Lecture 1 | The Difference Between Living Faith and Dead Faith

In this podcast episode, Chakari delves into the distinction between living and dead faith, drawing extensively from James 2. He emphasizes that true faith is inextricably linked to works and love, as exemplified by Abraham and Rahab. Conversely, dead faith is merely intellectual belief without corresponding action or genuine love, similar to the belief of demons. Chakari also explores the concept of working out salvation not as earning it but as cultivating a divine gift through the power of the Holy Spirit, which ultimately expresses itself in Christ-like love for others.

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Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:00

Grace and peace, brothers and sisters. Welcome to the Gospel of 420 Podcast. This is your host, Chris Shakari, aka the Cushman. If you're tuning in from YouTube, Spotify, Apple, IHOT Radio, any listening platform, don't forget to like, subscribe, share, comment, follow the page, turn on notifications for a new message, and leave a rate and review. Let's get into the word. The difference between living faith and dead faith. The reading will come from James chapter 2, verse 19. James chapter 2, verse 19. And it reads, Thou believest that there is one God, thou doest well. The devils also believe and tremble. So for this episode, for the first episode of this Gospel of 420 podcasts, I want to talk about the difference between living faith and dead faith. Now, a lot of people, especially within uh Christian circles, they get confused between faith without works. What is faith and works? Oh, yeah, faith is not enough. You know, devils even believe. So we gotta understand, we're gonna go exegetically hermeneutics, we're gonna go into depth of what James 2 is about. So, in order to know the depths of what we're talking about, before we define living faith and dead faith, we must know the general definition of what faith is. It's the Greek word kistis, P-I-S-T-I-S. Now that word faith literally means a deep-seated persuasion, an internal state of being that is firmly convinced of its object. It's an expression of fidelity and consistency. It is a robust, life-altering commitment. It is a full assurance that it serves as both foundation of personal conviction and the hallmark of spiritual fidelity. So that is the general definition of the word faith. Now, to understand really James 2, where a lot of young believers and even certain pastors they get confused with what James 2 is about, we're gonna go start in its original verse context. Context is king. Now, James 2, we read from James chapter 2, verse 19, but it all starts from verse 14. So let's read verse 14 of James 2. So we have the definition of what faith is. Now let's see how James defined faith as. So in verse 14, he literally says, What doth it profit, my brethren? Now he's talking to, if you read James 1, he's talking to the Jews, the 12 tribes of Israel scattered abroad. Right? So he literally says, What does it profit, my brethren? Though a man say he hath faith and have not works, can faith save him? Now think about it, aren't we saved by grace through faith? You know, how how is that possible? Look at the word here. He says, Though a man say he hath faith. He said, What does it profit? What is what is the advantage? And he used the business term, Ophelos, it's a Greek term, it's like it's it's literally a business term. So he's saying, what does it profit, though a man say he hath faith? So someone who says they have faith and have not works, can that faith save him? So what can we see? That right there, though a man say he hath faith. So James is talking about a person that has a verbal only profession. Those religious people that have are incredibly eloquent. They know they have a beautiful speech, beautiful quotas on theology. And he uses the word prophet, P-R-O-F-I-T. So when we see it, it's like a rich person, they like someone who talks like they're rich, but you look at their bank account, look, you look at their net worth, it's empty. They're broke. So what do we see here? A non-working faith does not possess saving power. Lecturing about having faith but not actually gripping it, what does it, what is the advantage of it? Those things can't save you. If I say, though I can say I have I'm a billionaire, I can say I'm a millionaire, but if I look at my bank account, I'm worth the thousands, a couple hundreds. Those things does not save you. I can speak like a millionaire, I can speak like a billionaire, I can use every technical term, but if I don't grip it, if I don't have that type of assets or funds, is that supposed to save me? Is that supposed to drop into my bank account? Absolutely not. So Jesus is saying, like, can this talk-only suedo type of faith, can it, can it save that person? And what example does he use when we see verse 15 and 16? He talks about if a brother or sister is naked and they're destitute of daily food, and the person says, Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled, but yet you don't give them the things which are needful to their body, what does it profit? So when we read that, if you see it in the original Greek of how it was written, this is literally an expression of pious dismissiveness. Technically, it's like saying, Go get yourself fed and clothed. So this wealthy church member, this religious person, he's telling this starving, shivering worker, go get warm, gord yourself like a fat cow. That's what it says, that's what it means be warmed and filled. Huh? While refusing to give him the stuff he needs. We see in the original writing that look, not only is that speaker, not only is that person unhelpful, but it's a form of mockery. They're mocking the poor with these ridiculous, passive type wishes that the poor have no systematic power to achieve on their own. That's why he says, James says, what does it profit? Showing that words cannot feed empty stomachs. It can't clothe the free, it can't clothe the freezing neighbor. You know what this reminds me of? Back in 1967 when Martin Luther King gave an interview and he was talking about how when black people were free from slaves, once Abraham Lincoln freed the slaves, yeah, they were free, but they weren't given land, they weren't given opportunity, political leverage, they weren't given educational status. So it's like they didn't, they weren't given anything. Like the other immigrants, those who are like the Europeans and like those who came, right? They were given land, they were given property, they were given political leverage, they were given rights and education and food to like learn, to grow, to help themselves. Yet you see Martin Luther King, he was talking about how he says a quote right here, that it's all right to tell a man to lift himself by its own by his own bootstrap, but it is cruel just to say to a bootless man that he ought to lift himself by his own bootstraps. So if you're saying if you give a man freedom, but yet you don't give him the tools, the needs to work for himself, to better himself for their community. Now, look, it's nothing problem saying, you know, work hard, you know, but to mock somebody, to know they have a knowledge that they were stripped of their land. They were stripped of their rights, their wealth, their access, their status. Instead of giving them the tools to help themselves, they send them out with nothing and just tell them, hey, you know, go hustle. Like, that's like telling a poor person that has nothing, literally deprived, no family, no friends, no land, no place to eat, nothing. You tell them, find yourself food, find yourself friends. God bless you, be in peace. Without helping, without finding opportunities, how it doesn't benefit nothing. It does not benefit nothing. That is considered dead faith. Even so, faith, verse 17 of James 2, if it hath not works, it's dead being alone. So what is James saying? A talk of a faith that's only about talk is not just a lower tier of faith, it is a dead corpse, is a rotting carcass. The same way a body without breath is dead, an intellectual belief that stays locked inside a person's head, it's isolated to yourself, it's a corpse. A spiritual corpse that produces nothing but decay. A faith that remains entirely by itself, locking inside, locked inside a person's head without spilling out into their hands and feet is what? Lifeless, unresponsive. It's like a body without soul. So it's useless just to talk, but have no nothing, it doesn't produce nothing. It's dead faith. That's why in verse 18, James starts to say, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works. Show me thy faith without thy works, and I will show thee my faith by my works. So what what is James saying here? That sounds confusing, but what is he saying right here? James is treating, he's treating this type of faith as an invisible root, and the works are the visible fruit. So root, so faith is an invisible root. Works is the visible fruit. So we see faith is invisible, works are visible. So he's set he so you see in this in the reading, James is setting up this type of challenge, an impossible challenge for this hypocrite, for the ju for the hypocritical Jews he's writing to. What is he saying to them? He's saying, expose your invisible root to me without using the ground it grows from. You can, but guess what? But I will put my invisible root on display by showing you the massive tree that has erupted out of my works. So James challenges the objector to show faith out of a vacuum of zero works, which is an impossible task. Why? Because genuine faith is invisible to the human eye. So James, conversely, James is proudly stating that he will expose, he will exhibit, he will prove, he will prove his own invisible faith out of the origin point of his visible, tangible works. So what does he say here? Works are the fruit that prove the root of faith exists. So faith is a root. Works are the fruit. And yes, the righteous yields fruits. Look at Proverbs 12:12. The wicked desireth the net of evil men, but the root, remember, faith is the root of the righteous, yieldeth fruit. The root of the righteous yieldeth fruit. Now, when Solomon wrote this, so in those days in the ancient Near East, in a dry climate, see, so a tree with deep roots doesn't panic when it's a drought. Why? Because they have access to hidden waters, it is securely anchored. See, trees don't need to hunt, steal, or scramble. It effortly, it effortlessly produces fruit, naturally giving life away to the community. Why? Because that tree that yields fruit is rooted in what? Righteousness. It's or the life of the tree organically, organically produces good results. Peace, prosperity, influence, security. That's the righteous person. They do not have to trap anyone, they don't have to trap anyone like the wicked people do. Why? The success grows from the inside out. Now notice it says the wicked desireth the net of evil men. See, the wicked are so empty on the inside, they live on the surface, and they survive. They survive how? By setting traps to drain resources from others. Envying constantly the cleverer traps of worse men, entangling themselves in misery. So what do we see here? The righteous lives by what? Production. Fool on the inside, anchored deep. Because we have the internal source of life, which is faith. We don't need to trap anything, we don't need to do anything crazy. Why? Trees naturally overflow, transforming their environment by producing value instead of stealing it. The root of the righteous yields fruit. So we see the difference between the wicked and the righteous. See, the wicked person, they live a life of anxiety, envy, looking to borrow, steal the nets of others to catch wealth. Guess what? Only to end up caught in the calamity of their own schemes. You know what we think about? Cain. Cain literally. That's why it says Abel was the righteous. Cain is the wicked. Ooh, phew. Ooh. Revelation. See? The wicked desireth the net of evil man. Men. Cain. The root of the righteous yields fruit. Abel. But see, the righteous person, the righteous person focuses on the unseen. Faith is not seen. It's unseen. See, the righteous, those who are righteous in Christ, we focus on the unseen, the heart, the character, and the root. And the result of it, we experience a self-sustaining life that naturally yields fruit, providing value not just for ourselves, but for everyone around them. Hallelujah. So that works are literally the fruit that proves what? That faith is real. The invisible faith we have is real. Now, let's get to verse 19 and 20. This is both 19 and 20. Thou believest that there is one God, thou doest well. The devils also believe and tremble. But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead? Ah, man. Now there are a lot of people that say, oh, believing is not enough. Faith alone is not enough. Even demons believe, even demons believe. Let's understand this. Let's understand the context. Now we see what verse 14 to 17, actually 14 to 18 is about. So what is James saying here? So, this, the Jewish people who James is writing to, this hypothetical, they're the hypothetical, they're the readers, the hypothetical readers, right? See, one thing about the Jewish people, they take pride in theology, Orthodox theology. The Jewish monotheism, the Shema, believing in one God. That's like the national anthem of that time. Hero Israel, the Lord of God is one Lord. That's the cornerstone of the Jewish faith. That's like their national anthem. That's their constitution. And you know what James is saying? Thou doest well. That's good. But guess what? He shatters that comfort and confidence by saying, look, the devils also believe. The devils also believe. Meaning that what? They recognize God's existence and power intellectually. Yeah. The devils, they have the same flawless systematic theology. They also give me, they give credit. They know God is one. Yeah. They they have an idea. They know it's they know it's true. Yeah, they believe. Yeah. They know God is one. But you said, guess what? They tremble. The demons tremble. So we see that, yeah, them devils have a knowledge of God. When they say they tremble, they shudder. They bristle with chill, terrifying fear. See, that knowing that intellectual knowledge of their fa of the devils, it does not lead them to a transformation of their will or their spiritual well-being. Their belief lacks loving allegiance. You know what pr you know what fruit it produces for them? Tremble. Even that word tremble is deep. Like it's literally horror. It's like the physical bristling of hair when cold fear strikes. So literally, James is saying these demons have a theology so accurate, it gives them goosebumps of terror. And yet, he's saying that you vain men not knowing faithful how it works is dead. He's saying you think your calm, emotionless, actionless theology is enough to save you? You think you think that's enough? He's a vain man, it's empty, hollow. So so what is he saying? That true faith cannot exist apart from or separately from works. Without action, faith is dead. It's spiritually, a spiritual corpse. He's humbling this intellectual believer, a vain man. Yeah, this empty man has monotheistic doctrine that yes, God is one, he's a oneness, and they're doing good. That's that's cool. That's alright. But it doesn't produce nothing. The devil's shudder in absolute horror. So James is literally saying an intellectual-only faith does not make you a saint. It only it only lines you up with the psychology of a trembling demon. And to be called a vain man, he's literally calling him a hollowed-out vessel, an empty shell, uh like a water with no pit. He's literally slapping these guys rhetorically in the face, shocking them out of the intellectual complacency. See, you can have a knowledge of hey, think about it. The Egyptians, when when Moses, when Moses split the Red Sea and they all walked through, and Moses and they were about to drown. You know what the Egyptian says? They were stuck. They said, let us, let's run from the children, let's run from the face of Israel. The Lord fight for them against the Egyptians. So they they acknowledge that their God is with them. Did that save them? No. They died, they drowned. When the enemies of Nehemiah mocking him, oh, this wall is not gonna be built, this wall is not gonna be built. When they finished in 52 days, the heathens, oh man, they were cast down in their eyes. The Bible says they were perceived. They perceived that this work was wrought up by God. They didn't believe in Nehemiah's God, but they hadn't, they acknowledged that, man, God really worked on Nehemiah. That didn't change them. You can't have a knowledge that, oh, that God is real, but it doesn't profit nothing. The prophets of Baal, they they seen the sacrifice, they seen the sacrifice worked for them. Did that save them? No. Elijah killed all 400 prophets of Baal. So just because you have a knowledge of God, or yeah, you know about him, or yeah, you give intellectual credit that, yeah, he does this. That that does that faith does not save you.

