FAITH IN GOD MUST BE ACCOMPANIED BY ACTION

Proclamation:

“What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds?  Can such faith save them?  Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food.  If one of you says to them, ‘Go in peace, keep warm and well fed,’ but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it?  In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action is dead.”  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) but he told them that faith without works is dead and useless.  He said that a person is considered righteous by what he does and not by his faith alone. (James 2:24)  Then he said, “As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.” (James 2:26)

Application: 

It is not enough 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 had 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.  Our actions speak louder than our words.  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 and the indwelling of The Holy Spirit of God as evidenced by the fruit of The Spirit. (Galatians 5:22-23)  

PUTTING OUR FAITH TO WORK

Proclamation:

“For The Son of Man is going to come in His Father’s glory with His angels, and then He will reward each person according to what they have done.” Matthew 16:27 (NIV)

Explanation:

These words were spoken by Jesus, The Christ, to His disciples as recorded by the Apostle Matthew under the influence of The Holy Spirit of God.  Jesus will come to earth again to execute judgement of mankind.  He will reward all believers according to their works and put to death all non-believers.

Application:

Having faith in Jesus Christ and believing in Him is a very good thing.  Our salvation is based upon our faith in Him.  Without faith it is impossible to please God. (Hebrews 11:6)  However, we must act upon our faith.  We must exercise our faith and do something with it.  We know that as Christians, we walk by faith (2 Corinthians 5:7) and we know that we live by faith (Romans 1:17) but faith alone is not enough.  The Bible says, "... faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone." (James 2:17)  This is so important that it is stated twice, "For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also." (James 2:26)  Just having faith alone is not enough.  We are justified by our works (James 2:24) and in the end we will be judged based upon our works, "... and they were judged every man according to their works." (Revelation 20:13)  As believers we are all responsible for kingdom building here on earth.  It is important for us to do something for the glory of God.  Let's put our faith to work!  Spread the good news, talk the talk and walk the walk.  Our good work will soon be rewarded.  "For the Son of Man shall come in the glory of His Father with His angels; and then He shall reward every man according to his works." (Matthew 16:27)

God Will Remember And Reward Our Work

"God is not unjust; He will not forget your work and the love you have shown Him as you have helped His people and continue to help them."  Hebrews 6:10 (NIV)

The unknown author of The Book of Hebrews was writing to the scattered believers after the death of Christ, in order to encourage them to hold on and keep the faith.  He told them that God would not forget what they had done in His name, and that they would be rewarded.

Believers know that God sees all that we do (Proverbs 5:21), hears all that we say (John 9:31 and 1 John 5:14), and knows all of our thoughts (Psalms 94:11) and intentions (Psalms 19:14).  He does not forget anything, He just chooses not to remember our sins which have been forgiven. (Jeremiah 31:34, Hebrews 8:12, and Hebrews 10:17)  Our Heavenly Father will remember all of the work that we do in His name, and all of the help that we give to the poor.  Our efforts will be rewarded and we will inherit the promises of God. (Hebrews 6:12)

We Have Faith

"Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.  This is what the ancients were commended for."  Hebrews 11:1-2 (NIV)

The unknown author of the Book of Hebrews describes what faith is.  He states that it was because of their faith that the men of God, that were mentioned earlier in The Bible and listed later on, (Hebrews 11:5-32 by name and Hebrews 11:32-39 by what they endured) were commended for.

Faith in The Lord God is essential to the believer.  Without faith, it is impossible to please God. (Hebrews 11:6)  We are taught to hold on to our faith through trying times. (Hebrews 10:23)  In fact, we are taught that the just shall live by faith. (Hebrews 10:38)  It was because of their faith that the patriarchs pleased God and received a good report. (Hebrews 11:2)  Our faith is demonstrated by our actions, faith without action is useless. (James 2:18, 2:20, and 2:28)  We must exercise our faith and put it to work. (James 1:3 and 2:22)  This is clearly a case when actions speak louder than words.  We are justified by exercising our faith during trials and tribulations because that leads to patience and hope in The Lord God. (Romans 5:1-5)

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.








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Get The Truth Wisdom Discipline And Understanding

"Buy the truth and do not sell it; get wisdom, discipline and understanding."  Proverbs 23:23 (NIV)

King Solomon said obtain the truth at whatever cost, and never give it up at any price.  Get The Truth and in all of your "getting" be sure to also get wisdom, get discipline, and get understanding.

Jesus, The Christ, is The Truth. (John 14:6)  The beginning of wisdom is knowing and fearing The Lord.  (Psalms 111:10 & Proverbs 9:10)  Letting Jesus into your life is the best thing you can do.  Knowledge without wisdom and understanding is useless.  Just knowing a bunch of facts is useless unless one understands the significance of the facts and is able to apply them in the appropriate situation.  Just knowing who Jesus is, is not enough.  We must believe in Him, seek Him, and obey Him.  The devil and his demons know who He is. (James 2:19)  Once we get it we must do something with it.  Applying the wisdom and understanding is where discipline come in.  Sustained effort is necessary to exercise our faith.  Faith and belief without work is useless. (James 2:20 & 26)