FAITH WITHOUT WORKS IS DEAD

SCRIPTURE

James 2:17-26 (NRSV)

Abraham and Rahab's faith

So faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead.

But someone will say, "You have faith and I have works." Show me your faith apart from your works, and I by my works will show you my faith. You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe - and shudder. Do you want to be shown, you senseless person, that faith apart from works is barren? Was not our ancestor Abraham justified by works when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? You see that faith was active along with his works, and faith was brought to completion by the works. Thus the scripture was fulfilled that says, "Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness," and he was called the friend of God. You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone. Likewise, was not Rahab the prostitute also justified by works when she welcomed the messengers and sent them out by another road? For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is also dead.

DEVOTION

Yesterday, as I was teaching at a university, one of my students recalled living in New York City on the day that 9-11 occurred. He shared with us the amazing spirit of love, cooperation, and assistance that enveloped the citizens of his city after The Twin Towers fell. He said, “In that moment, it was all about helping each other. Nobody cared about race, ethnicity, or class; all we cared about was helping each other to survive.”

After listening to his words, I reflected on today’s Bible passage. It says, “So faith, by itself, if it has no works, is dead.”

Isn’t that an amazing statement? Faith without works is dead.

Today, I am reminded that my best witness to my non-Christian friends is not what I say, but what I do. If I say God is love then I must love. If I say that God is gracious, I must be gracious. If I say that Christians are compassionate, then I must faithfully and consistently attend to the needs of others and if I say that the Spirit of God brings love, joy, and peace then my presence in a room ought to do just that!

I think that it is incredibly unfortunate that one of the biggest complaints I hear from my non-Christian friends about The Church is that “Christians are so hypocritical. They say one thing but do another.”

OUCH!

I don’t know about you, but it is my fondest desire to prove my non-Christian friends wrong! I want to be known as a woman of my word and I want my non-Christian friends to encounter the Spirit of Christ in me every single day without fail.

I remember watching events as they unfolded in New York City on 9-11 on the television. Although I saw the very distressing actions of a few men bring down the towers, I also saw the incredible spirit of the American citizenry on display as people determined to love each other well through the adversity.

Dear friends, it ought not to take a distressing, horrific, or grief producing incident to summon our best selves. How I wish that God would grant that such a loving, caring, and can-do spirit would exist at all times and in all places all over our Earth!

See, God loves the world so much that God gave Jesus to die on the cross to save us from our sin and gift us with eternal life.

God’s love in action provided for our salvation and our love in action has the ability to lead people to the cross where they will meet the Lover of their souls.

When we join our faith with our good works, we become good and faithful ambassadors of the good news message that God loves, gave, and saves and we have the awesome opportunity to be the hands, feet, mouth, and heart of Christ in God’s world!

Let us make up our minds to share good news and be good news in the lives of our family, friends, co-workers, neighbors, and even our enemies today and always!

With the help of God, we are able to do it!

Go in peace, serve the Lord. (Thanks be to God!)