Faith Enfleshed!

Romans 10:9
If you confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.

Salvation is never just a thought or a mood.  It is inherently incarnational.  Just as Jesus Christ is fully God and fully Man, so our faith must be enfleshed.  A faith that is merely "in your heart" is like an unconceived baby or a bubble without its skin of soap.  There's no There there.  On the other hand, lips that confess without faith are the lips of Judas Iscariot, kissing Christ in betrayal.  But divine faith expressed in the flesh of our deeds (including the simple act of saying "I believe" with your lips) is a step we take toward participating in the divine nature (as 2 Peter 1:4 says we are to do).  Today, make a simple profession of faith in Jesus our Lord — aloud.  It's of such little steps that the journey to salvation is made.

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Mark P. Shea is a popular Catholic writer and speaker. The author of numerous books, his most recent work is The Work of Mercy (Servant) and The Heart of Catholic Prayer (Our Sunday Visitor). Mark contributes numerous articles to many magazines, including his popular column “Connecting the Dots” for the National Catholic Register. Mark is known nationally for his one minute “Words of Encouragement” on Catholic radio. He also maintains the Catholic and Enjoying It blog and regularly blogs for National Catholic Register. He lives in Washington state with his wife, Janet, and their four sons.

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