SPEAKER_00 19:30

That don't mean nothing. That is dead faith.

SPEAKER_01 19:38

Now, when we read verse 21 to 24 of James 2, we have Exhibit A, Abraham. And they talk about how Abraham, our father, justified by works when he offered Isaac his son on the altar. Right? So, verse 21, what is what does it say? So, you gotta understand something. This is referenced to Genesis 22 when Abraham gave Isaac on the altar. So, we gotta understand that Abraham's act of obedience was the visible outward manifestation of a heart completely surrendered to God. So the faith Abraham possessed was put on public display through what? A costly action. And if you actually read Genesis 22, the Bible said God tempted Abraham. Now that word tempted is not what we think it is. It's literally testing the quality of armor. It's literally used as like a saying the purity of precious metals. Just put something under extreme pressure to see if it'll break or if it's genuine. So we see God is not trying to make Abraham fail because when you see Genesis 15, Abraham was already, Abraham believed God, his faith was already counted for him righteous. He was already justified by faith. He believed God, his faith was counted unto him for righteousness. Romans 4. To him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is accounted unto him for righteousness. Abraham was already justified before God. But yeah, God is telling Abraham, see, when we see that, he's not trying to make Abraham fail, but all God is doing, he's just testing the strength of the covenant relationship. That's it. God knew Abraham was gonna do well. But we see Abraham's faith is now being put into a crucible to prove its substance to the heavenly realm. So God is literally not testing, but a saying Abraham. Like, you know, a refiner testing gold, if it's pure, that's what it is. It's just to prove. He's just God would he's not trying to make Abraham fell. God just wants to prove the reality, the strength, and the depth of Abraham's faith.

