>>33548151
>what helped you be a better Christian?
God.
All glory belongs to God. I did nothing to earn this. I simply grew in my relationship with Him. I have struggled much, and I still struggle. As long as we carry this fallen body of flesh, sin will be with us. But Christ has paid the price, and He paid it in full. That is why we are saved.
Sin does not undo salvation, for salvation is grounded in Christ’s finished work, not our performance. Yet this raises the question: what shows that someone is truly saved? The answer is fruit. As a Christian draws nearer to God, his heart is changed, and he increasingly desires to do God’s will.
John 13:34–35
“Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.”
Paul emphasizes that we are justified, declared righteous, by faith apart from works. Salvation is a gift of grace, not something earned. James, however, stresses that genuine faith is never alone; it shows itself by works. Paul is speaking of how a sinner is made right before God, while James is speaking of how that faith is proven to be alive before *others*. Paul addresses the root of justification; James addresses the fruit of it.
In short: we are saved by grace through faith, and that saving faith naturally produces works as evidence. Faith without works is dead, but works without faith cannot save. True justification includes both, the gracious declaration of God and the living demonstration in a believer’s life.
1/2
