Balancing Faith and WorksSample

Sometimes we mix up the roles of salvation and faith, so I want to set the record straight. When you accept Jesus Christ as your personal Savior by placing your faith in Him alone for the forgiveness of your sins, you are given eternal life. But while you trust Christ through faith, you are now supposed to live your life by faith. These are two very different things. Trusting Christ for salvation is akin to receiving a gift. Living by faith is doing a work.

That’s why James says faith without works is dead (James 2:26). He isn’t talking about getting to heaven; he’s talking about getting heaven down into you. Accepting Christ as your Savior takes you to heaven; living by faith brings heaven’s power and God’s experiential presence and authority to you on earth. It allows you to see God enter history by showing up in your circumstances. When you live by faith, God brings the supernatural to bear in the midst of the natural situations of your existence on earth.

In your own words, what is the relationship between faith and works?