SPEAKER_00 21:42

It's an examination, not to trap him. It's not to trap him.

SPEAKER_01 21:50

Because actually, when you read Hebrews, when you read Hebrews, it talks about how Abraham, by faith, he still did it because he knew God. God's promise. When he offered up Isaac in Hebrews 11, verse 17 and 19, he says he received the promises that in Isaac your seed will be called, and he knew that God will raise him up from the dead. So it's like, even if even if Abraham did what he did, God was going to raise up Isaac from the dead. That's why he had no problem ready to do it. His faith was there because he rested in God's promises. Being persuaded that what God has promised, he will perform. That's what faith is. It was already there. It just now needs to be proven to the world. That's what we see, verse 22. His faith, how Abraham's faith wrought with his works. And by works was faith made perfect. So what does that mean? Remember that word rot is the Greek word synergyo. It is literally a fellow worker, cooperating partner. So we see Abraham by his works, his faith, his faith that he was the faith that's already perfected, the faith that was perfected is now consummated in character. Is now brought to its full intended maturity and is now finished. See when faith moved into action, only when faith moved into action, the scripture completely crammed full, verified, replete, replete now. This is the word where we get the word synergy. Abraham's faith wrought with his works. It's the root word. The Greek word synergy was the root, the word we use, synergy, to be a fellow worker, cooperate. Faith was not acting in a vacuum, it was partnering with his works. By Abraham's works, his faith was made perfect. Abraham's faith was not flawed, but what, but rather what? It was completed, it was finished, it was consummated in character. So how do we see works? Works are the natural fruit that brings the seed of faith to its intended maturity. So James is not viewing faith and works as opposing forces, but these are co-workers. So we see works are the visible receipt of an invisible transaction. That is how we see works. That word synergy is the same word where Paul uses in 1 Corinthians 3, where people talked about, oh, I am a Paul of or I am of Apollos, and they're carnal, and there's envy, stripes, and divisions. He says, We're just ministers. We're nobody. God literally, he says in verse 9 of 1 Corinthians 3, he literally says, we are laborers together with God. God is literally the owner, the employer, the builder of the church. We, Paul and Apollos, we're not working independently. We're not working, we're not independent. We don't have our own industry. No, we work in tandem with one another under God's employment. We are God's employees. We are laborers together with God. We are workers. We are synergiers. We are in synergy. We're just servants that pulling the same plow or laying bricks on the same wall. Yeah. That is living faith. And then verse 23, Abraham believed God and his faith was accounted for righteousness. And guess what? He was called what? The friend of God. So we have to understand that when Abraham offered Isaac, it did not start Abraham's righteousness. It just validated it. Abraham's faith was already living and active. Why? Because he trusted in God's promises. God's promises are sure. His the right You see, you see right there, it just shows how strong Abraham's faith was. That no matter what God told him to do, because he dwelt in God's promises, he doesn't. Abraham enjoyed the intimate relationship with God. He was called the friend of God. God looked at a faith that cooperated with the works, and guess what? It counted as righteousness. So what do we see here in verse 23? That justification, or in other words, the vindication of a believer's faith before men through works. Justification before men. Abraham is literally exhibit A of works, justified by works before men. That's why verse 24. You see how that by works a man is justified, not by not by faith only. Literally, a person, we are justified, proven righteous before the world, by works, not by faith only, by the works before people. Let your light shine so that men may see your good works. Your conduct must good works are good and profitable unto men. The seven churches John writes to, I know thy works. And the works are before people. We are demonstrated to be authentic out of the out of our works, and not just by faith alone. Because people cannot see our faith. Faith is invisible, but they do what? They see our works. That is exhibit A, Abraham. Then he uses Rahab as exhibit B. Likewise was also James 2.25. Likewise, also was not Rahab the harlot justified by works when she had received the messengers and had set them out another way? So what do we see, Rahab here? So what is James saying? The righteousness of Rahab was a visible verdict that was birthed out of her works. See, she received the messengers. She omitted under her roof. In those times, when you did that, you're binding a covenant of protection. She was pledging her life to protect them. And she set them out a different way. So she literally forcefully shoved the spies out of a window through a secret exit to save their lives from the local authorities at Jericho. And she literally helped them escape through a strange, alternative, different route than the one expected. You understand what Rahab did was dangerous. It was like an espionage. And we see Rahab's faith was proven genuine to the spies by her works. Those works proved that she trusted God over the king of Jericho. Her faith in God, in their God, was invisible until she started in her works by not only hiding the spies and finding a different route. And we see, and when we see, and we read Joshua 2, verse 8 to 14, we see the difference between living faith and dead faith. Hayara Bokasa. Look at Joshua 2, right? So when they when Rahab hit those spies, and she gave a report, right? She says, she literally says, I know that God has given you the land, and your terror is falling upon us, and all the inhabitants of the land faint because of you. For we have heard how the Lord dried up the waters of the Red Sea for you. We heard what God did for y'all when y'all against the giants. And she said when we heard about what they did, about how God helped y'all, oh our hearts melted. We had no courage. Because of you, God is real. So we see the difference between intellectual faith and saving faith, right? Intellectual, intellectual, dead faith and living faith. So, intellectual faith. What do we have in common, right? So Rahab and the inhabitants of Jericho, right? Rahab and the inhabitants of Jericho, all of them heard about how God worked with the children of Israel. All of them have heard that, oh, how God dried with the Red Sea, how God saved them from giants. They have heard about those things. And through that hearing, oh, they were scared. They trembled. Remember, that knowledge of what God did, oh, it brought fear. Remember, even demons believe and they tremble. Yeah, they had knowledge, and guess what? They were fearful. They were fearful, so they had an intellectual knowledge. But you know the difference between Rahab and the others? Rahab literally, she had her faith was different than their faith. See, the intellectuals, those inhabitants of Jericho, their faith was like, oh, we're scared, we're gonna die. Oh man, we're scared, we're scared. No, no, no, no, no. Rahab's faith was it was confidence that she she didn't want to be fearful like the others, so she hid them from the authorities. And she said, Since I showed you kindness, show us kindness, give us a true token.

SPEAKER_00 31:02

Save, save my family. Oh man. That's that's true faith. That is real faith right there.

