Active Faith: Living Out the Perfect Law of Liberty

Jul 10, 2024

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Brethren, we are being saved, and there's a way God—not us, not in our own strength—there's a way God Saves, and it's got to do with a relationship with the word. It's able to save your souls, and how does it save your souls? As you're receiving it. [00:01:18]

But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of Liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing. You know, this idea of being a doer and not a hearer only, this really is something that James is going to keep at. [00:02:36]

Brethren, do you recognize that whenever God expresses his will, that is the ultimate law? God telling us what to do, what not to do, expressing his will to us—that's law. God comes along, and he says, here's my son, my beloved son, and he says, hear him. [00:05:15]

Brethren, this is really sufficient, perfect, so don't add to it, don't take away from it, not even in your mind where you're saying, well, I need something else. You get there, I mean, Brethren, how often do you feel like I need something else, this is just not working? [00:07:36]

Brethren, you know what scripture says? You want wisdom, what do you do? You search for it. It's like for Hidden Treasure. Brother, you go out there in the streets, and you walk around, you don't find rubies scattered on the ground and diamonds scattered on the ground and gold scattered on the ground. [00:11:52]

Brethren, it doesn't say blessed are those who just simply accumulate lots and lots of biblical knowledge. That's not what it's saying. Listen to this. You've probably seen this, but I'm going to throw some of these verses together to try to give you the impact of this. [00:18:51]

Brethren, we need to really be striving to embrace that which is weighty in the mind of our Lord Jesus Christ. And so, let's turn in your Bibles, go to the verse that Matthew 23, because that's where he talks about weightier matters of the law. [00:23:18]

Brethren, passivity is the opposite of activity. Do you recognize something? Oftentimes, we can talk about the surrendered life. We need to be surrendered to Christ, but you know, sometimes there's almost this idea that if we surrender to Christ, we're passive. That's not true. [00:25:15]

Brethren, the thing is, the problem in all of this, we know where it is. It's selfishness, and Romans 2 speaks this way: those who are self-seeking do not obey the truth but obey unrighteousness. There will be wrath and fury. Basically, you know what characterizes the people on the left, the goats? [00:50:42]

Brethren, listen, does the gospel call us to work? Yes. Does Christ call us to work? Yes. And sometimes people hear all these things, especially dogmatic talk like The Sermon on the Mount or like James, and you just, you get hit with all of this, and it's like, where's Grace? [00:55:11]

Brethren, don't you think that maybe we ought to be in the place where we're studying and we're meditating and we're trying to really get a grasp on what it means to be nothing? You see, the problem is we walk around, and that idea of nothingness just isn't permeating our thinking all the time. [00:59:18]

Brethren, you got to live communing with him. You got to live talking with him. You got to live in prayer. Brethren, don't you realize we draw all our nutrients from him, all of our wisdom, all of the power to live this life, all of our encouragement, all of our Direction, all of our help? [01:00:28]

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