James 2:14-26

COMMENTS

I grew up in a denomination that was awesome in two areas:  (1) teaching the Bible and (2) winning souls for Christ.  The long-term effects of those early Bible lessons have been life changing.  He has given me a love for His Word, and the fact that He speaks to ME through it still amazes me.  I dearly love today’s passage in James!  We are not saved by our works, but James strongly makes the case that works must be a part of our salvation.

 

NOTES

When I was a kid, there was a strong emphasis on missionaries.  There were several times throughout each year when special offerings were taken to support missionary work.  I thought missionaries were “special people” who went to foreign lands and preached all day long.  I met one at camp one time and was in awe of her and of the fact that I actually MET and TOUCHED a real missionary!  Now, I’m privileged to count several missionaries as friends.  I don’t think they’d be offended for me to say that they are ordinary people!  However, they’re ordinary people who have said “Yes!” to God and are serving Him under the power of the Holy Spirit.  The biggest eye opener, though, is HOW they serve:  they serve through works.  Most of the time, their “preaching” is through acts of love as they meet the needs of the people around them.

That’s what James is saying in 2:14-26.  How can we say we have faith in Jesus Christ while, at the same time, we ignore the needs of those around us.  Jesus left heaven and came here because we had a need for a Savior.  While here, He was constantly attending to the needs of people.  Yes, sometimes that need was to be told the truth; but often, He met other needs:  food, healing, the breath of life after having died, hope, acceptance, love.  He was fully invested in the lives of the people He met.  Sometimes, the people were only after the gift; but frequently, His love expressed by meeting their needs drew them into relationship with Him.  He is our example.

James states:

“What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? … 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. … As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead.”  (James 2:14, 17, 18, 26)

I used to think that I just had to “believe in God” to be saved.  In verse 19, James gives a powerful example to disprove this:

“You believe that there is one God.  Good!  Even the demons believe that—and shudder.”

Belief is just the first step.  Salvation comes when, after believing, we confess our sins, accept His sacrifice in payment of those sins, and live in obedience to Him.  How is that salvation displayed?  In the works we do in His name and out of love for Him.