“We are made right with God through faith and not by obeying the law.” (Romans 3:28)
We are saved by faith alone. That’s a central belief of our Christian religion. There isn’t anything we can do to earn our salvation. We can’t work hard enough to pay back our debt of sin.
The Creator of the universe is not going to be impressed with our little house of cards made of mumbled prayers and half-hearted good deeds.
The Good News is that we don’t have to do it on our own. If we have faith in Jesus Christ, he covers us with the free gift of his justifying grace. Jesus paid the debt for all human sin for all time. We are saved by faith alone! Praise God!
Frankly, we’re not even strong enough to believe entirely on our own. But God helps us there too. Methodists call this prevenient grace – the grace of God that comes before and helps us seek Christ.
But sometimes I meet people who have turned faith into another kind of works. They listen to the TV preachers who tell us to name it and claim it – if we pray for what we want and believe hard enough, God will grant us riches or good health.
Kinda like the little boy visiting his grandparents house. As he knelt to say his evening prayers, he said “God, take care of me and my family, AND I’D LIKE A NEW RED BIKE. Amen.”
His mother told him he didn’t have to shout, that God could hear him. The boy said, “I know God can hear me… but I want to make sure Grandma knows too.”
This is a dangerous misunderstanding of scripture. Jesus says, “You can ask for anything in my name, and I will do it.” (John 14:13). Some folks hear Jesus saying, “Ask me for anything!” But God is not a vending machine. The key part of the verse is “ask in my name,” or in other words, ask for those things that are consistent with the will and plan of God. Remember that Jesus himself prayed, “Not my will but yours be done” (Luke 22:42).
Is it part of God’s plan that you have a new red bike (or red convertible)? Maybe not… Don’t be too surprised if these selfish prayers aren’t answered. God promises us enough for each day (Matthew 6:31-34). We’re not promised a bonanza, especially if we don’t plan to share.
What about healing? “Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed” (James 5:16). True, that! Ask our prayer team – we have experienced so much answered prayer!
But there are other times we don’t get the healing we hope for. Does it mean we need to work harder at praying, work harder at having faith? Is God ignoring us or punishing us?
Nope. God is loving us, and faith means we have to trust that God knows better than we do. Sometimes God works through our frailty, like the Apostle Paul who ministered powerfully despite (because of?) a “thorn in his flesh.” Other times God grants us ultimate healing, bringing us home for our heavenly reward.
We are saved by faith. We live and breathe and move by faith. Where our faith falls short, we get along with a little help from friend Jesus. Such is grace: “I believe; Lord, help my unbelief!” (Mark 9:24).
Pastor Park