March 16, 2003
Is
a professed but silent faith, void of tangible fruit, a valid faith? This was a paramount problem among Jewish
believers to whom James wrote. It is
also a problem among professing believers in every era of Christianity. James 2:14-26 exposes the fallacy of such
thinking and spells out the principles of true, saving faith.
Fact
#1 - A profession of faith without the presence of accompanying works reflects
a lack of genuine faith. “Dear brothers and sisters, what’s the use
of saying you have faith if you don’t prove it by your actions? That kind of faith can’t save anyone.” James 2:14 NLT Can professing to be a
Christian without living as Christ would have you live save you? Obviously not.
Fact
#2 is illustrated in verses 14 and 15: “Suppose
you see a brother or sister who needs food or clothing, and you say, ‘Well,
good-bye and God bless you; stay warm and eat well’ – but then you don’t give
that person any food or clothing. What
good does that do?” The old saying,
“actions speak louder than words” again shows a lack of true faith. Words without actions are useless.
Fact
#3 – A faith without action is a dead faith.
“So you see, it isn’t enough just
to have faith. Faith that doesn’t show
itself by good deeds is no faith at all – it is dead and useless. v. 17”
Fact #4 – The presence of
works with the profession of faith reflects a saving faith. “Now
someone may argue, ‘Some people have faith; others have good deeds.’ I say, ‘I can’t see your faith if you don’t
have good deeds but I will show you my faith through my good deeds.’ v. 18” Paul is
asking believers to show him their faith by the way they live and the good
works that they do and he himself is an example of this kind of faith.
The
difference in these two kinds of faith is shown in verses 19 and 20: “Do you still think it’s enough just to
believe that there is one God? Well,
even the demons believe this, and they tremble in terror! Fool! When will you ever learn that faith
that does not result in good deeds is useless?”
Paul
reminds believers of two Old Testament saints that demonstrated true faith in
verses 18-25. The first is
Abraham. “Don’t you remember that our ancestor Abraham was declared right with
God because of what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar?” You see, he was trusting God so much that he
was willing to do whatever God told him to do.
His faith was made complete by what he did – by his actions. And so it happened just as the Scriptures
say: ‘Abraham believed God, so God declared him to be righteous.’ He was even called ‘the friend of God.’ So you see, we are made right with God by
what we do, not by faith alone.”
Rahab
was the second example. “Rahab the prostitute is another example of
this. She was made right with God by
her actions – when she hid those messengers and sent them safely away by a
different road.”
Paul
sums up his argument in verse 26: “Just
as the body is dead without a spirit, so also faith is dead without good
deeds.” Let me emphasize here that
doing good deeds or works does not save you. You cannot work your way to Heaven. Faith alone saves, but a true faith will be demonstrated by a
changed life, a life lived for the glory of God.
How
is your faith today? Is it accompanied
by good deeds or are you just mouthing a cliché? We each have to examine our own hearts and lives. Let’s glorify our Savior with lives that are
pleasing to Him. God bless.