“Mission Statement
&
Statement of
Faith”
Religious
groups often make a list of statements to identify themselves and their purposes and goals. Romans10-17.com has no such list, and feels that making a similar type of list is like reducing a Jew’s
responsibility to the whole law to just the 10 commandments; when in reality, the Jewish law is comprised of hundreds of specific
laws.
Likewise,
to reduce the Christian’s responsibility to the whole New Testament into a little list would be terribly incomplete,
and would do no justice to the sacrifice which God and Christ endured on our behalf.
Therefore,
it is without apology that Romans10-17.com embraces the whole New Testament as
our “Statement of Faith” and our “Mission Statement”. We
accept the “Whole counsel of God” (Acts 20:27)
on every topic, and we use it in its entirety to answer every question. We understand
that every person encounters “hard sayings”, the things which are harder for them to accept. Yet, we also realize that incomplete truth is just another form of a lie.
For these reasons, we teach “with all longsuffering and doctrine” (2nd Timothy 4:2), which simply
means that we are patient and understanding in teaching, even though we are not compromising with the truth. We know we are human also, and
therefore we have our own faults and limitations, yet we still “press towards the mark” (Philippians
3:14). Realizing
this, and remembering our own sin, we “esteem others better than ourselves" (Philippians 2:3).
So,
please, study and grow with us, at your pace…we know that “every tree brings forth its fruit in its season”
(Psalm 1:3). We realize that every person is coming from a different place, and
is at a different level. Knowing this, and knowing Jesus’ immense desire
for unity, we will work with passion to bring every soul to the place that Jesus wants it to be.
If
you are looking for true spiritual growth, for a true understanding of the true word of God, for a living relationship with
the one and only living God, this is what you will
find at Romans10-17.com. We will strive
to bring unity by studying and applying the whole counsel of God, to ourselves first, and to every question that is asked,
and to every soul that is searching for a deeper understanding of, and relationship with, their God.
You
can expect that your questions and comments will be kept with the strictest confidentiality, and that you will be treated
with the utmost respect at Romans10-17.com.
We do not believe in such things as "stupid questions", and we do not believe in making assumptions. We will provide you with answers and responses that are Bible based and complete. We seek to “give an answer of the hope (faith) that is in us with meekness and fear” (1st
Peter 3:15). In other words: We will
treat you right, and we will answer you to the absolute maximum of our ability, with a humble heart.
Thank
you for visiting Romans10-17.com!
An Example of What
We Do…
We
wanted to give you an example of how we answer questions with the “whole counsel of God”.
Question:
“What
role does faith play in my salvation? What about works? And grace? Many people
disagree and argue about these things. Can you please tell me what the Bible says about these things?”
Answer:
Hello,
Thank
you for writing to us! We will surely be happy to give you the most complete answer that we can to your questions.
First
of all, we need to know how the Bible defines faith:
“Faith
is the substance of things hoped for; the evidence of things not seen…” – Hebrews 11:1
And…in
this same text, in Hebrews 11:6, we can see that faith is necessary in order to please God.
Well then, we really need to have faith! But where do we get it? Romans10:17 tells us that “Faith comes from hearing, and hearing from the word
of God…” So, we can truly conclude that in order to please God, we
must have faith, and that that faith must come from what we hear and learn from the Bible.
God said Himself that the Bible is the source of the faith that pleases Him, so first of all, we must be sure that
we believe only the things that are
within its pages.
Secondly,
about “works”…you really asked a good question! Several times in the book of James alone, the Bible says
that “Faith without works is dead.” So, the life of our faith is
dependent upon the things that we do. In other words, do we act accordingly to
the things we have learned in the Bible? If not, then we find ourselves in the
place of a hypocrite, because we say we believe something that we do not do. Do
you know the story of the “Good Samaritan”? So, works are nothing
more than us putting our faith into action. As it is written in another place…”add
unto your faith virtue…” (2nd Peter 1:5), meaning that it is necessary that we do the things that we
have learned from His word. Once, Jesus said “Why do you call me Lord,
and do not the things that I say?” (Luke 6:46) and also He said: “If you love me, keep my commandments.”
(John 14:15). Therefore, to have the faith that God is pleased with; it must
be put into action, being combined with obedience to His word.
Thirdly,
about grace…well, grace is a gift, even THE gift that we receive from God. Truly speaking, no human deserves eternal life, because “the law has concluded
all under sin” (Galatians 3:22), and “all have
sinned and come short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23), and the “wages” of those sins “is death” (Romans 6:23). So, grace
is a gift…but, it is a gift that God will only give to those that are worthy of it…meaning that they are faithful
and obedient to Him (Hebrews 5:8-9). See, if we want that salvation, that gift, it still requires our obedience
to His will, and our working, living faith. This compares very much to how our
parents dealt with us, doesn’t it? They would give us a job to do, and
if it was done as they said to do it, there was some kind of reward or payment, but if we did not, then we could not expect
the reward, plus, we could probably expect some form of punishment as well! This
is the same principle that Jesus taught in His parable of the “Householder’s Vineyard” in Matthew 20.
Now,
I want to show you how all of these things work together…in Ephesians 2:8-10 –
“For
by grace are you saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the
gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus
unto good works, which God has before ordained that we should walk in them.”
People often use verses 8and 9 together to “prove” that
works are not necessary…yet they ignore the “whole counsel of God” in order to reach this conclusion. Even verse 10 shows that we (Christians – those who are created in Christ) are created “unto good works”. This is our purpose! To walk in the obedient, serving, working
footsteps of Jesus (“…take up your cross daily, and follow me…(Luke 9:23)).
Anyway, to take a simple approach, let’s stack some blocks. Three blocks. And, we will name our blocks “Faith”, “Grace” and “Works”.
According to our study here, “Faith” is the primary block, which lead us to our
next block, “Works” (faith in action), which resulted in our third block “Grace” (the salvation given
freely to all those who obey Him and keep His commandments).
So, without “Faith”, our block “Works” has no place to stand, and
since “Works” has no foundation, it cannot support “Grace”.
Simply stated, “If I am a faithful worker, I will receive God’s grace.” No, I do not earn His grace, but I show Him how much I want that reward, that payment,
by showing Him my love towards Him, by keeping His commandments. I “fight
a good fight, I keep the faith, and I finish the course” (2nd Timothy 4:7).
I hope this has helped you. I recommend that
you study the references I gave here, and if you have any further questions, please feel free to reply at any time!
Thanks again for writing!
In His service,
Romans10-17.com
