My wife and I have been getting together with a group of friends recently to discuss Francis Chan's book, Crazy Love.
In his book, Chan talks extensively about lukewarm Christians -- those who try to straddle the fence between living for God and living for oneself. He essentially claims there are no such things as lukewarm Christians. The Bible says Christ will spit the lukewarm out of his mouth. Not exactly how we'd expect one to treat his children.
During our group's discussion, I sensed some tension building. Chan was arguing that how we go about our daily lives is evidence of our salvation. Some wondered if he was advocating works based righteousness. Aren't we saved by faith alone?
It got me to thinking about my relationship with my wife. If I tell my wife often enough that I love her, does that make it true? If I tell others how much I love my wife, would that remove all doubt? What if I'm rarely patient with my wife? What if I'm not kind to her and often rude. What if I'm constantly putting my needs ahead or her's? What if I easily become angry with her, hold grudges against her and seldom trust her? Would you still say I love her? Probably not.
In the same way, if I say I believe Christ died for my sins and I love God, yet my behavior is no different from those who don't believe, am I really saved?
Make no mistake. We are saved by faith alone -- grace through faith (Ephesians 2:8-9). But if that faith bears no fruit in my life (Galatians 5:22-23), is it real faith? The Bible says faith that does not produce good deeds is useless (James 2:17).
Each one of us should examine his own life. Is my faith real -- that is, is it a faith that saves? Is my faith producing fruit or is it dead?
Jesus said, "If you love me, obey my commandments (John 14:15). Good works won't save us -- but they are evidence that we are truly saved.
