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"But without faith it is
impossible to please him:
for he that cometh to God must
believe
that he is, and that
he is a rewarder
of them that diligently seek him."
Hebrews 11:6
First Comes Faith, Then Works
Which came
first . . . the chicken or the egg?
For ages
this question has been asked,
both
seriously and in fun.
The biblical
answer would be the chicken,
created by
God,
who then
laid the egg.
Many people
concerned with spiritual matters
ask another
question:
Which comes
first . . . faith or works?
The biblical
answer to that would be that God
first plants
Christian faith in our hearts.
Then in that
Spirit-created faith,
we desire to
do good works in His service.
It's part of
our fallen nature to think that
you don't
get something for nothing,
and
everything has a price.
However,
such faulty logic concludes that
God's
forgiveness through faith in Christ
cannot be
free.
And then
there are people who don't worry
about
forgiveness at all.
"Good food,
good friends, and good wine
make the
good life,"
goes a
popular saying.
So why
bother about either faith or works?
God makes it
quite clear that life without faith
in Christ is
at best "empty" and "void."
But for
Christians, life without faith in Jesus,
our Savior,
is unthinkable.
For those
who think heaven is earned,
Jesus takes
second place behind their works.
Yet the
Bible is quite clear:
"For by grace are ye saved through
faith;
and that not of yourselves:
it is the gift of God:
Not of works, lest any man should
boast."
Ephesians 2:8,9
Our works
say "Thank You" to God,
but they
come after faith,
not before.
May the good
Lord increase your "works"
through your
ever-increasing faith.
"Lord Dictated Them" | 
