One Ticket to Heaven Please

Faith is more than a simple prayer, it is a way of life. Our ticket to heaven involves more than just words and thoughts, it also involves deeds and actions based on Jesus.

James 2:14-26 What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? If a brother or sister has nothing to wear and has no food for the day, and one of you says to them, "Go in peace, keep warm, and eat well," but you do not give them the necessities of the body, what good is it?

So also faith of itself, if it does not have works, is dead. Indeed someone might say, "You have faith and I have works." Demonstrate your faith to me without works, and I will demonstrate my faith to you from my works.

You believe that God is one. You do well. Even the demons believe that and tremble. Do you want proof, you ignoramus, that faith without works is useless? Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered his son Isaac upon the altar? You see that faith was active along with his works, and faith was completed by the works. Thus the scripture was fulfilled that says, "Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness," and he was called "the friend of God."

See how a person is justified by works and not by faith alone. And in the same way, was not Rahab the harlot also justified by works when she welcomed the messengers and sent them out by a different route? For just as a body without a spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead.

Please read the footnotes to this section of James, footnote 6, it gives a clear explanation for those who think these words are against what Paul was teaching on a closely related subject in Romans.

Mt 7:21-27 Jesus said to his disciples: "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the Kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven.Many will say to me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name? Did we not drive out demons in your name? Did we not do mighty deeds in your name?' Then I will declare to them solemnly, 'I never knew you. Depart from me, you evildoers.'

"Everyone who listens to these words of mine and acts on them will be like a wise man who built his house on rock.

The rain fell, the floods came, and the winds blew and buffeted the house. But it did not collapse; it had been set solidly on rock. And everyone who listens to these words of mine but does not act on them will be like a fool who built his house on sand. The rain fell, the floods came, and the winds blew and buffeted the house. And it collapsed and was completely ruined."

Claiming we have accepted Jesus is a wonderful thing but there must be caution in this as Jesus has told us "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord' will enter the Kingdom of heaven".  A simple statement of belief in Jesus Christ is not enough, we must back our words with actions. We must also live as Jesus lived. If it were as simple as a prayer then the bible would be a mere pamphlet.

Our actions speak louder than words. If we go to Church and worship and praise and raise our hands and receive the body of Christ within us, but then leave the parking lot cutting people off, yelling at our families, then what impact did that hour of worship have? Our "church" has to be more than that one hour we give to God on Sunday.

We have a "home" church, where we raise our children and spend time with our spouses, Jesus must be present there. We have our "work/school" church, this one is tougher but Jesus needs to be present, at least to us and through us there as well. We can't leave Jesus in the parking lot on the way into the office or school!

"The greatest single cause of atheism in the world today is Christians, who acknowledge Jesus with their lips and walk out the door, and deny Him by their lifestyle. That is what an unbelieving world simply finds unbelievable." Brennan Manning