Read full text: https://bionicmosquito.substack.com/p/belief-and-action?publication_id=2189155&utm_campaign=email-post-title&r=y7h5a&utm_medium=email
I have been thinking for some time about this idea of what we believe as Christians and what we do as Christians. This really struck me when studying the Sermon on the Mount – from memory, I recalled that most, if not all, of what Jesus taught was based on doing; He spoke little, if at all, regarding believing.
Please note: I did not write belief verses action. In no way do I suggest one against the other. To be clear, proper belief must precede action. My point with this post is only to explore emphasis regarding the Christian life.
I started considering a new project: go through the entire Bible and identify how often we are commanded to believe something and how often we are commanded to do something. Not wanting to make a Gary North type of lifetime commitment, I quickly set aside this notion.
To make a long winnowing process short, I thought to focus on a few passages: God’s first commands to man after creation, God’s first commands to Noah after the flood, God’s first commands after freedom from slavery in Egypt (the Ten Commandments), Jesus’s first commands (the Beatitudes from the Sermon on the Mount), and Jesus speaking to John on Patmos about the seven churches. Each of these strikes me as a key moment in God’s relationship with man and His Church.
