In Matthew 6:33 we are commanded to seek the righteousness of God.  Seeking entails effort. If I “seek” to pay my bills I must work to be able to do so. “SEEK the Lord while He may be FOUND” (Isa. 55:6). If, as the church maintains, it is impossible for man to produce righteousness by obedience to God, and if he is solely dependent on Jesus’ righteousness awarded to all who believe in Him, join the church, etc., why did Jesus command BELIEVERS to SEEK after righteousness and promised to fill (only) those who “hunger and thirst” for it (Mat. 5:6)? If righteousness is given upon profession of faith, completion of a specified ritual, baptism, etc., why does one need to seek it? On the natural level, one who is hungry and thirsty must do what is necessary to feed himself. Free food can be made available to him at a particular place which is reached by following a specific set of instructions. Though free, the food is available only if one follows the instructions provided by the provider of the food. Just believing that the Provider has made it available, hungering and thirsting for it will not fill his stomach. Similarly, the sustained righteousness necessary for salvation is not automatically awarded to those who “take Jesus as their personal Savior.” To attain it requires both FAITH IN and OBEDIENCE TO the One who provides it (Rom. 1:17;2:13). These are the WORKS God requires relative to salvation–no faith and obedience=no salvation.

Not so says the church–one need only believe that the Provider of “food” (salvation) has already filled him. Satan provides that warm, full (saved) feeling that sustains the believer. In that faith without works is dead (Jam. 2:14-24), so hungering and thirsting for righteousness without the works necessary to attain it is dead. We are told that “Abraham believed God and it was accounted unto him for righteousness”–he received it by faith. But to retain that righteousness required more than faith. Note (vs 21) that Abraham was “… justified by (his) WORKS,” not by his faith alone. Note that he DID exactly what God told him to DO. Had he failed to DO as he was told, his faith would have been dead; he would not be called the father of the faithful and God would not have chosen him to be the progenitor of His people. In the same way, the man Jesus of Nazareth had to DO as He was commanded by God in order to qualify to be the Savior of the world. As with Abraham, failure was always an option. Fortunately, neither He nor Abraham failed. God is no respecter of persons (Acts 10:34). What He required of Jesus and Abraham, He requires of us–obedience to His Words, the same Words by which we (Abraham included) will be judged (Jn. 12:48-50). Note in this passage that the Words spoken by Jesus were the Words given Him by God. All who have ever spoken for God have spoken the Words given to them by Him through the Holy Spirit. “Holy men of old spake as they were moved (upon) by the Holy Ghost” (2 Pet. 1:21). We know by this that the Old Testament is as relevant today as the New Testament, which the church denies while rejecting Ephesians 2:20 where we are told that the New Covenant Church was founded on the teachings of both the apostles and the PROPHETS, both of whom God spoke to through His Holy Spirit. Through Paul, God spoke to Timothy: “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God and profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction and for training in righteousness” (2 Tim. 3:16). In the previous verse God told the apostle that (obedience to) the Scriptures (would) make him wise UNTO SALVATION.” Note it: Timothy was not saved; he could only be saved by obeying the Scriptures. At that point in time the only Scriptures available were those of the Old Testament. The above teaches us that every Word in the Bible is “God-breathed,” even those that He annulled with the death of Jesus. Note also in verse 17 that the end result of obedience to His Word was PERFECTION–maturity (knowing what to do and doing it), for to know what to do and not do it is sin that separates one from God. Note in the Timothy discourse that God equates OBEDIENCE, PERFECTION AND SALVATION. They all work together or they do not work at all. Salvation by faith alone is not Scriptural. To be continued.