Of God, Faith, and Works

Of God, Faith and Works
Peter J. Kreeft said,
“think about that. How is it possible that over ninety percent of all human beings who have ever lived usually in far more painful circumstances than we, could believe in God? The objective evidence, just looking at the balance of pleasure and suffering in the world, would not seem to justify believing in an absolutely good God. Yet this has been almost universally believed.”
                      Peter John Kreeft ph.d 
He also states,
“The evidence is that God is all-powerful. The point to remember is that creating a world where there’s free will and no possibility of sin is self contradiction and opens the door to people choosing evil over God, with suffering being the result. The overwhelming majority of pain in the world is cause by our choices to kill, to slander, to be selfish, to stray sexually, to break our promises, to be reckless.”
          Peter John Kreeft ph.d.
In short we bring pain on ourselves and quite often on innocent people because of our choices. War be it global or local conflicts is drastic evidence of this.
Politicians and radical extremists make war and innocent men, women and children pay the price. Over fifty six million in world war two alone. Millions more in so called “dirty wars” since.
Even as I write this there are thousands dying because of radicals who have no regard for life.
War aside we as individuals bring grief on ourselves by the choices we make. Be they anything from smoking cigarettes to engaging in dangerous behaviour.
Our politicians who have the power to effect change to end suffering for the most needy and vulnerable in the world choose not to effect change largely because of politics.
God gave us free will and depending on how we use that free will, will determine where we will spend eternity.
While salvation is a free gift offered to all people we must reach out and receive that free gift. We must also I believe do our best to help our fellow man be we Christian or not.
Jesus said,
“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.  
For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.  Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.” 
                                                           John 3:16-18
He also said,
“Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world.  
For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in,  
I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’ 
“Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink?  
When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you?  
When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’ 
“The King will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.’ 
“Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.  
For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink,  
I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’ 
“They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’ 
“He will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’ 
“Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.” 
                                                                                                             Matthew 25:34-46.
James writes,
"What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him?  Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food.  
If one of you says to him, “Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it?  
In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead. 
But someone will say, “You have faith; I have deeds.” Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do.... " 
                                              James 2:14-18
God, I believe will one day judge both believers and non-believers.
When we stand before Him we will not be able to deny His existence. At that moment the words of Hebrews will ring true for that person.
The writer of Hebrews writing,
“And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.”
                                                                         Hebrews 11:6
Faith being defined as,
“Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.” 
                                                                                                         Hebrews 11:1
Do you believe in God?
Do you do what you can to help those in need?
Think about it.