Romans 4: Works vs. Faith

Works vs. Faith

There was a belief that works provided salvation more so than faith. But as Paul has explained in Romans 4, by Abraham's example, his actions (such as circumcision) came from his faith in God. People (Pharisees and religious leaders) had things twisted. Paul explains to them that it was not Abraham's circumcision that made him faithful to God, but his faith in God is what led to him to be circumcised.

The same goes with us. It is not our works that will save us and give us salvation. We are blessed to have Jesus save us from the death of our sins so that we could be redeemed to God (Romans 4:7-8), before him people had to have faith in God as is. God had not sent Jesus yet so Abraham could not follow Jesus as the disciples could or as you and I can. But that still did not keep Abraham from having faith in God who came to later in human form as Jesus.

You can go to church every day of the week. You can feed every homeless person. You can care for every orphan and widow and  visit the sick, but without faith in God those works do not symbolize anything about the Kingdom of Heaven. As we will read later in James 2:26, faith without works is dead as the body is dead apart from the spirit.

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Mark 14:6- Anointing of Jesus

Anointing of Jesus

In Mark 14:6, we get to see Jesus stand up for a woman who, in a sense, was being bullied by people. A woman used expensive oil and poured it over Jesus's head. It was used to anoint him, which symbolizes empowering, blessing and protection in religious ceremonies. Many were upset that she "wasted" the oil on Jesus when it could have been sold for 300 denarii (which would be worth today $30,000 USD).

What these men overlooked was their own selfishness. They overlooked what was being done for Jesus and thought of what they could have done with the money. I equate that to skipping on tithing because you would rather use the money for your own personal gain.

Jesus stood up for her and asked the men why they troubled/bothered her understanding that she did a beautiful thing for him. She did what she could to anoint his body for burial. Jesus is saying that he is going to die.

 Jesus knew he was fulfilling prophecies. He knew the role Judas would have and what part Peter would play. He knew that they would "not always have" him. He foretells his betrayal and his death on the cross.

Jesus knew what his purpose was and went through with it anyway. The more I read about Jesus the more my heart breaks for what our sin did to him. The more my heart breaks for how he was treated when he dedicated his life for us.

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