FAITH IN GOD MUST BE ACCOMPANIED BY ACTION

PROCLAMATION

“What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works?  Can faith save him?  If a brother or sister be naked, and destitute of daily food, and one of you say unto them, ‘Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled;’ notwithstanding ye give them not those thing which are needful for the body; what doth it profit?  Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone.”  James 2:14-17 (NIV)

 

EXPLANATION

These words were written by James, the half-brother of Jesus, The Christ, (Galatians 1:19) under the influence of The Holy Spirit of God, to the Jewish believers who were scattered after the crucifixion of Christ. (James 1:1)  He wrote to them to encourage them to keep the faith in the face of all types of trials. (James 1:2-4)  He began this second chapter by telling them that The Lord God does not show favoritism. (James 2:1-4)  Then he told that God has chosen the poor who love Him to inherit the kingdom of heaven. (James 2:5-7)  James says that if they keep all of God’s commandments but breaks just one of them, then they are guilty of breaking all of them. (James 2:10)  He told them to speak and act as if they were going to be judged on everything, for no mercy will be shown to those who were not merciful to others. (James 2:13)  He also told them that faith without works is dead and useless. (James 2:14-17)  He said that a person is considered righteous by what he does and not by his faith alone. (James 2:24)  James ends the chapter by telling them, “As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.” (James 2:26)

 

APPLICATION

It is not enough for us to believe that there is a God.  It is good to believe in God, but if you believe in Him and do not follow Him, obey His Word, and live by His teaching, then your belief has accomplished nothing.  The devil and his demons know and believe that there is a God, but they don’t follow Him. (James 2:19)  We must exercise our faith and put it to work.  It is by our deeds that we will be blessed. (James 1:25)  If all we do is say that we believe in Christ, but our actions do not go along with our words, then our words are not true.  If we profess to believe in Christ but continue to live in sin as we did before our profession without changing our lives, then our professed belief is basically counterfeit.  We are not saved by our works, (Ephesians 2:9-10) but our works demonstrate our salvation.  The indwelling of The Holy Spirit of God is evidenced by the fruit of The Spirit. (Galatians 5:22-23)  Consider this, if someone says that they love you but never does anything to demonstrate or show that they love you, how real is that love to you?  Our actions speak louder than our words.