Faith and Works

“Put your money where your mouth is” is a statement that most of us have heard before.  Our mouths can shoot of big boasts but when it comes to putting those things into action it can be another thing entirely.  You just need to listen to a group on children in the car on the drive back from school.  They make great boasts in front of their friends and you wonder if half of what they are saying is indeed reality.

This leads us to our passage in James; James on faith without works is dead.  At times in history James has been accused of teaching salvation comes by works but I don’t believe that is what he is teaching at all.  I believe he is teaching that we see someone’s faith by what they do.  It is putting our faith into action.  The Apostle Paul is an example of this.  He had a dramatic conversion on the road to Damascus.  He made a complete turnaround from persecuting the believers to joining them.  Can you imagine Paul, who in Acts 8:1, welcomed the approval of Stephen’s stoning and sought to destroy the church in Jerusalem by dragging men and women from their homes and putting them in prison to hear Paul saying in Acts 9:20 that Jesus is the Son of God.  Paul was known for his war on believers and so it would have been difficult for people just to believe that Paul had turned completely around on words alone.  Later in Acts 9:26 it says that Paul went to Jerusalem and tried to join the disciples.  Stop and think this through for a minute.  If you had been one of the disciples at that time how would you have felt when Paul walked into your midst?  You probably wouldn’t have welcomed him with open arms knowing his more than shaded background and you might have experienced a tinge of fear.  However, we see the faith that Barnabas had in Paul’s dramatic conversion which encouraged others to accept Paul and his new found faith.

I am not going to get technical about the age old debate of faith alone verses faith and works.  I will leave that up to the scholars to debate that one.  However, I do believe that our faith in God should produce good works.  Our salvation should be evidenced by the change in our lives.  We see in James 2:19 that even the demons believe there is one God, however their belief doesn’t change them.  There is no obedience in their belief.  There is no transformation.  This brings about a serious question.   What about those who profess to believe in God but there is no evidence of a transformed life?   Are they truly saved or not?  I will let you ponder that one. J

If we were to define faith what would our definition be?  Let us look at Hebrews 11:1  "Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see." (NIV)  Another way of looking at is that faith is the opposite of doubt.  An everyday example of this would be when I get in our car to drive somewhere and I have the faith that my brakes are going to work.  I don’t think about it I just believe and trust that they won’t fail me.  If I did doubt it would be a difficult drive in the car any time I went anywhere.  I would be anxious and worry throughout the whole journey.  God doesn’t want us to live like that. In Ephesians 2:8-9 it says  "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith--and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God--not by works, so that no one can boast." Paul explains that our faith comes from God and, it is gifted to us by Him.  We are not saved by our works but good works should come naturally out of the faith given to us by God. 
Here are what some other peoples thoughts on the issue at hand.  I think they say it quite succinctly.

 "But James has quite another thing in view, even to shew that he who professes that he has faith, must prove the reality of his faith by his works. Doubtless James did not mean to teach us here the ground on which our hope of salvation ought to rest; and it is this alone that Paul dwells upon." (Calvin)

Works must accompany a genuine faith, because genuine faith is always connected with regeneration - being born again, becoming a new creation in Jesus (2 Corinthians 5:17). If there is no evidence of a new life, there was no genuine, saving faith. (Guzik)

"The grace that does not change my life will not save my soul." (Spurgeon)

The passage gives the example of Rahab and Abraham as people who demonstrated a living faith in a living God.  So what about us?  Do our lives demonstrate that kind of living faith?  Why or why not? Do we live our lives with a desire to be obedient to God and His Word? 

Humour me for a moment and turn to 1 Corinthians 13: 4-7.  There you see the familiar passage on love.  Replace the word for love with your name. E.g Pam is patient, Pam is kind, etc.  What ones in your life currently can you say are not true of you?  What needs some work?  What are you encouraged by.  To go one step further would be to ask a close friend to tell you if you are these things or not. J

I am happy to hear your thoughts and insights as you study along with me in the Book of James.