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Two Things Are Needed

To live by faith is to live in Christ, and to live by Christ, and to live for Christ.  This I believe.  My life has been a journey of faith, but not a smooth one.  I have had my ups and downs, and with that successes and failures.  Turning 70 years old should mean one can relax, but I find that instead of sitting back on my merits, I want to press on with a faith life that is actively living in, by and for Christ.  Some scripture to point us towards the "musing" below.

If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit.
Galatians 5:25

 It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness, and redemption. 
1 Corinthians 1:30 
 
 Make every effort to live in peace with everyone and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord.


Hebrews 12:14

Once again, Spurgeon wrote an article based on the following notes, so I take no credit for the ideas, but I did re-write some of it to reflect my own thoughts:

I believe the two most important things in our Christian journey are the life of faith and the walk of faith. This is the essential point to be made.  We have both a Faith for our lives to believe in and hold on to; as well as a Faith to live by and walk out faithfully.

The person who grasps has a much better grasp on experiential theology, for they are vital points to a Christian. You will never find true faith unaccompanied by true godliness; on the other hand, you will never discover a truly holy life that does not have at its root a living faith relying upon the righteousness of Christ.

We must not fail to understand that we cannot seek the one without the other! There are some who cultivate faith and forget holiness; and so they claim they have the truth, the true orthodox faith, but fail in terms of living that day by day.  We must remember Jesus condemned the Pharisees - not for their understanding of truth, but for their belief in their own righteousness.  It was not enough to hold to the truth religiously and omit the life of Faith that is filled with the grace and mercy of God in practice!

There are others who believe that truth and faith aren’t possible.  They hold to a religion of self whereby their version of faith is based on their own goodness, efforts and merits.  Many in our culture believe the error that they can creat a self-styled form of godliness whereby their own system of works is all that matters and thus disregard the truth revealed in God’s word.

All of this leads to a simple truth revealed in scripture:  We must have faith, for this is the foundation; we must have holiness of life, for this is the superstructure.

What use is the mere foundation of a building to a man on a stormy day? Can he hide himself in it? He needs a house to cover him as well as a foundation for that house. Even so we need the superstructure of spiritual life if we want solidness in a culture of shifting sand.  

Yet those who seek to be holy life without faith, are like those who erect a house that has no foundation. 

 Let faith and life be put together, for both are true foundations.  

 Lord, give us today life internally, and it will reveal itself externally to your glory.

 Peace

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