SPEAKER_01 31:16

Her faith didn't just stop her, like, oh yeah, you know, we heard about no no no. She says, Save my family. I believe, I you know that man. That's why Hebrews 11, verse 31, the Rahab, look at this. Ooh, look at look at verse 31 of Hebrews 11. By faith, the harlot Rahab perished not, perished not with them that believe not. So the inhabitants of Jericho, even though they uh even though they had a knowledge like her, but they didn't believe in God. But her belief, she received the spies with peace. She received, see what God has promised for the children of Israel. See, Rahab received the promise of God, even though she wasn't an Israelite. She wasn't a Hebrew, she was from she was one of the part of the inhabitants of Jericho. So the fact she received the spies with peace means she received the promises of God. And that promise of God, not only she had an intellectual knowledge, but she wanted to, she wanted to be saved. She believed in it so much that she was willing to, yes, your mission will succeed. That is true faith. That is faith in action. That's why verse 26, for as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also. Faith without works is dead, as a body without the spirit is dead. So when a body lies on the ground and has no breath, you don't say, oh, you know, that person is missing their breath. No, no, no. It's dead. That's a dead corpse. They are absolutely dead. So faith, just a mental ascent, just an intellectual belief without works, the act of breath, is not a weak faith, it's not an imperfect faith, it's a corpse, it's dead. It has no pulse, it's not alive, it's dead, it cannot save, it smells of decay, it can't move. See, works are not an optional addition to faith. But what? Works are the very breath that proves faith is alive. The same way a breathless body is not a real functioning human being, and actionless faith is not real saving faith. It is a carcass.

SPEAKER_00 33:33

And that faith which Rahab had, it saved her.

SPEAKER_01 33:38

That city was accursed. Those who are in it are cursed. But guess what? Only Rahab survived. Only Rahab and her family. Why? Because faith. She received the messengers, she hit them. And what's interesting is Joshua sent them out. So Joshua sent out the spies. She received what Joshua has sent. The word of God is not the word, the promises, the word of God is being sent that Jericho belongs to the children of Israel. And guess what? Rahab received God's word in her house. And not only believed it, Jericho, this is how you seen the soldiers that no, they went, no, I don't know what you're talking about. And what's interesting is she brought out a scarlet thread. She brought a scarlet thread. Hold on, let me let me let me find the verse. Let me find that verse. Joshua, it's in Joshua 2. She, let me let me see how how it says Joshua 2. Let me see. Now, if you read verse 15, and remember, when she gave them a different exit route, if you read verse 15, the Bible says she let them down by a cord through the window. She used a cord, and her house was upon the town wall, and she dwelt upon the wall. And you know what she told them? You know, go to the mountain unless the pursuers meet you, meet you, hide yourselves there three days until the pursuers return, then you can go your way. And that same rope that saved that had that helped them escape, they literally told her, bind, when we come into the land, bind this line of scarlet thread in the window, which thou didst let us down by. So Rahab had a scarlet thread with her all this time.

SPEAKER_00 35:36

And she used it to send them now out there diff out a different way. She bound that scarlet line in the window.

SPEAKER_01 35:48

That scarlet thread.

unknown 35:50

Wow.

SPEAKER_01 35:52

And what's interesting, the first time we see a scarlet thread was used in Genesis 38, verse 27 to 30. That's the first time we ever used it. We ever hear of it. And we're gonna talk about that soon, about Tamar and the twins being born, kind of similar to the Jacob and Esau pulling. That's another time. But in that scarlet thread, what did it represent? A scarlet thread represents a formal, a formal, irrevocable legal contract. And in that context, right, when it happened, it was when the firstborn received a double inheritance and mantle of family priesthood. It was an official, irrevocable legal notarization. And see, the color red, it's the color red. Right? It was chosen precisely because it was visible and would not blend with the blood of childbirth, ensuring no one could mistake which child had been marked. So this was used with the cord when the babies, the twins, uh Perez and Zar Zora in that context. So we're gonna talk about that another time. But we see a scarlet thread represented what? A irrevocable legal notisation, a contract. That red, that scarlet line, that scarlet thread proved it that this was, you know, that saved her. It saved her because why? The scarlet thread was hung by her window. That saved her. See, they killed it, that city was accursed. The only thing that saved Rahab was what? The scarlet thread.

SPEAKER_00 37:29

She had it on her possession all this time. Her faith wrought with her works. And what's interesting about that scarlet thread, a scarlet in general?

SPEAKER_01 37:43

Scarlet, if you read, let's read Psalms 22, verse 6. It says, But I am a worm and no and no man, a reproach of man and despised of the people. So David is, you know, prophesying about the Messiah. That word worm right there is the word crimson grub, a maggot, right? It's crimson. So his word it refers to the caucus illicis or illicis. So it is a worm that's used in antiquity to what? Harvest scarlet or crimson dye. Literally, it's derived from the ellipsis of Shani, S-H-A-N-I-Y, which what it means, scarlet. And in those days, this worm was harvested to do what? Create the costly scarlet robes of royalty and the curtains of the tabernacle. Now you gotta understand, like, how how do these how does scarlet work? How does this work, right? So they come from it comes from worms, right? So what's interesting about this, and it's in this points we're all to Christ. So we see that when the female crimson worm is ready to give birth, what does she do? She finds a secure place, a trunk, any a branch of an oak tree, right? And she attaches herself permanently to the wood. Doesn't that sound familiar? And when she fixes herself to the tree, she forms a hard, protective shell. She never leaves the spot. She has bound herself to the wood for the remainder of her life. She's bound to it. And underneath her protective shell, she deposits her eggs. She doesn't just lay them and leave. No, no, no. She uses her own body as a living shield to protect the vulnerable eggs from what? Predators? The element? Dehydration. So when this crimson, when when this worm she gives birth and her life draws to a close, her body secretes a deep, brilliant red fluid. It's so abundant that it completely stains the mother worm, the wood of the tree, and the tiny larvae having hatching behind her. And this fluid, this type of fluid, contains carminic acid, which is a natural defense mechanism that deters predators from eating her helpless offspring. And think about it, the vision, it look like it looks as though she has been crushed, weeping, a crimson stain that completely covers her family. So the motherworm dies in this exact position. And the body dries out and loses its color. It now turns into a white, waxy, wool-like flake that falls to the ground like snow. And the offspring are born alive, completely covered, and protected by the crimson residue of her mother's sacrifice. They survive by feeding on the nutrients left behind. That is literally, who do who is that? Who's the one cursed on, you know, crucified on the tree? Shed his blood. Jesus Christ. Think about it. That's why, also, those who say you can lose salvation and whatnot, number one, that blood on the cross is there forever. It's a new covenant, a new testament, that we have life. We are born of the word, incorruptible seed, the word of God which lives and abided forever. It is called the blood of the everlasting covenant. And through that blood of Jesus Christ, what? Our sins are remission are literally remitted. The remission of sins. Through his blood, we have received the forgiveness of sins. The wicked one touches us not. We have eternal life through his blood. Why? The life of the flesh is in the blood. The blood of Jesus Christ, we have life. In order for the New Testament to be enacted, someone has to die. Blood has to be shed.

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The blood is an atonement for the souls. The blood makes atonement for our souls. Now we see Rahab, right? Rahab.

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Justified. She believed, right? She believed. Justified by faith. She used a scarlet, crimson. Remember, made from worms when they're crushed, right? To make sure her offsprings are born alive. So those who are born of the word, we survive, and we are made righteous. Because of the blood of Jesus Christ. Who washes away our sins. We have life. We are covered by Him. We are in Him and He is in us. We survive off of Him.

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We can't be deceived by false doctrine. We are in Christ. The Lamb has been slain. We are in His family. Flesh of His flesh, bone of His bones. We are born of His Spirit. Washed in His blood. His body, His body, literally, our sins were laid in all of our iniquities and sins were laid on Him. On that cursed tree. Hallelujah. So what do we see, right?

