17:20
And He said to them, "Because of the littleness of your faith; for truly
I say to you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will
say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it will move; and
nothing will be impossible to you.
I think a lot about what it takes to get into heaven when I die. We all do. Fifty days or fifty years in faith, we all have that small little thought in the back of our heads "am I doing all I am supposed to be doing?" "Should I be doing more?" "Is my faith strong enough?"
Then again, I may be the only one with these questions. Maybe it's because I am what is called a "baby christian" (which term I don't care for, reminds me of baby vampires on all the vampire movies)
I have had talks with people who have had the same thoughts. "what if I'm not doing it right?"
I did a lot of reading in the Word and I have come to one solid conclusion.
All I need is faith. Belief that what God's word says is true, that Jesus died on the cross for my sins, belief that He rose again from the grave, belief that Jesus 'was' who the bible says he was, and 'did' what the bible said He did.
That's all I need.
Acts 16:31
31
They replied, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved—you and your household.”
Hebrews 11:6
6
And without faith it is impossible to
please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists
and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.
John 20:31
31
But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.
Romans 10:9-10, 13
9
If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus
is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead,
you will be saved.
10
For it is with your heart that you
believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess
your faith and are saved.
13
for, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
Ephesians 2:8-9 ESV
For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.
and the one that confuses a lot of people......
James 2:14-26 ESV
What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that? So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. But someone will say, “You have faith and I have works.” Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works. ...
these verses have never given me much of an issue. There was a change in me when I became a servant of Jesus Christ. A want to do more for other people, to help out wherever I could. It was a literal change inside of me that I felt. When I accepted Jesus into my heart, I wanted to do the works, I wanted to emulate His love for all people. I wanted give and love on people.
Not that I didn't want to before, but now I feel it deep down, in my soul. It's more satisfying now than it ever was before. The works will not get me into heaven, I believe they are a manifestation that I am headed that way. My earthly proof that I am a follower of Jesus Christ. I had my faith first, and then came the works as a manifestation of that faith. Not a job to get me closer to heaven.
To me, all these verses show that all I need is faith. That's all the thief on the cross had. He didn't have time to show he was changed, he didn't have time to be baptized and lead a righteous life. All he had was faith that the man hanging beside him on the cross was and is the Son of God. And that's all he needed.
I will never be the perfect christian, but God knew that when He opened my heart to the truth. There was ever only one perfect man, and He died for us on that cross so our imperfections would be forgiven. And all I need to do is believe and have faith.
For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.
and the one that confuses a lot of people......
James 2:14-26 ESV
What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that? So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. But someone will say, “You have faith and I have works.” Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works. ...
these verses have never given me much of an issue. There was a change in me when I became a servant of Jesus Christ. A want to do more for other people, to help out wherever I could. It was a literal change inside of me that I felt. When I accepted Jesus into my heart, I wanted to do the works, I wanted to emulate His love for all people. I wanted give and love on people.
Not that I didn't want to before, but now I feel it deep down, in my soul. It's more satisfying now than it ever was before. The works will not get me into heaven, I believe they are a manifestation that I am headed that way. My earthly proof that I am a follower of Jesus Christ. I had my faith first, and then came the works as a manifestation of that faith. Not a job to get me closer to heaven.
To me, all these verses show that all I need is faith. That's all the thief on the cross had. He didn't have time to show he was changed, he didn't have time to be baptized and lead a righteous life. All he had was faith that the man hanging beside him on the cross was and is the Son of God. And that's all he needed.
I will never be the perfect christian, but God knew that when He opened my heart to the truth. There was ever only one perfect man, and He died for us on that cross so our imperfections would be forgiven. And all I need to do is believe and have faith.
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