By and Without

 

 

By and without:

What is he talking about?

I will get to it in minute,

No need to shout.

 

Works and salvation:

We’ve been here before

But since the last time,

There is more.

 

By and without

Are key prepositions

In the relationship between

Works and salvation.

 

Examine with me

The following statement

Concerning the content therein

As well as its intent.

 

We are not saved

By our works

But we are certainly not saved

Without them.

 

 

Transformed from:

Prior unrighteous works

To: a life of righteousness

And good works.

 

To say one is saved

Is to speak of good works,

No change in a so-called believer

Should really hurt.

 

Paul’s “not by works”

Speaks to the acquisition,

James “without works” speaks to

Walking in salvation.

 

 

The tree is identified

By the fruit it bears,

The born-again believer’s fruit

Must appear.

 

Ephesians 2:8-9; James 2:26

 

I was not saved by

By the works that I do

But without righteous works

Neither are you.

 

Works is a testament

To a believer’s salvation

Though it is not by these works

He attains salvation.

 

Salvation is God’s gift

To a born-again believer

And of the enablement for works

The believer is a receiver.

 

The Father worked

And His Son worked too,

So too the Holy Spirit

In me and in you.

 

We are not saved

By our works

But we are certainly not saved

Without them.

 

Here ends today’s lesson.

 

Stewart Russell © March 28, 2025

Being and Doing

 

 

No cart before the horse

Let us get it right,

The chicken before the egg

Was God’s delight.

 

He created the chicken

Then all the eggs followed,

In my limited understanding

This is easy to swallow.

 

No cart before the horse

Let’s also get this right,

Being what God wants of us

Is not by our might.

 

It is critically pertinent

That we understand this,

Not to fathom this injunction

Is to take undue risks.

 

 

The born-again believer

Does because he be,

Having the indwelling Christ

Is his reality.

 

A born-again believer is

And because he is he does,

It’s not the other way around

As some misjudge.

 

Plum trees bear plums

For only one reason,

It’s because they are plum trees

Whatever the season.

 

 

Known by their fruit

Just like any other fruit tree

But not based on what they bear

But what they be.

 

Source before produce

The tree before the fruit,

Jesus Christ is the spiritual vine-

All in Christ are shoots.

 

Lord, Lord, some will plea

Their many good works

But lacking the "being in Christ"

Will bring eternal hurt.

 

We do not do to be

But we be to do what we do,

It is possessor or professor!

Which one are you?

 

I sought to present this

In a discussion recently,

Doing looks better than being

But it is far better to be.

 

 

Some set store by doing

And by their religiosity,

One biblical example of such

Was the Pharisee.

 

We cannot do a Christian

We can only be one

Hence, Jesus told Nicodemus

He must be reborn.

 

None of us is worthy,

For sure, not by what we do

But our worth is in Jesus Christ,

That’s who!

 

Stewart Russell © January 14, 2024

 

Just Three

Just three in the Bible

That are still alive,

Only three in the Bible

That continually strive.

I won’t say who they are

Not yet, anyway,

But highlight some in the Word

That have passed away.

Methuselah is the first

And I’m sure you know why,

He lived the longest

But guess what!  He died.

   

Noah is the next

In the nine hundred group,

Genesis chapter nine

Puts him third in this loop.

Seven made this number

But they all have died

And all, except for Noah,

Are located in chapter five.

We can have a discussion

On relatively young Enoch

That was translated

And died, he did not.

Or, perhaps Elijah,

That was carted away

And nobody has seen him since

That appointed day.

Rather, read verse 1 again

For the qualifications there,

There are two characteristics

In your mind you should bear.

Alive and continually strive:

These are the two

And of those that meet these,

There are only a few.

A few, in the strictest sense

Is what I mean

And not how we deem a few

Re the modern-day scene.

 

God, the Father, the Word

And the Holy Ghost,

These three are in heaven

With the angelic hosts.

These three in the beginning

And an eternity before

And when time has ended

They will close the door.

Just three alive

That continually strive

And in these three

Every born-again believer abides.

 

These three exist and co-exist

These three are co-eternal,

These three are co-essential

These three are supernal.

A tri-unity or The Trinity

As some to them refer,

And when I examine the Bible

I am forced to concur.

Stewart Russell © March 2020