James 2:14-19

What use is it, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but he has no works? Can that faith save him? If a brother or sister is without clothing and in need of daily food, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and be filled,” and yet you do not give them what is necessary for their body, what use is that? Even so faith, if it has no works, is dead, being by itself. But someone may well say, “You have faith and I have works; show me your faith without the works, and I will show you my faith by my works.” You believe that God is one. You do well; the demons also believe, and shudder.^[1]

A debate raged in the early church. There were some who maintained that the Apostle Paul’s insistence that we are saved by faith alone was a promotion of sin because, by leaving out works, there was no accountability. James addresses the controversy with a simple line, “Faith, if it has no works, is dead” (v. 17). James does not intend to juxtapose faith to works, as if one is opposed to the other. He is not saying that faith requires works. Rather, he maintains that one’s faith is evidenced or demonstrated more by what they do than by what they say. In other words, faith does something.

Faith is more than a concept, more than an idea. Doing good works cannot save us or justify us before God. Doing good works cannot and does not produce faith, but faith does provoke good works. To say it a different way, doing good will not cause anyone to believe, but the one who believes will do good works. Good works do not produce faith; faith produces good works. “For James, faith was not just an allegiance to doctrine; rather, it was to be a lifestyle. It was not just an idea to believe in, but rather the purpose for our lives. Faith is not to be passive, but rather active; it is the living Spirit living in us, empowering and growing in us” (Krejcir).

The bottom line is that while faith is received alone, it does not stand alone. If it is present in our lives it has to be backed up with proof. What kind of proof? Our faith will be lived out by what we think, what we say, and what we do. Absent of these things our faith is empty. What are you doing with your faith? What tangible evidence is displayed in your life that proves you are more than what you say. Accordingly, James says, “Show me your faith without the works, I will show you my faith by my works.”

Father, we love to lay claim to being strong believers, but we don’t want to do anything but occasionally go to church. Our world is in such desperate need of people who will show the power of Your love more by what they do than by what they say. Help us to live with integrity in the realm of faith. Undergird us with Your word and presence so that doing good works becomes a natural result of our deep and abiding love for You. Let others today see the depth of our faith in You through all we think, say and do. May You be glorified by our living and may many be drawn to You by our faith. We ask it all in Jesus’ name. Amen.

^[1] New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update (LaHabra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995), Jas 2:14–19.