What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him? Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to him, "Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed," but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.
But someone will say, "You have faith; I have deeds."
Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do.
You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder.
You foolish man, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless? Was not our ancestor Abraham considered righteous for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did. And the scripture was fulfilled that says, "Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness,"and he was called God's friend. You see that a person is justified by what he does and not by faith alone.
In the same way, was not even Rahab the prostitute considered righteous for what she did when she gave lodging to the spies and sent them off in a different direction? As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.
I have read these verses so many times. Really pondered them... I had always learned that FAITH not works was your salvation. It wasn't until my former pastor, Lee Carpenter, recommended that I buy a Ryrie Study Bible (Charles Caldwell Ryrie), that I have so much more clarity on these passages. (Actually, I will always consider Lee my pastor, no matter where he preaches. He fed my soul when it was starving. I am eternally grateful to him and to Bob Johnson for feeding my soul.)
James is by no means saying that works is the way to go. No, dear friends, what James is talking about is someone who was saved by grace, but you'd never know it by how he (or she) acts. Ryrie puts it this way in his notes in my Bible "James is not saying we are saved by works, but a faith that does not produce good works is a dead faith" He gives the example of Abraham. I always wondered about those wonderful heroes and the faithful of the Old Testament who didn't know about Jesus. I always wondered... "Will I see Abraham (Joseph, Esther, Ruth, David, Gideon ...enter any name here...) in Heaven someday?" The truth of the matter that I finally realize was that YES, I will. Abraham had faith that if he did what God told him to do concerning Isaac, he would please God. I don't know if I could ever do what Abraham almost did. I don't know if I could as trusting as Isaac was, on that offering pyre. I'd be fighting off Dad and saying, "What, are you nuts???" But just as Abraham told Isaac, God did provide the offering. Lovely foreshadowing of God sacrificing his Son for us. But the Bible tells us that Abraham "believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness". Takes faith to move mountains, and Abraham had it.
I love the part that I bolded in the verses above. I can just imagine the tone and inflection if James were saying that out loud. Especially the GOOD! part. LOL. Then he goes on to tell us that even the demons believe that there is only one God, and they SHUDDER. They are scared of God. GOOD! I can't wait to watch what God does with those demons someday.
Once again, though, I love James use of words. v. 15-17 Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to him, "Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed," but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead." I was looking again at verse 17...faith not accompanied by action, is dead. I looked at what Ryrie added in his notes... he says, "A workless faith is a worthless faith." Dr. Ryrie used the word worthless, too, just like James did in chapter one!
So friends, do you know the Lord Jesus? Do you recognize that you are a sinner, separated from God? God has sent a way to redeem us all. His Son, Jesus Christ, died on the cross for my sins. He thought of ME while he was hanging from that tree. I deserve the death that Christ was given. It was ME that should be hanging on that tree. A sinless man died for me. He died for you, too. There isn't anything about you that Christ wouldn't die for. He paid the price in full. All you have to do is believe. At VBS this year, April learned a great method for salvation.... All you need to know is your ABC's: Admit you are a sinner, Believe that Jesus died for you, and Confess your sins to God. He will forgive all of them. Forever. You will not be guilty for those sins...Jesus has got you covered.
I love all of you dearly... Until next time...
Terry
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