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Justified by faith. Justification. See, remember, Abraham, see, we are justified by God through faith. We are justified. So literally, our work, see, just we are justified by works before men.

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We are justified by faith before God.

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So when we see Roman, like for example, Romans 5, verse 1 and 2. Let's read Romans 5, verse 1 and 2 to really understand. Because we see we are justified by faith. Therefore, being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. So this is a decree that what? The law of Moses have been entirely satisfied. We are rendered righteous. We are the defendants in the courtroom that rendered as righteous. And this righteousness, this acquittal, it doesn't come from our pockets or because we did good deeds or behavior. No, no, no, no, no, no. Why? It's because of faith. It's through faith man is made righteous. And because of that, being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. And in that context, in that Roman time, when Paul's writing to the Romans, this word, the Roman peace, Pax Romana, it was achieved by what? Crushing enemies beneath the iron heel of the legions. So peace in that context means submission after violent conflict. So then Paul starts to subvert it by saying to tightly bind together things that were violently broken, violently broken apart. So Paul is showing a defeated rebel who is not executed or enslaved, but what? Brought into the inner chambers of God to enjoy a harmonious relational pact. And this hostility caused by sin is totally abolished. So how is peace achieved after violent conflict? Now it's submission. Now we are brought into the chambers of the king to enjoy relationship. And that and that story is similar to it. Let me give you an example. Let's go to 2 Kings. Let's go to 2 Kings chapter 6, verse 19. When the king of Syria he wanted to go against Elisha. And then Elisha saying, told his servant, we are more than them. And the servant is like, huh? I don't see that. And Elisha asked God, God open his eyes. He opened his eyes. And guess what? It says how the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha. So Elisha smites, he says, Lord, smite them with blindness. And guess what? They were blind. And you know what Elisha does? Instead of killing him or setting him an army to trap him, he says, No, this is not the way. I'll bring you to the man who you're looking for. And he led them to Samaria. And then Elisha asked God, opened their eyes. Their eyes were open. They were in the midst of Samaria. And then this king of Israel's like, hey, you want me to kill them? He said, No, don't do it. Are you gonna smite who you take? No, no, no, no, no. Give them bread and water. Let them eat and drink. They ate and drunk, sent them away. So the army of Israel came no more into the land of Israel. That is peace. Enemy, a violent, supposed something that supposed to violently happen. Guess what? Now they're in the king, they're in the king's house, in their chambers, enjoying a meal, sent their way, and they never came back again.

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By faith, justified by faith before God.

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And look at and look at verse 2, right? After being justified by faith and having peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, look at verse 2, by whom also we have access by faith into this grace, wherein we stand and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. So in those times, it says we have access, the Greek word prosagogius, which is a trusted court introduction officer, technically the king's son, a high official, who took you by the hand and ushered you past the armed guards into the royal presence. Same way like Elisha, right? So once you're inside the realm of royal favor, the petitioner will normally fall prostrate on their face in terror. But Paul says something different. He says the believer stands. Stands as a citizen, a legal heir, not a slave. We're no longer servants, but sons of God, adopted. We stand tall and secure in the throne room. It is victory. And we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. It's like a Roman triumph, a massive citywide parade, where a victorious general paraded through the streets, shouting his victory. Why? Because we as believers, we are secured in the throne room. We don't look to the future with anxiety or worry or have false or like scared. We have full assurance. We have a triumphant shout and confidence that we will share in his glory. Mortality will put on immortality.

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Karnal will put on spiritual.

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Romans 5, verse 8 to 11. But God commendeth his love towards us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Verse 9, much more than being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him. Verse 10, for if when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his son, much more being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life. And not only so, but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement. Remember, life, remember, the hold on, let's let's let's read. Remember Leviticus, Leviticus 17, verse 11. For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and the blood is given on the altar to make an atonement for your souls. It is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul.

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So literally, atonement to change mutually, exchange coins of equal value.

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So that word atonement, right? So in that context, right? So when two nations, two nations are at war, decides to end bloodshed, they signed a treaty of atonement and exchange that level the differences, cancel the debts of war, and turn bitter enemies into trading partners. So Paul is saying that salvation isn't just God, oh he stopped, he stopped being angry with us. He decided no no no no no. It is now a total structural reordering of our relationship with Him. The heavenly declaration of war has now been torn down. And guess what? A permanent treaty of peace has been signed in blood. And you say you can lose salvation? Impossible. So Paul is saying that we believers, we shouldn't just be relieved that we are saved from wrath, but we should be shouting in the streets, boasting in the absolute undefeated victory of the King Jesus Christ. The atoning blood of Christ is literally the legal payment that satisfies heavenly justice. In our future, the out the future outlook for us is now changes completely. We shall be saved. And this future deliverance is literally from wrath. It's literally God's holy, calculated execution of justice and punishment against sin when he returns the second time. Justified by his blood. Because we are legally cleared by Christ's blood. We are made righteous. We are rescued from his judgment, from this judgment through him, and Christ is our protective channel.

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He is the Lamb.

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So we see justified by faith in verse 1 and 2. Then verse 8 to 11, justified by his blood. So how does that make sense? When we see Romans 3, verse 23-24, all have sinned, fall short of the glory of God, being justified freely by his grace, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, then we see verse 25. Romans 3, verse Romans chapter 3, verse 25, whom God had set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are passed through the forbearance of God. So we see here, propitiation. What is he saying here? The propitiation is referring directly to the gold lid of the Ark of the Covenant, the mercy seat, where once a year, on the day of atonement, the high priest enters the pitch black holy of holies, and beneath the lid of the ark are the tablets of the law, crying out for the condemnation of the sins of Israel. And above that lid is what? The manifested presence of God. And the priest, the high, the Levitical priest, the high priest, will sprinkle sacrificial blood on the lid. And the blood came between a holy God and the broken law, and turning away judgment and reconciling the people to God. So Paul, what is Paul saying? That Jesus did not just Jesus didn't perform a ritual, he became the physical public mercy seat for the entire world.

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Not only is he the sacrifice, but he is the high priest offering the sacrifice. Offered himself one time, the sacrifice of sins, one time forever.

