Mahsheed's Corner

Christians believe that salvation is through faith and not through "works", but faith without works is dead. Jesus had much to say about faith that does not bear fruit. So I was thinking over my own "works" and realized with a shudder the following:

Another name for Satan is the Accuser, and another name for the Holy Spirit is the Advocate, sort of like a courtroom scene where Satan is the prosecutor and the Holy Spirit the defense lawyer.

There is a scene in Disney's classic, Cinderella, where Cinderella's little mice friends sew her a dress for the ball using bits and pieces saved from here and there. When the evil step-sisters see her dress, they gleefully tear off the beads and ribbons that originally belonged to them, leaving her in tatters.

This is where my shudder comes in. I was thinking of my "works" as that dress that the mice made. In comes Satan and he recognizes what's his, all the little impurities in my motives, since I never did anything good with 100% pure unselfish motives. After he's done taking out whatever is his, I'm left in tatters.

But wait, the fairy godmother can make me a new dress, lovelier than before and beyond the reach of Satan. The godmother is Jesus, of course, acting through the Holy Spirit.