Tag Archives: Faith Vs. Works

Makes you feel special, doesn’t it?

My Jehovah’s Witness elder friend walked into the restaurant with JW#2. It has been so long since I’ve seen him, I was wondering if JW#1 was purposefully not inviting JW#2 because he wanted to protect him from me. I am sure that is part of the reason, but the other part is JW#2 had some personal issues which kept him away also. JW#2 didn’t participate much in the discussion, but it was good to see him again. We all got caught up with each other for about half an hour and then JW#1 summarized our last discussion to JW#2 so he had an idea what we talked about last time.

JW1: We talked about exercising faith. We agreed that we have to have a strong faith, that is what saves, but we have to have it reflect our works too. Your faith is so strong that is shows in good works.

I couldn’t believe he said that. Last week he said nothing of the sort. We agreed that faith is important, but disagreed on the importance of works. Today, he made it sound like we were in complete agreement. I had to clarify. Read More →

Faith is the root of salvation. Works is the fruit.

This is part two from yesterday’s conversation. A few lines from part one have been included to give a little context. We were talking about what we need to do to have God’s approval.

KW: I asked you earlier. “Does God justify the godly or the ungodly?” Which one does God justify?

JW: It really depends what “godly” means.

KW: From God’s perspective, whatever He views as godly. Would He justify those people who are godly or those people who are ungodly, according to His own standard?

JW: Well, He would justify the godly.

KW: (Repeating his answer.) He would justify the godly. Okay then I have to get your interpretation on this verse. Let’s look at Romans 4:4-5. Read More →

Hard Work Doesn’t Always Pay Off

Ugh. Today’s mountain cedar pollen count is well over 30,000 with a 1,000% chance of miserable. I was praying all the way to the restaurant because when the pollen count gets this high, I lose mental focus and have a harder time keeping my temper. That is not a good combination for meeting with a Jehovah’s Witness elder. When I arrived, I prayed harder because I could see that my Witness friend was suffering from the same symptoms. Great. I started praying for his mental focus and irritability too. Read More →