Work, Labor and Endurance

This morning I felt led to read from Paul's first letter to 1 Thessalonians 1:2-7 NIV:

[2] "We always thank God for all of you and continually mention you in our prayers. [3] We remember before our God and Father your work produced by faith, your labor prompted by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ. [4] For we know, brothers and sisters loved by God, that he has chosen you, [5] because our gospel came to you not simply with words but also with power, with the Holy Spirit and deep conviction. You know how we lived among you for your sake. [6] You became imitators of us and of the Lord, for you welcomed the message in the midst of severe suffering with the joy given by the Holy Spirit. [7] And so you became a model to all the believers in Macedonia and Achaia."

Recently in our church we have talked through justification and the Gospel of Grace.  One subject that seems to always come up is how our works relate to these topics and truths?  Clearly we must believe in salvation and justification through faith alone (See Romans 3:21-28; Gal 2:16; Eph 2:8-9; Philippians 3:8-11) and yet James says the following - James 2:24 NIV:  "You see that a person is considered righteous by what they do and not by faith alone."  While this can be confusing, I think Paul actually provides a lovely guide here in the verses quoted above.  The "work", "Labor" and "endurance" are the products of faith, love and hope.  

The way I understand it is that James was effectively arguing that the impact of our faith and belief should have an affect on our lives and these changes, visible in our works, actions and fruit all point to our changed lives.  While these are indicative of our salvation, justification and relationship with and knowledge of the Lord, they are not the cause.  

Secondly, it seems to me that James is looking at this from our perspective, not necessarily God's perspective.  If we were to take the second thief on the cross as an example (See Luke 23:39-43).  Clearly, he expresses his faith in Jesus, but certainly has no opportunity to do any "works" aside from his statement of faith, and yet one must believe the word's of Jesus are true, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.” (Luke 23:43).  If we held strongly to the idea that works bring about justification, we could struggle with this statement.

It seems to me that one problem with adding works to the Gospel of Grace through faith, as a requirement for justification, is that we would never know for sure exactly which works are sufficient.  I mean the circumcision group was pretty sure that single act was sufficient and made them a "true" Christian.  However, couldn't the argument be made that a fasted lifestyle (a cutting away the pleasure of food and other comforts of life) was equally beneficial and the sign of a deeper faith, a more committed following of Jesus, and thus maybe now the only true indication of salvation.  Any additional requirement effectively says that Christ's sacrifice was not enough!  I definitely don't want to try to argue that case to Lord, as He sits on The Throne!

Quite simply, our response to Jesus' perfect sacrifice, to the Gospel of Grace, to our justification through faith alone, should be evident in our lives!  Our lives should bear fruit in keeping with our changed way of believing and thinking (repentance).  Our faith, love and hope should be evident in the fruit of our lives, and by this fruit our faith, love and hope will be visible to others, or at least cause them to wonder why our lives are changed.

Oh Lord, help me today to live my life in such a way that my faith, love and hope in You are evident through my works, labor and endurance.  I am so grateful for the sacrifice You made for me, for clearly it was enough!

Amen and Amen!