More Than Words

2
True Faith is a “Doing” Faith

“Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction and to keep one’s self unstained from the world.”- James 1:27

Requirements and standards are a part of everyday life in our society. In order to ride the rides at an amusement park you need to be a certain height. If you want a specific job you must meet education and experience requirements. When I joined the Army, there were requirements that I had to fulfill. I had to pass a physical, I had to take some tests and some had to finish seminary.
We are required, by law, to pay taxes. We are required by law to obtain a driver’s license if we want to drive a vehicle legally. As a citizen of a town, city, state and country, we are required to live in accordance with the laws of the land. When it comes to following the laws of our states and our country and meeting requirements to obtain things that we want, we take the law very seriously and we earnestly pursue what it takes to fulfill the requirements. We train hard to stay in shape, we study hard to make it through school successfully and we make sure that we do not ever miss paying our taxes and risking some serious trouble. When you were preparing to get your driver’s license you most likely went through classes and waited for hours in the Department of Motor Vehicles for what seemed to be an eternity and you did so patiently because you knew that in the end you would walk out of there with your brand new driver’s license. I believe that we are super serious about meeting the requirements placed upon us by our towns, states, employers and others because we know the consequences that come is we don’t meet them.
Sadly though, when it comes to fulfilling the requirements that God has placed upon us we don’t take them half as seriously as we do the requirements placed upon us by the world. How seriously do you and I take God’s requirements for our lives? God has required us as His people to live our lives in a certain way, by a certain standard and God’s way and God’s standard far outweighs those of any nation or society.
God’s standard, as found in His Word, calls us and requires us to surrender our lives to Him and to the service of His kingdom and to live in the pursuit and practice of holiness. We must be people that pursue what it takes to live the life God requires of us. This requirement should be and must be taken way more serious by us as Christians than the requirements placed upon us by man. The requirements of our society and our nation and our employer are important, don’t misunderstand, but as important as these requirements are, God’s requirements are to be taken so much more seriously.
The questions that linger are these: what is the life that God requires and how do we live it? I truly believe that you are reading this book because you want to live by God’s standards and grow in grace and spiritual maturity. I also believe that you are reading this book expectant that the Holy Spirit will transform your heart and mind as you focus on God’s Word and put it into practice.
So, what is the life that God requires? It is holiness or as James puts it; a righteous life. God requires that the lives of His people be lives that pursue holiness that are separated from the world. In James 1:27, James says, “Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows and to keep one’s self unstained from the world.” To keep one’s self unstained from the world. God requires that His people be pure and holy; in the world but not of the world. We are to be different from the world and to live out true faith in the world. So, how do we do it; how do we live the life that God requires?