re help in article apr geneva rutgers edu lmvec westminster ac uk william hargreaves writes hi everyone i m a commited christian that is battling with a problem i know that romans talks about how we are saved by our faith not our deeds yet hebrews and james say that faith without deeds is useless saying you fools do you still think that just believing is enough now if someone is fully believing but there life is totally lead by themselves and not by god according to romans that person is still saved by there faith my yes and no i do not believe the above scenario is not possible either they are believing and living in at least some part led by god else they are not believing intellectually but waiting is not enough especially important to remember is that no one can judge whether you are so committed nor can you judge someone else i guess the closest we can come to know someone s situation is listening to their own statements this can be fallible as is our sense of communion one with another but then there is the bit which says that god preferes someone who is cold to him i e doesn t know him condemned so a lukewarm christian someone who knows and believes in god but doesn t make any attempt to live by the bible regarding this passage we need to remember that this is a letter to a church at laodicea people who are of the body of christ rev he talks about their works a translation could say that he says their lack of concern makes him sick to the point of throwing up now i am of the opinion that you a saved through faith alone not what you do as taught in romans but how can i square up in my mind the teachings of james in conjunction with the lukewarm christian being spat out right saving is by faith alone except that faith does not come alone if you catch the two meanings i can offer the explanation that jesus would that we were either on fire for him or so cold we knew we were not in his will and thus could be made aware of our separation this is admonishment for his children not eternal damnation answer not a fool according to his folly lest thou also be like unto him answer a fool according to his folly lest he be wise in his own conceit proverbs
