Faith and Works

In James 2:14-26 James shares with us the truth of how faith and works fit together.

In verse 14 James asks two questions:

What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds?

Can such faith save him?

James answers those question by sharing four examples of faith and works. There are two negative ones and two positive ones.

James 2:15-16

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?

James gives us a scenario where a follower of Jesus sees a person who has a physical need and the follower of Jesus says, “I will pray that you get some warm clothing and get some food to eat”. But the follower of Jesus does nothing to help meet that need.

James asks what good did it do for the follower of Jesus to have a concern for the person if he was not going to do anything to really help.

The comparison James draws is found in verse 17. It says, “In the same way faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.”

If our faith does not lead us to action, then our faith is of no practical value.

If faith is not matched with action, then is of no practical value; it is dead.

Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is faith leading us to serve and share with others.  

James then shows us the futility of having faith but with no action.

James 2:18

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.

The demonstration of our faith is seen in our actions. We show our faith to the world by what we do and how we live.

Then James gives us another negative example of faith and works.

James 2:19

You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that – and shudder.

Satan and his demons know that there is a God.

Satan and his demons believe that God is who He says He is.

They believe but there is no accompanying action of trust, surrender to God’s will, or obedience to God’s commands.

Just having have an intellectual belief that God exists is not the kind of faith that will produce transformation and thus save a person.

Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is having a faith that changes our lives and makes us more like Jesus.

The truth is that faith which produces no change is not really faith as evidenced by the two examples James gives.

Then in James 2:20 James asks another question. He asks, “You foolish man, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless?”

James now gives two positive examples of faith and action.

James 2:21-22

Was not our ancestor Abraham consider 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.

In Genesis 15:6 it says that Abram (Abraham) believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness.

That belief or faith is made manifest in Genesis 22 when God tells him to sacrifice his son, the son of the promise, on the altar.

Was Abraham’s faith real in chapter 15? – Yes!

Was Abraham’s faith saving faith in chapter 15? – Yes!

The reality of Abraham’s real, saving faith is shown to all in chapter 22.

This is an awesome example of how faith and works fit together.

Then James shares with us two benefits to having a living faith in God that leads to obeying God.

Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is letting our faith be seen as we live in daily surrender to God’s will.

James 2:23

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.

When we have a living faith in God we are declared righteous because of that faith and we are called friends of God.

In John 15:15 Jesus calls His disciples friends because of their faith in Him.

Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is knowing that through our faith in Jesus we are righteous and friends of God.

In James 2:24 James reminds us that a person is justified by faith that leads to daily living in right relationship with God.

James 2:25

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?

In Joshua 2 when Rahab hides the Israelite spies she says that she knows that God has given the land to Israel. Then in Joshua 2:11 Rahab says, “That the Lord is God of heaven above and the God of earth below.”

This is an astonishing statement of faith from Rahab. She came from a belief system that believed in many gods. These gods where usually seen as god over a certain things or a certain area. Rahab believed that the Lord of the Israelites was a God over everything.

This faith that Rahab had in God motivated her to risk her life and hide the spies with the understanding that they would save her and her family when the Israelites took the city.

Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is having the kind of faith that will trust God enough to risk for Him.

James summarizes this discussion on faith and works in verse 25 by saying, “As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.”

Deeds or works is to faith as the spirit is to the body.

Works do not produce faith.

Faith does produce works.

With Faith and Works Raising the Roof and Removing the Walls

                                            Joe