James 1:22-
But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.
Belief is a necessary aspect of being a Christian. We must have faith that Jesus came to this earth, was God in the flesh, lived the life of man, died for our sins and rose again to live forever more. Without this it is impossible to please God (Hebrews 11:6). All throughout the world there are those who believe all of these facts. Most of them even go so far as to say they love Jesus. However, for the majority of them this is where it stops. They here His words, believe that they are from Him but do nothing to change their lives. It takes much more than that.
If we truly love Him we will do as He says (John 14:15). As James puts it in the second chapter of his book, faith if it does not have works is dead. If we do nothing to change our lives and mold it according to His words we will stay in our sins. Obedience is expected of everyone and especially of those who say they are God’s followers. However, even after reading passages like James 2 and John 14 many in the world will ignore commandments that God has given. Yet, they still believe themselves to be saved.
Jesus says in Matthew 7:21-23 that not everyone who believes themselves to be saved will be. Those mentioned here are those who did many works in His name but yet still did no make it. How can this be? The simple truth is that they in reality did not do as God directed. Submitting to His authority is vital if heaven is to be our home. In 2 Thessalonians 1:8 we are told that those who do not obey Christ will be punished for their actions, even those who believe themselves to be in the right.
Well, how can we know what we are suppose to do? It is simple really. We must “look in to the perfect law of liberty” and put into practice what we find there. It really is that simple. However, so many today read and hear the word but see no need to change any aspect of themselves. Let none of us fall into this trap and do whatever we can to serve the God of heaven as He would direct us.