There is a common word found in the previous statements:”IF.” One is a friend of Jesus, remains in His love, remains justified, is His brother and is a son of God IF he obeys His Words/commandments/Law. Such a one’s faith will save him IF he proves his faith by his works. A most important question is, What is this faith one must live by? Faith in who; faith in what? What does one do with this faith? How does it affect one’s life walk?

“Faith comes by hearing … the Word of God” (Rom. 10:17). Faith is knowing God’s Word and knowing that His Word is Truth (Jn. 17:17). Faith and God’s Word are inseparable–one does not exist without the other. As faith cannot be changed in any way–deleted from, added to, rejected, etc.,–neither can God’s Word. But faith alone saves no one. If it could, the devil would be headed for paradise. Satan not only knows God’s Word, he knows that it is true. If knowing and believing it could save, he would be a rock star in God’s salvation program.

By the same token, if taking Jesus into one’s heart as his/her personal Savior, being baptized, joining a church and being active in church could save the soul there would be millions of saints walking the earth. But God tells us that only a few will enter His strait gate and walk His narrow path leading to eternal life (Mat. 7:13,14). The Lord reminds us that Simon Magus “believed and was baptized” and followed the teachings of Philip. God reminds us that Ananias and Sapphira were active in the church at Jerusalem. But Peter told Simon Magus that he had no part to play in the church and would burn (Acts 8: 13-23). Ananias and Sapphira dropped dead at Peter’s feet (Acts 5:1-10). Why? Because they were not “doers of the Word,” but were “hearers only” (Jam. 1:22). These church attenders failed to grasp a most important truth–God views His Words as an extension of Himself. One must “do” Jesus–obey the Word of God as He did–“walk as He walked” (1 Jn. 2:6). Man says this is impossible; God says this is necessary. Jesus made it clear in Revelation 3:21 that one must “overcome (Satan) as I overcame (him)” in order to join Him in the Kingdom of God. We overcome the devil by power-producing faith; faith is knowing that God’s Word is Truth–the only spiritual Truth. SALVATION IS IMPOSSIBLE WITHOUT FAITH IN AND OBEDIENCE TO GOD’S WORD. No amount of religiosity, which God calls “filthy rags” (Isa. 64:64), will change this.

Jesus was God’s Word in human form; the Bible is God’s Word in written form–GOD VIEWS HIS SON AND HIS WORD AS ONE IN THE SAME. God provided His will and way in written form so that those who seek Him can find Him and have an unalterable set of instructions on which to build their faith and by which to live. THE BIBLE IS GOD’S PATH TO HIM. A friend of Jesus walks that path and that path only. Therefore, the only proof that one is a friend of Jesus, His brother, is justified, abides in His love and is a son of God is one’s obedience to God’s Word. He brings this out in Acts 4:12 where He tells us that there is no other name by which we can be saved. “And His NAMED is called the ‘WORD OF GOD'” (Rev. 19:3/Jn. 1:1-4,14). God values Jesus and His Word equally. To be eligible for salvation one must do the same. To be continued. L.J.