Faith And Works

"As the body without The Spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead."  James 2:26 (NIV)

James, the half brother of Jesus, presented the people with an explanation and examples relating faith and works.  He said that if they claims to have faith in God, but none of their actions support that statement, then the statement is worthless.  Faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action which supports it, is dead and useless. (James 2:14-26)

We know that faith is important, for without faith it is impossible to please God. (Hebrews 11:6)  We have heard the phase, talk is cheap.  We have also heard the phrase, action speaks louder than words.  In this verse, James is saying something very similar.  Our words must be backed up by our actions, deeds, and works.  For example, if someone tells you that they love you, and even repeatedly tells you that they love you, you would question their statements if they never do anything to show you that they love you.  The same applies to us, if we say that we love The Lord God, that we believe in Him, that we trust in Him, and that we have faith in Him, but we never do anything which demonstrates that love, belief, trust, or faith, then our statements are not believable and they are worthless.  Our works cannot earn us salvation, our salvation is based upon our belief and it is a gift from God. (Ephesians 2:8-9)  But when we confess our belief (Romans 10:9-10), The Holy Spirit of God indwells us and we become a new creature. (2 Corinthians 5:17)  When this happens we are changed. (2 Corinthians 3:18)  We will begin to exhibit the fruit of The Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23), and the world will know that we have change by the fruit which we produce, our works. (Matthew 7:16-17)  We do not become perfect, or sinless, but our walk, our behavior, our actions will demonstrate our faith.








.