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One time sacrifice through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ. And then we see verse 26 to declare, I say, at this time, his righteousness that he might be just and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus. So what is he saying? So if he's so if God is holy, how can this holy God tolerate guilty humans without compromising himself, his own justice? Think about it. If we see a lot of corrupt judges, you know, they let murderers go free, they let rapists and serial predators and robbers and thieves and those who do evil. See, those they let murderers go free and they do it out of love. If they do it out of love or because they have a relationship, that's corrupt, that's corruption. That's a problem. So Paul, his closing argument right here is that the cross is the only place in the world where God's absolute hatred of evil and his absolute love for the evildoer come together. They meet. He punishes sin in Christ, remaining just. By punishing sin in Christ, while he remains just, he can legally clear our record, becoming the justifier. So you gotta understand, before the cross, God did not immediately execute the full eternal penalty for sins committed by those in the Old Testament. And those in the outside, so to the outside looker, right? It looked like God, you know, he was soft on sin. But guess what? What made there's something that makes a difference? It's the cross, it's the proof of his righteousness. By punishing sin fully in Christ, God achieves the balance that not only he's just, he's innocent, holy, and equitable, and executing wrath against sin, but he is the justifier of any flawed sinner who has faith in Jesus. And that sinner is now made righteous. Faith in his blood. Faith in his blood. Propitiation through faith in his blood. That's how it ties together so perfectly. We're justified by faith in his blood. Even in the Old Testament, even in Leviticus 14, verse 47, we see how the priests, they uh when when someone was lepr when someone was a leper, right, and they want to be clean, they take these two birds, right? Two lively birds. Pure, pure, clean birds, and he fetched them, you know, and they bring cedar wood. And they bring uh they bring so they have two birds, cedar wood, scarlet, hyssop, earthen vessels, running water, right? And how this ritual, right? So one of the birds has to be slaughtered in the sacrifice, and his blood is poured into that uh clay, that earthen vessel, right? And the slaughter, it takes place over the fresh, springing, living water. So that blood and the flowing water mingle, they they mingle together in that pot. And that bird, the remaining bird that's still alive, the priest takes it, bundles it together with the cedar wood, the crimson thread, and the purging hyssop. He plunged and submerged them all into the struggling living bird, into the thick, watery blood of the bird that was sacrificed, over that springing water. In that bloody wet bundle, what does the priest do? He strikes the he strikes that leper who is being purified seven times. And remember that seven represents completion, covenant perfection. And he shouts, officially, he is clean. And he sends the bird away, releases the blood-stained living bird, letting it fly wildly and unrestricted out into the open face, is not seen again. And remember, what is that earthen vessel, that clay pot represents? Us. The lepers. We were lepers sick. And the living water is God. Combining with the blood of the sacrificed bird with living water inside the cleansing pot, it shows cleansing life is being brought down into the fragile, broken container of human existence. Leprosy. And guess what? The cedar wood that was used is tight grain, it resisted rot, insects, and decay, and its roots were notoriously deep and firm. And using cedar wood into the blood, it counteracts the decay of leprosy. See, remember, deep crimson is literally the healthy blood. It's a worm. I am a worm, not a man. I am a worm and no man. So life is brought out of something crushed. Through the body, offering of the body of Jesus Christ, we have life. Those who have faith in his blood, whosoever believes on him, shall not perish but have eternal life. The bird is now stained.

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Same thing with the goats, one sent away, one sacrificed, all that. Yeah. They watched the bird carry the blood of the sacrifice away.

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Remember, worthy, the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world. He was manifested to take away our sins. The curse of this disease called sin has been cast out into the wilderness. Now freed. We are now freed from sin.

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We are in Christ. New creatures. Through faith in his blood.

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So to understand living faith, we always say faith without works is dead. We have an idea of what dead faith is. Now we see living faith. So is it faith or works? What how what is how does faith work anyway? So let's understand something. Faith absolutely works, but not in the context people have interpreted as. So let's see, look at, for example, 2 Thessalonians 1, verse 11. Wherefore also we pray always for you, we always pray for you that our God will count you worthy of this calling and fulfill all the good pleasure of his goodness, and the work of faith with power. Calls it the work of faith with power. So what is what is he saying? What is Paul saying? Faith naturally produces labor. And this labor is not through our willpower, it's not by might, it's not by power, only by the Spirit of the Lord. So this labor is not through us, but it's sustained inside the state and instrumentality of God's power. And our work, the work of the believer, is birthed by our faith and is brought to fruition by God's power. We are saved by grace through faith. While we are saved by grace, we are called to live lives that God deems worthy of that calling. It is not through legalistic striving, but how? God fulfilling in dynamics his own good desires through human actions, entirely sustained by supernatural, miraculous strength by the Holy Ghost, the power of God, the kingdom of God. It's not in word, but in power. There are those who use also Philippians 2, verse 12 to 13. Work out, work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God which worketh in you both to do both to will and to do of his good pleasure. So let's understand that real quick. Work out your own salvation. They say faith is not enough. You have to work out your salvation. Why does he say this? He tells us to work out. Now, we gotta understand, Paul is writing to the church at Philippi. Now, in Philippi, there's this mines. They have a mine, the mount, the mines of Mount Pangeon. So it's outside the walls, city walls of Philippi. So before Paul even arrived, there was a king named King Philip II of Macedon. He is the father of Alexander the Great. So he took the control of this area, Philippi. Why? Because it's rich in silver and gold ore. And that funded the rise of the Macedonian Empire. And Paul is writing from a Roman prison to the Philippian church. And also these mining, these mining networks were still there. That's what made Philippi the mines, silver, rich in silver. To get precious metal out of the earth, the Philippians knew about it. He literally says, work out your own salvation. Kater Gazomai. It's used, it's that word used in the mining industry. He's not saying create the silver. Because we can't create the miner couldn't create the silver if it was if it wasn't already in the rock. He's literally saying fully exploit, extract, refine a mine that you already possessed. So we gotta understand, let's look from the perspective of a miner during this time in Philippi. So before those mine, those miners ever stepped into the foot, before the worker ever steps into the foot into the mine, first off, there's a mine, the mineral rights are secured, and they belong to the wealthy elite. It belonged to the state, right? So we gotta understand, the miner did not create the silver that runs through the dark rock. The silver is an inherited, inherent, pre-existing treasure. So what can we see? Salvation is the silver mine. We did not put the silver there. We can't create the silver mine through our works. It was placed there by God's grace. So we do not work for salvation to earn the mine. We work out the salvation because we've already been given the deed to the mind.

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That's why he says, work out. And think about it.

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Those miners, that's when they work, right? They don't, they don't, the silver doesn't just jump out. No, no, no. The miner has to light the torch, step into the dark, damp, subterranean shafts, and you have to swing that heavy iron pickaxe against the brutal, unyielding rock face. And it took work. Oh man, you have it took work. To be a miner, you gotta have skills. Daily. You're a laborer. You're working for the state. You're employed. We are laborers together with God. You see? Synergy. Ooh! It's that revelation right there. This is literally working down to the finish. So the life, the spiritual life, is literally intensive effort. It's a gift. Salvation is a gift inside of us. And we actively dig it out. We swing the pickaxe against the hand rock of our old habits, our selfishness, and our pride to extract the character of Christ into our daily lives. It is a grueling hands-on process of personal accountability. And then once those miner chips, when the miner chips the ore out of a wall, it's not, it isn't ready to be stamped into a currency. Cause why? It's ugly, it's jagged, lump of rock mixed with dirt, slag, it has to be worked out. To work it out, the miner must take that raw ore, cast it to a blazing hot furnace, and once once that metal is melted down, and all the dirt, dirt, the impurities, the slag is skimmed off, the top, the pure reflective silver remains. He says, Work out your salvation with fear and trembling. See, remember, refining a salvation is high stakes intense work. So the miner treats the furnace with absolute caution and reverence because the heat is dangerous. But the result is a beautifully finished, pure product. And Paul is telling the church at Philippi Let the raw gift of your faith be thoroughly refined by the Holy Ghost until all the toxic slag of division and selfish ambitions, which he talked about in chapter two, earlier in the early verse. Verses of chapter 2 is burned away. He's not saying work for your salvation, exploit the field. So what do we see? God has deposited the ore of salvation into our lives. And we are to mine it out. Take what's already there, bring it to the surface where it becomes useful, invisible, extracting the riches of grace to the people by works before men. Let's see Philippians 2. Let's see Philippians 2. Let's let's really understand that. Verse 12 and 13. Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence. Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.

