Tuesday October 19, 2010

"Journey Through James - Part 4"

Faith and Deeds

 ¹⁴What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him? ¹⁵Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. ¹⁶If 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? ¹⁷In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.
 ¹⁸But 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.
 ¹⁹You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder.
 ²⁰You foolish man, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless? ²¹Was not our ancestor Abraham considered righteous for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? ²²You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did. ²³And the scripture was fulfilled that says, "Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness," and he was called God's friend. ²⁴You see that a person is justified by what he does and not by faith alone.
 ²⁵In the same way, was not even Rahab the prostitute considered righteous for what she did when she gave lodging to the spies and sent them off in a different direction? ²⁶As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.

This is one of the most famous passages in the bible. Faith without deeds is dead. This relates to what we talked about yesterday, when we said "don't just merely listen to the word, do what it says."
How do you prove to someone that you love them? You do things for them right? It's not enough to just say "I love you," you have to do something to prove it. It is the same way with God. If we truly love him, it is not enough for us just to say we love him and we believe in him, we have to prove it through our actions. Even the demons believe in God! The difference between us and them is that we do things that are according to God's word. Demons do not and will not. Faith and actions work together. We prove our belief and our love for God by what we do. So, are you proving your love for God by what you do? Or are you just the same as the demons?

Heavenly Father, you are so holy and mighty and just. Help us to back up our faith with our actions. We confess that we do not always follow your word, and sometimes we don't always reflect you in our lives. Forgive us Lord. We want to prove that we love you. Guide us in all that we do, and help us to stay in your word at all times. We praise you and thank you for all that you do. In Jesus' precious name, amen.

Lots of love,
Aubrey <><