Are We Justified by Works

Are we justified by works or by faith? #Righteousness, #faith, #conduct Beloved and respected, all our members who follow the orthodox education that we convey on John's Repentance page; Based on the topic mentioned above, we have sent you the important lesson below, so we entrust you all to read and learn from it. Wherever there is a law, there is justice and condemnation, for those who keep the law are justified and those who transgress the law are condemned. The message of the prophet Isaiah confirms this reality "If you are willing and obedient, You shall eat the good of the land; But if you refuse and rebel, You shall be devoured by the sword”; For the mouth of the Lord has spoken" (Isa. 1:19-20). Of course, the foundation of righteousness is faith. Good work is a roof and a wall. A foundation alone is not called a house, and faith without conduct is worthless. Just as a wall and a roof cannot stand without a foundation, doing good deeds without faith is like building a house on sand. Everyone knows that there is a spiritual law in him, and that is conscience. Man does good by his natural moral knowledge or by his conscience. This indicates that there is one supreme God who rewards both the righteous and the wicked according to their deeds and judges impartially. To explain this, Saint Paul wrote the following; "for when Gentiles, who do not have the law, by nature do the things in the law, these, although not having the law, are a law to themselves, who show the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and between themselves, their thoughts accusing or else excusing them)" (Romans 2:14-15). In Orthodox Tewahedo doctrine, conduct is given the highest priority after religion. Morality is inseparable from faith. People who don't understand the teachings of the Bible say, "Only believe and you will be saved," interpreting the teachings of the apostles to their own will and carelessly changing the hearts and virtues of gentle people. The apostle St. James said, "What does it profit, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can faith save him?" "If a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food, and one of you says to them, “Depart in peace, be warmed and filled,” but you do not give them the things which are needed for the body, what does it profit? Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead" James 2:14-17 reveals. Saint John Chrysostom, the Archbishop of Constantinople, says, "A building cannot stand and be seen without a foundation, and a Christian cannot be called a Christian without conduct" (Essay on John Chrysostom, Essay 9). Just as a tree that doesn't bear good fruit is cut down, if we do not do good because we have faith that is not manifested by works, then we are worthless. He said, "If your righteousness exceeds that of the nations, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven." Because the Lord is perfect in all His works, "Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me" as we have in Matthew 11:29. Feeding the hungry, sympathizing and comforting the bereaved, welcoming guests, giving one to another, visiting the sick, preaching the gospel to the prisoner, and living in love are hallmarks of Christian ethics Matthew 25:15-30. As it is said, "You are the salt of the earth". We have had enough of those whose lives are left with pharisaical leaven and are swayed by the original identity, revenge, malice and deceit, greed and impurity, adultery, and worshiping idols. we must get rid of the temptations of the flesh and return to a good identity (Matthew 5:11). Advice on #general #life #challenge   👉Question 1: How does one avoid fearing failure and worrying too much about the future?   Answer 1st: The solution is to make God our power. Man falls when he is separated from God. Not doing what God says 'Do', and doing what God says 'Don't do' is a sin. When we say 'fall', we mean fall into sin. For example, he says don't kill, "killing is falling", don't steal, "stealing is falling", don't lie, he says "lying is falling", live in love, don't fight, he says "fighting is falling", so if this is the case, then doing what God likes will not lead to failure.   A person who lives with God will do what God wants him to do. A person who does what God loves will not be found in failure, nor will he fail. So the solution is to not worry and to avoid failure. "It is possible for all who believe" (Mark 9:23). A person who lives with God can do everything, even if he falls into sin, he will rise in repentance, he will control himself, and manage.   Therefore, our fathers neither worry nor get upset about useless things. Because of this, sin did not fall upon  them, and even if it fell upon them, they repented. Therefore, even if we are separated from God by sin, we must repent, do the work that God loves, persevere in religion, be strong, fast and pray, because these are our spiritual weapons, we are expected to hold and carry them out.   Matthew chapter 17 verse 21 tells us, "Without fasting and prayer, an evil spirit will not come out." Therefore, it is the evil spirit that lives with us and makes us do things that God does not like. This can be avoided only when we are equipped with spiritual armor. What we call spiritual armor is fasting, prayer, prostration, almsgiving, etc. as we mentioned above. Some people believe that they can handle any challenge on their own; But self-confidence does not exempt from suffering; The best thing is to believe and hope in God. Living in God's hope makes us have full faith in Him. With God on our side, each of us can reach beyond our imagination. Therefore, our hope depends on the strength of our faith in our God. Hope is the stepping stone to move forward in life, the foundation of our life and the beginning of our happiness. For if we live in hope, we will pass into eternal life. Prophet David said, "Who is my hope now? Isn't it God?" he said, even if we are in trouble, we should believe that God will get us out of trouble. It is mentioned in the Bible that the prophet lived hoping and relying on God when his enemies were many. And God did not hand him over to his enemies. (1 Sam. 16-31)   In general, It is possible to avoid over-anxiety by doing what God loves, putting God first in all things, fearing God, and obeying His orders, practicing trust and hope. The Bible says, "Do not worry about what we will eat, what we will drink, what we will wear. Who among you is anxious and can add a cubit to his height?" Who says I should be longer or shorter? He said that no one can, so we shouldn't worry, we shouldn't disturb ourselves, if we are with God, if we repent whenever we fall into sin, if we receive His holy body and holy blood, we are good. "Our biggest solution is to live with God." May the name of the Holy God be praised forever and ever in every tongue that He has created, today and always. May the blessings of God's mother, the virgin, and the cross be upon us. Amen. ©John's Repentance Follow our Telegram group every day and share it with your friends https://t.me/orthodoxQnAs.