James 2:14 and following
“What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such a faith save him?
Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food.
If one of you says to him, ‘Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed,’ but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it?
In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.
But someone will say, ‘You have faith; I have deeds.’
Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do.
Verse 21: Was not our ancestor Abraham considered righteous for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar?
You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did.
And the scripture was fulfilled that says, ‘Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness,’ and he was called God’s friend.
Today’s Scripture is from James, the half-brother of Jesus, who was head of the new church in Jerusalem. Tradition has it that James was a scoffer of his own half-brother until the cross and the resurrection. And similar to the Apostle Paul, he had a complete turnaround in his life.
However, when you read much of Paul’s writings and then compare it to the book of James, they seem to be in conflict at first glance. Paul talks so much about entering the right relationship with God purely through grace and not works, and James appears to say that earning a right relationship with God is through good deeds and works.
But really, what James is saying is that a deep, genuine, authentic faith will naturally result in good deeds—and especially compassion for the poor and marginalized.
It does convict us in a healthy way to examine ourselves and see what we’re doing with the faith that God has given us—especially in this mission. One of the biggest turnoffs is to see someone who claims to have this deep abiding faith and will not “risk their necks,” so to speak, and give themselves to those who cannot pay them back.
And yet these deeds can in no way lead to boasting, but have to be done in humility, and giving all the credit to God for his provision in our lives. And when we look at the latter part of the verses read today, we get the example of Abraham whose good deeds was preceded by belief in God, and not by any works. And in believing in God he was credited with righteousness.
Every time I run across this passage of scripture, I’m reminded of the tension between the grace of God and the obedience founded in that grace, resulting in good works. Sometimes it’s really hard to explain, but one of the best ways to comprehend it is to look at the mission of Faith In Practice and see what it has done, what it is doing now and what it will do in the future.
Matthew 25:40
