Thinking Things Through

[Page 12]

     "The proof of the pudding is in the eating" is a proverbial saying which is quite true. Because appearances can be so deceiving, things are not always as they appear to be. A plate of food may be tempting to look at, but the pangs of hunger can only be allayed by eating it.

     It is not what men profess to know or what they intend to do at a convenient time which will justify them in the day of judgment. It is doing what can be done to supply the thing needed, or to relieve a condition while the need exists, and when there is opportunity to act.

     "Truly I perceive that God shows no partiality, but in every nation, anyone who fears him, and does what is right is acceptable to him" (Acts 10:34, 35 RSV). It is not a pattern of righteousness which a man may set up and adhere to, but that which will harmonize with the new covenant scripture, and to which by faith, respect, and knowledge man will apply himself as an individual. The justification is dependent entirely upon an individual doing what is right in God's sight according to His standard of righteousness.

     The man who knows what God requires and refuses to do it, is no better off because of his knowledge. Regardless of all he may profess to be, or of his claims to faith in God, he is still classed as a sinner (James 4:17). "You see that a man is justified by works and not by faith alone" (James 2:24) --F. B. Rosebery.