Believe, Remain, and Finish God's Will
September 14, 2022 · 1:40:41 · Watch on YouTube ↗
These notes - summary, key points, and highlighted thoughts - were generated by AI from the recording and are not the preacher’s exact words.
Summary
The first message opens in John 6, where people ask Jesus what they must do to work the works of God, and He answers that the work of God is simply to believe in the One He sent. Drawing on Israel at Sinai, the Galatians who slid back into the law, the medieval church that hid the Bible from ordinary people, the selling of indulgences, and Martin Luther, the preacher shows how we keep trying to earn salvation by doing rather than by trusting. Christianity, he insists, is not a religion of rituals but a personal relationship with God.
Yet faith and works belong together. Faith without works is dead (James 2), but works without faith and love are just as empty (1 Corinthians 13). Only by remaining in Christ, the true vine (John 15), can we bear lasting fruit; apart from Him even our busiest service may not be what He actually asked of us. When we truly know God (2 Peter 1), He directs our steps and our deeds flow out of intimacy with Him.
The second message continues a study of Christ's last hours on the cross - His word of forgiveness, His promise of paradise, His care for His mother, His cry of abandonment, His thirst, and finally 'It is finished.' Jesus completed every part of the Father's will and committed His spirit into the Father's hands. The challenge to us is to live with purpose so that at the end we too can say we have finished the work God gave us.
Key Points
- The work God asks of us is first to believe in Jesus, not to earn salvation by religious effort.
- Christianity is a living relationship with God, not a set of rituals or mere church attendance.
- Faith without works is dead, but works without faith and love are just as empty.
- We bear real fruit only by remaining in Christ the vine; apart from Him we can do nothing.
- Knowing God intimately lets Him direct our steps, so our service becomes what He truly asked.
- On the cross Jesus carried our sin, was forsaken by the Father, and thirsted so we could drink living water.
- 'It is finished' - Jesus completed the Father's will, and we are called to finish ours with purpose.
Devotional
Ask yourself today not only what you are doing for God, but whether you truly know Him. Busy hands and good deeds mean little if they grow apart from a living relationship with the One who saved you. Remain in Christ the way a branch clings to the vine, and let your obedience flow from love rather than duty. Then, like your Savior, you can move through life with purpose and be ready at the end to say, 'I have finished the will of God.'
The work of God is simply to believe in the One He sent.
Christianity is not a religion - it is a relationship.
Without Him we can do nothing; remain in Him and you will bear fruit.