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Work out your salvation. He didn't say work for, work out your salvation.

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Now notice, he says, It is God which worketh in you. It is God which worketh in you. People always say work out your salvation, but they don't read that. It is God who works in you.

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Literally, he is the medicine that takes effect in our body. A machine in motion. This, let me tell you, being salv being spiritual life is not a self-help project.

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It is a God-enerized project. It is a spirit work. He is the energy behind the working, the workout. You know, when you take protein shakes for workout, when you take, you know, when you eat, you know, when you eat certain foods for your workout plan, that's what it is. We eat healthy, we drink healthy drinks so we can work out, we can work together.

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It says with fear and trembling. It's like a high, the trembling of a high voltage wire.

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When we realize that we are vessels for the living God, work out our salvation with fear and trembling is God to do his good pleasure. It's realizing God is using my hand and my He's using my hand and my will to do his work. Fear and trembling. See, there are times we have the will, but we don't have the power. And other times we have the power but no will. So Paul uses these terms to show how God occupies our psyche, right? He provides the subjective impulse of the want-to and the objective effectiveness of the can-do. He provides the things we want to and things that we can do. That we are not called to work in our own strength, but to actively finish and manifest the grace that God is effectively powering within our hearts. And it's rich. Remember, salvation is a rich thing. It's by grace, the silver, the riches of his grace. And we see in 1 Timothy 1 verse 14, the grace of our Lord was exceeding abundant with faith and love which is in Christ Jesus. Exceeding abundant. The grace of our Lord was exceeding abundant, has no sealing. It's the Greek prefix exceeding abundant, hooper. That's where we get the word hyper. It's infinity plus one. Literally, sin. He's talking about Paul, literally, think about it. Paul is saying, while my sin was a mountain, God's grace was an ocean that not only just covered the mountain, it submerged it till the mountain was forgotten. The bottom city of Atlantis, it's not there, no more to be found, can't be discovered by archaeologists or scientists. It's down, it's gone forever. It's now a myth. And Charis, the word grace is literally a patron-client relationship. See, the patron provided a gift, favor that the client could never repay. And Paul calls himself a client of the Lord. Literally, grace is literally defined as divine influence upon the heart. That grace is not just a legal pardon, but it is a soft, it's an inside faith, internal, it's a software update that changed how we feel and acted. And it says the grace of our Lord was exceeding abundant with faith and love which is in Christ Jesus. With faith and love that is in Christ Jesus. So Paul is not saying, oh, the faith and love is what I do, it's an atmosphere. Faith and love is an atmosphere. The same way he's just like a fish that can only breathe in water, a new life of faith and love can only survive while being submerged in the person of Christ Jesus. So faith and love is not just it's not something we do, but it's an atmosphere, it's a presence. Why? Because it's in Christ Jesus. Only in Christ Jesus, this new life that we have through his son, through faith in his blood. A new life of faith and love survives while submerged in the Lord Jesus Christ. A heart influence that actually the grace that actually produces the love and faith the law only demanded. Faith and love found in Christ Jesus. And we see in Galatians 5, verse 6, in Jesus Christ, neither circumcision, neither circumcision availeth anything, nor uncircumcision. But how? But faith which worketh by love. How does faith work? By love. Faith is literally an efficient, active engine. Energio. Faith worketh. Energio. It's an energy. Faith is fiercely active. It's operationally efficient. It's mighty in displaying its own inner power. It's not just intellectual, it's not dead faith. Faith is alive. Just a faith, a faith that has no energy is dead. True faith is a kinetic working force. Faith is fueled and driven through the conduit of heavenly love. So the energy, so faith, energetic faith expresses itself through love. Unconditional benevolence and affection modeled by God Himself. So we see faith that is alive, fiercely alive, functionally efficient, and is powerful through unconditional love. So we see that the gospel of the kingdom of God, the gospel of the grace of God, the gospel of Jesus Christ, the one gospel that saves man produces a faith that naturally overflows into selfless, Christ-like love for others. So we see love is the channel through which true faith expresses its power. Active faith works through love. It embraces a dynamic, spirit-led faith that is up that is grounded in grace and visibly operational through love. So we see faith without works, faith without love is dead. That's why when you see verse 15 of James 2, oh, and you just say, oh, go in peace without giving him anything. That is not love. That is mockery. That is hatred. That's why John talks about if you if you say you love God and you hate your brother, how can you tell? That's that's that's dead faith, that's nothing. You say you love God and you hate your brother, you're not his. Even Paul says in 1 Corinthians 13, verse 2, I have all you can have all the gifts of prophecy, have all the mysteries, have all the knowledge, have all faith. If you have no love, you're nothing. The faith, even if it could move mountains, if if love is not the engine, if if love is not in the work, it's nothing, it's dead faith.

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That is powerful faith. That is true faith. Look at Ephesians 2, verse 8 to 10.

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For by grace are you saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them. So what can we see here? That faith, if we look at the from the original Greek, how can we understand what Paul is saying? Faith is not the cause, it's not the reason of salvation. Faith is not the cause, it is the channel of salvation. So, grace is water, faith is pipe, faith is the pipe. We're not saved because how great our faith is, but it's through faith as the means by which God's grace reaches us, Hayara Bukasa. And it uses the word workmanship, showing the pride of the Creator. We are a product of God's specific design. We are remanufactured for a specific aesthetic and functional purpose. We are not saved by works. God has fitted up in advance a path of works for us to walk in. So when we are when we are in Christ, spiritual life, the Christian life, is not about creating a path, but discovering the one God already laid out for us. Before the foundation of the world.

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Before in Him, before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy. It is not about works. It's nothing we do. We play no part in God's work in us.

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So we see that we are saved by grace through faith for good works. We are not the protagonists of our salvation. We are the workmanship of God who prepared our paths. Remember, we walk in the path of the upright. God has prepared it before we ever took our first step in faith. It was there already. The office job, the desk is there prepared for us. We just go in there and do the work.

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We work for Him, our work for God, our employee. And we see what the true work is. We all talk about work. Faith without works is dead. Faith without works is dead.

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What is the true work? John 6, verse 27 to 29. Labor not for the meat which perisheth, but for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life, which the Son of Man shall give unto you, for him hath God the Father sealed.

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So what what can we understand? In this cultural context, when Jesus wrote this, in a world that's ruled by Rome and Greece, wild beast, the beastly, right?

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See, Jesus what the Messiah was anticipated as the one who would bring a kingdom of true humanity, reflecting the face of man as God intended. So Jesus, literally says, labor not for the meat which perisheth, but for the meat which endures unto everlasting life, which the Son of Man shall give unto you, for him hath God the Father sealed. So what is Jesus re this is a paradox that we must intensely pursue the spiritual reality. But when we reach it, the son, Jesus hands it to us as a gift.

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It cannot earn it, it must be delivered. It's the gospel. His meat is to do the will of God, to do the will of him that sent me.

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So we see here to redirect, redirecting their life's energy from meat. He's telling us, labor not from meat, from physical meat, but redirect our energy from physical survival to now spiritual cultivation, which is a gift exclusively authorized and validated by the divine seal of God the Father upon Jesus Christ. And we see that eternal life cannot be earned or purchased.

