Calvary Grace Church of Calgary

There are many claims to faith in our world. People will specifically claim to believe in God. But how do we know if their claim means anything? How is it clear that the object of their faith is able to change their lives? We can only know this if we see their faith-claim 'staked out'. We have to see how their faith is expressed in deeds. Good works are the visible proof of a true spiritual claim to faith in Jesus Christ. On this matter, James does not disagree with Paul. True faith always works.

Mark continues to present a series of confrontations with the Jewish religious establishment, as he tells the story of Jesus' fellowship with the outcasts of Jewish society. Jesus came to save sinners, and three types of sinner are displayed in this text. Chillingly, the kind that should understand their need most is blind to it. Christians today, especially Reformed Christians, need to take heed of the danger of self-righteousness, as well as the mandate to preach salvation to all the lost regardless of sinful condition.

If there ever was a man that could say he had a human advantage related to righteousness it would be the Apostle Paul. Yet for all his ancestral benefits and spiritual achievements he counted all things as loss for the sake of Christ. Most Christians today are capable of exposing unrighteousness in others, and even themselves. The silent killer however, is to consider any act of spiritual devotion as grounds of access before a holy God. Looking forward to joining you as we reflect on the righteousness of God that depends: on faith alone, in Christ alone.

There is a great difference between how a Christian believer dies and how a non-Christian dies. And there is a great difference between the person with a faith that works, one who claims to have a faith, a spirituality, or a religion that doesn't. If faith shows no consistency, no practical effect, no eternal significance then it is in fact a dead thing. So the Holy Scriptures say, "Faith without works is dead. Living faith in the Risen Christ will always produce change in a person's life.