Work of Holy Spirit
Romans 10:17
Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ.
Jesus said in John 6:63 The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you are spirit and they are life.
Faith itself is not in my works because the Holy Spirit is the generator of my works which is obedience. Faith produces obedience (works). Faith in God is being is expressed in doing which is obedience. God's letters are written in my heart to be known and read by everybody. Written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of my heart (2 Corinthians 3:2-3). My life as a Christian takes work and requires the commitment of my heart, mind and body. Christ is not outside of me but He is inside me. Since Christ is within me, I must listen to His Word and walk in His steps (2 Corinthians 4:10).
My works may not be acceptable in God's standards. God looks in my heart and I must express my whole heart otherwise, God is not impressed with my outward works—my acts of worship, my spiritual works and my spiritual giving. Reading the Book of Isaiah, Isaiah was saying to the people of Israel, "God grows weary of your sacrifices and offerings when your hearts and minds are not in tune with Him!".
The New Testament language is very plain. Christ through His death and resurrection, every legal hindrance has been met and satisfied. There is nothing that can keep me from assurance except my own faith. Its not about thinking our way into salvation or to reason our way into salvation. The only way to get in is to believe Him with my heart which is sealed by the Holy Spirit.
So... let's go FURTHER beyond verse Ephesians 2:10
For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. One in Christ Therefore, remember that formerly you who are Gentiles by birth and called "uncircumcised" by those who call themselves "the circumcision" (that done in the body by the hands of men)— 12remember that at that time you were separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near through the blood of Christ. For he himself is our peace, who has made the two one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, by abolishing in his flesh the law with its commandments and regulations. His purpose was to create in himself one new man out of the two, thus making peace, and in this one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility. He came and preached peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near. For through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit. Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God's people and members of God's household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.
Romans 2:29
No, a man is a Jew if he is one inwardly; and circumcision is circumcision of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the written code. Such a man's praise is not from men, but from God.
God is not impressed by my appearance (1. Samuel 16:7). The Lord said to Samuel, "Don't judge by his appearance or height, for I have rejected him. The Lord don't make decisions the way you do. People judge by outward appearance, but the Lord looks at a person's thoughts and intentions (heart)." (NLT)
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