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It must be given to you. It must be given. The gift is a gift that you receive. When you receive it, it's given unto you. He gives it to you. Those who receive it by faith, those who believe on him, he gives it to you.

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See, human labor is required to, you know, when you work, it's required to position yourself to receive. But guess what? The ultimate prize is a free gift of eternal life from Christ to us.

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So when he says labor for the meat which and which endures unto everlasting life. So what what do we see here? We do not work, it's not about working for salvation.

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What is the labor? Finding assurance. It means to finding assurance in the fact that our salvation is anchored in a savior who has been permanently validated and secured by the second mark of God the Father.

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So he tells them, labor, right?

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Labor for this. And they ask, they ask God, and they ask Jesus, what shall we do that we might work the works of God? And how did Jesus answer? They said, Give us some works. This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he had sent, believing on him. Whosoever believeth on him shall not perish, but have everlasting life. He has passed off from death to life. Whosoever believes, you are like him. It's whosoever believes. Faith, in trusting yourself to him, committing your trust, your whole being, unto Jesus Christ. Martin Luther made a quote about how to describe living faith. We already described what dead faith is, but how this is how we describe faith. He described faith as a living, bold trust in God's grace. So certain of God's favor that it would risk death a thousand times trusting in it. And we see, for example, Abraham. He had so much trust that he didn't care if he killed Isaac. He knew God, because he knew God would raise up Isaac from the dead because he remembered God's promises.

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The Bible says, Great in his faithfulness. Even Rahab, risking knowing what she did is a life or death risk.

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But she trusted in God. She had faith so much that she was willing to do it. That is living faith. Such confidence and knowledge of God's grace. That's what faith is. A knowledge and confidence of God's grace. It makes us happy, joyful, bold in our relationship to God and all creatures. And it's not through us, but through the Holy Spirit. He says the Holy Spirit makes this happen through faith. And the light, and we, and think about it, people be like, oh, you know, the lifestyle Bible. Hold on. Let me let me read something. You know, this wasn't even in, this wasn't even in my thinking. But look at Galatians 2, verse 20. People be like, oh, you know, faith alone, you know, hey, you say you have faith in you, living contrary, you living in sin, living in sin. You know, you can't, you you change your lifestyle. Look at look at verse 20 of Galatians 2. I am actually verse, let's start from verse 19. For I through the law am dead to the law. So through the law, you're dead. You're dead to law, that I might live unto God. You live unto God. And look at verse 20. I am crucified with Christ. Nevertheless, I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth in me. It's not me. I don't live. I'm dead. I have new life. Christ lives in me. Because Christ lives in me, I have now life. And the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. So the lifestyle we live, we live by faith. We walk by faith, not by sight. People be like, oh, you know, what lifestyle? Look at your lifestyle. Yeah, lifestyle is faith. We live by faith. And that's that happens through the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit makes this happen through faith. And because of that faith, that living faith, that powerful faith, we freely, willingly, and joyfully do good to everyone, serve everyone, suffer all kinds of things, love and praise the God who has shown you such grace. Thus, it is just as impossible to separate faith and works as it is to separate heat and light from fire.

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That is true faith. It works together. Synergy. We are co-laborers with God.

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We love working for God. Nehemiah, he said, I don't care. I don't care about your plot, your enemy, your what you're trying to do. Oh, I got work to do. God has put it in my heart. I got work, man. The work I'm doing, the work of God is there.

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That's faith. Faith works. Living word. Oh, man.

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Powerful faith. You can have all the faith you want. But if it without works, it's dead. And what is the how does faith work? By love. And we already know and we describe what love is. It suffers long. It's kind. It does not envy. It does not bond, it bonds not itself. It's not puffed up. It does not behave itself unseemingly. Seeks not our own. It's not easily provoked. And think look at the most important part. Two important things, right? It literally says it thinks no evil, meaning it does not record record of wrongs. God's love does not, He doesn't write down the sins you do. No, no, no, no, no, no, no. The new covenant through the blood, it literally says your sins and iniquities I'll remember no more. It thinks no evil. Also it says rejoices not in iniquity. So all this delusion, let's stop this delusion that, oh, you know, you can't use grace as license to sin and you know, living in sin. It literally says it does not rejoice in iniquity. So how does the gospel make you enjoy sin when not even sinners are comfortable sinning? That's the oh. So let's let's let's understand that. Because it says it does not rejoice in iniquity, it rejoices in the truth. Oh, hypergrace, hypergrace theology teaches people to sin, live in sin. The reason you know, people, you know, hypergrace, you know, the reason people are sinning and doing these things, they can't deal with their sins because they're deceived by grace and hypergrace theology. Huh? Huh? What? You sound idiotic. It does not make sense. It rejoices in the truth that Jesus Christ ain't and also say that you can lose salvation. It literally says it bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endureth all things. Oh, all those who endure to the end, it says love endures all things. It endures generations, and it never fails. Prophecies fail, tongues fail, knowledge, knowledge will go away. Everything will fail. But love never fails. See, faith, faith reminds for a little bit. Will it will be there a little bit? Because by the time it'll be over. There'll be no faith. Hey, you're there. Hope, the hope has come. It's gonna be gone. But love is the greatest. The greatest is love.

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Love is over everything. The love of God.

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God's love that he sent his son to die for us to cleanse off of our sins. His love, he manifests to take away our sins. That is hypergrace. That is love. Where sin abounds, grace abounds. That is hypergrace. The throne of grace. Faith that works. Living faith. We live by faith. Our lifestyle is of faith.

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The faith we have is not our faith, it's the faith of the Son of God. The faith of God. It's through faith that we are made righteous. Not because of what we do, but what Jesus Christ has done for us. That is pure, powerful faith. That is living faith.

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And dead faith is just intellectual talk and knowledge or things. You can have the knowledge. See, you can know how something works, but if you haven't tried it, it's useless.

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You can talk about how to do this, but if you don't haven't done it yourself, it's dead faith. Faith always works. That song, he's an on-time God. He doesn't come when you expect him, but he's right on time.

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That is the difference between dead faith and living faith. Now don't just have a knowledge of God. Don't just, yeah, you know about him. But believe on him, commit your trust to him. Believe that he is the one time sacrifice of sins, that you're no longer a sinner. You are righteous. You are made perfected, you are holy. And the more, the more you fill your head with the knowledge of Christ.

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Transformation happens. You transform into his image. Embrace the new identity we have. Embrace the identity in Christ. That is the true nature. Living faith, not dead faith.

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Those are difference. That is the difference between living faith and dead faith. Dead faith, you got a head knowledge, but living faith, it works.

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You try it, oh man. Trust in God's promises. You'll see it will come.

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That's what faith is. That's what Abraham said. He did not stagger at God's promises through unbelief. It did not waver. Faith works patience. Love is patient, right? Faith works by love. The grace of our Lord was exceeding abundantly through faith and love.

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The work of faith with power. It has an effect. Trust. We labor because why? We trust in the living God.

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Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. That is the work of God. Believe on him he has sent. Believe in what he has said about you. And I promise. Literally, be persuaded that what he has promised you, he will perform. That is the final message I have for you guys in this first episode of the Gospel of 420 podcast. Amen. Thank you for listening to this message. I pray that this word enlightens both you viewers and listeners. May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the sweet fellowship of the Holy Ghost be with you all. Amen. God bless.