23 Feb 2012

James 2:14

Posted by joncooper

James 2:14: “What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works? can faith save him?”

The point James is making here is that if your faith does not produce any works, it is empty and dead – it’s not real, saving faith. The Bible is clear that we are saved by grace through faith, not of works, but this faith is more than just mere words. Real faith in Jesus produces a changed life, a hatred for sin, a love for others, and a desire to do good – not so that we can earn brownie points with God, but in order to please Him. A faith that produces no works, no repentance, and no love is not real faith at all. That is what James is saying:

James 2:18: “Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works.”

Works is how we demonstrate our faith; it is the evidence that proves that our faith is real. As James says in verse 17, faith without works is dead. In the examples James gave, people demonstrated their faith through their works; for example, Abraham demonstrated that his faith in God was real by being willing to sacrifice Isaac. Genesis really does say “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him for righteousness.” It is his faith that saved him – and he demonstrated the reality of his faith by the way he behaved.

It is fine to tell someone “I trust you”, but if it comes right down to it and you refuse to depend on them, then you don’t really trust them at all. Your words are empty and your supposed faith is a lie. God works the same way – if there are no works to back up your faith then your faith isn’t actually real at all.

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