oatmeal
Well-known member
None at all, at least not when the truth is said about them
The truth is, works of faith as spoken of by James are works being done by God that cannot be done by man!........
Anything less than this is not the truth! After all, the atheist Bill Gates is one of the largest, if not the largest, contributor towards charity as are many other atheists. Truth is, if charities depended on Christians to be succesful, many of them would go belly up.
Bottom line is, anybody can do 'nice guy works' that have nothing to do with faith through Jesus Christ in them............... Amen? I think so!!!
Here is what Paul and others have to say about works being done through faith that are the same works that prove faith through the same standards set by James.
Acts 6:8 And Stephen, full of faith and power, did great wonders and miracles among the people.
Galatians 3:5 He therefore that ministereth to you the Spirit, and worketh miracles among you, doeth he it by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?
True faith is not about how much you believe, but what you believe that is the truth! Having the truth in ones heart is the faith that matters, and allows God to respond to prayers made in "true faith" with signs and wonders of the magnitude that proves they were done by the only one who could do them, the same God who is our Father in heaven who looks for those He can appear strong on behalf of them as quoted in the verse below
2 Chronicles 16:9 For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to shew himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward him. Herein thou hast done foolishly: therefore from henceforth thou shalt have wars.
Faith that is not the truth will not result in miracles no matter how much someone believes that Jesus is going to rapture the church off of the face of the earth, or that one has to physically die to be resurrected from death onto life. This is why churches that believe in false doctrines such as a resurrection that includes a removal of the saints physically off of the earth are no longer witnessing miracles in their midst being done by God.
Doug
Yes, indeed.
Philanthropists without God do not merit eternal rewards.
It is the love we have toward God to obey His commandments that earns us eternal rewards.
As you well point out Bill Gates money does not buy miracles. It is believing God that can produce miracles.