 |
James 1: 22; 2: 14-26 Do not merely listen to
the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. . . What good is it . . .
if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him? . . .
faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead. . . Show me your
faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do. . . a person is
justified by what he does and not by faith alone. . . As the body without the
spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead. (NIV)
|
 |
True faith is actively obedient.* |
 |
James is very thorough in his coverage of the controversy
between faith and works. He doesn’t leave much for me to say except to
rearrange his words to make them sound like they’re mine! He makes it clear
that faith and works are partners.
So what is so controversial about James’ presentation on
faith and works? He doesn’t claim that we are saved by our works. He knows that
it is impossible to work hard enough to pay off our debt. He doesn’t offer any
other route to salvation other than through faith in Jesus Christ - but God
alone knows the true status of a person’s faith. If you have faith and nothing
in your life demonstrates it, it benefits no one but you. While it might be
possible for our behavior to falsely portray a life of faith, what would
motivate a person to maintain that façade for a lifetime?
The world knows who we are by what we do. Aside from those
who are severely disabled (and perhaps those in some other extreme
circumstances), Christians are called to active duty. One source refers to our
good deeds as “spiritual motion.”* I like that term and hope to add
it to my holy vocabulary!
|
 |
Faith is not a mental assent to the existence of God; it is a way of life – or death.* |
No comments:
Post a Comment