| Galatians 5:6 Display Chapter and Footnotes 6 For in Jesus Christ neither circumcision, nor uncircumcision empowers a thing, but faith owing to love operates with power. [What faith owing to love?—faith is to hear the word of God spoken to you and to then obey because you love God; to obey God is to love God. When you obey what God orders you to do, you get power from Him to do it. Loving works of obedience to God's commands is faith operating with power from God; so Paul agrees with James, who wrote, "faith without works is dead," James 2:20-24. John wrote, "he who practices truth comes to the light, so that his deeds may be shown to have been produced [formed and powered] through God," John 3:21; such works are the only works that survive passing through the fire, which every man must go through. The first works of love for God are: a) to wait in humble silence as you listen and watch for His commands, and b) then to obey His spoken commands that you hear to repent from the sins He reveals in your heart. From the Word of the Lord within: "What is the evidence of your belief? — operational faith. Faith is to hear the Word of God and obey. If you love me, you will obey me. He who does not love me does not obey my commands."] |