Verse of the Day. It's NEVER Faith alone. And it's NEVER Faith vs Works.

How is this still an issue in the church today?  This is so clear to me as to be inconceivable that anyone misunderstands it any other way anymore.

^"For through the Spirit, by faith, we eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness. For in Christ Jesus . . . the only thing that counts is faith working through love."
Galatians 5:5-6

Faith taps us into the love of God, which we are commanded to show to the world.  We are simply a conduit.  If we have works without faith... that is nothing, true.   But, as Paul so eloquently puts it above, the ONLY THING THAT COUNTS is faith working through love.  Love the Lord God with all your heart, mind and soul.  AND THEN LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF. 

On this alone will we be judged.  How well we LOVED.  And love is an active, not a passive thing; just as Christ coming to earth, healing the sick, feeding the hungry, helping the poor, and then dying for us are ACTIVE things.  He could've just preached at us, and commanded that we believe what He told us.  But He didn't.  He ACTED. 

If we're acting in our own strength, on our own accord, then we will never, never be "good enough".  Luther felt this, and it depressed him - and rightly so, because he didn't understand that he was understanding it wrong.  But if we tap into the will and love of God, and do as HE would have us do, through HIS strength as a simple conduit, well... anything is possible.  The lives of the Saints show us this over and over.  THAT is why God's glory is made manifest in the weak, because it's utterly clear that this child, or this lowly person, could NEVER do such amazing things on their own.  They are simply exhibiting faith working through love.