The Works of Grace

During my regular walks around our campus, I popped into one of our 6th-grade classrooms. On the screen in the front of the classroom was a verse from the book of James. The Scripture proclaimed that faith without works is dead. With all eyes on me, I wondered out loud to the students what the apostle Paul thought about that teaching. Paul, after all, made it clear that we are saved by God’s grace through faith. Salvation is a gift and not a result of works.  As we all pondered the verse in James, I asked the class:  

“Are we saved by grace through faith, or is a life without good works a dead faith? Which is it?”

“Both!” responded the students.

These 6th-graders were too wise to stumble into my sneaky binary snare. Over the next few minutes, we explored how Paul and James, together, were painting a complete picture of the gospel of Jesus Christ. The path to salvation is through faith. The result is a transformed life. As a result, the gospel not only washes away our sins, it also changes our identity. In our human weakness, God’s power is made perfect through His good works prepared for us to walk in. The Word of God can always be trusted, and reveals the depths of His riches. 

This year in chapel we are focusing on the theme “One Another.” There are over 50 commands in the Bible describing God’s design for our relationships with one another. I John 4:20 makes it clear that we can only truly love God if we also love one another. John 13:35 describes how others will know we are disciples of Jesus Christ by how we treat one another.

We are excited to dive into these “one another” truths each week in our chapels, classrooms, and small groups. Please pray for God’s wisdom and power to continue to transform the lives of our students. And be sure to press into these truths at home as well. We know that “one another” opportunities abound just about everywhere! 

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