Our Commitment - To the Work

In his epistle James says, “Faith without works is useless̶= 1; (2:20). This indicates that f= rom God’s point of view, faith ought to work.

= However, sometimes Christians prefer not to be involved in the Lord’s work. Instead, they retreat into less co= stly areas of the Christian life. This m= ay have happened in Jerusalem with the early church. At one point, Jerusalem was not only a local church, but the entire church on the earth. If the body of Christ were e= ver to spread from that location, work would need to be done. But for whatever reason, the saint= s in Jerusalem were re= luctant to do it. They had meetings, = the breaking of bread, and the fellowship and teaching of the apostles, but they lacked “hands” and “feet” for the Lord’s work= . It may be that the Lord allowed the persecution against the church in Jerusalem to break out in Acts 8:1, so th= at the saints would scatter, announcing the gospel everyone (Acts 8:4, 11:19-20). =

The Lord’s work generally addresses the two main categories of me= n on earth: the saved and the unsaved. The unsaved must be brought to Christ. This is an extension of the Lord’s work to “seek and save that which is lost” (Luke 19:10). The Apostles, representing the church at large, received this commission at the= end of the gospels of Mark, Luke and John.&nbs= p; They carry it out by means of going with a proclamation (Rom. 10:14-= 15), backed up with a life to match it. <= /span>

Next, the saved must be built up in Christ. This is an extension of the Lord&#= 8217;s work of building the church. = The saints are charged to continue it through the Apostolic command to “excel for the building up of the church” (1 Cor. 14= :12; Eph. 4:16). This is a divine-= human endeavor that involves continuing to come to Christ together, learning, encouraging, consoling, and the perfecting of our function—all within= the community of faith.

In order to persevere in the Lord’s work, there must be local acc= ord, a like-minded coordination to participate in the Lord&#= 8217;s work (Phil. 1:27). How= ever, Christians are involved with distinct gifts, ministries, and operations (1 = Cor. 12:4-6). Often, things are done differently than we would do them. We must be careful not to condemn others, as John did, but learn to be tolerant as the Lord was (Mark 9:38-40). Even when works are= done that truly have objectionable motives, we should learn to be as Paul (Phil. 1:18).