What good is it, dear brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but don’t show it by your actions? Can that kind of faith save anyone? Suppose you see a brother or sister who has no food or clothing, and you say, “Good-bye and have a good day; stay warm and eat well”—but then you don’t give that person any food or clothing. What good does that do?
So you see, faith by itself isn’t enough. Unless it produces good deeds, it is dead and useless.
Now someone may argue, “Some people have faith; others have good deeds.” But I say, “How can you show me your faith if you don’t have good deeds? I will show you my faith by my good deeds.”
You say you have faith, for you believe that there is one God. Good for you! Even the demons believe this, and they tremble in terror. How foolish! Can’t you see that faith without good deeds is useless?
Tyndale House Publishers. (2015). Holy Bible: New Living Translation (Jas 2:14–20). Tyndale House Publishers.
Earlier this week, I discussed what was different between faith and belief. What is important is recognizing that we cannot have a living faith in the living God if our belief is not backed by action. James is not asking whether works can save us instead of faith. He is asking whether a faith that never becomes love was ever alive at all.
The question is not, nor should it ever be, do you believe? Belief is not enough. The demons believe. Many Greek and Roman people were willing to believe and throw Yahweh up with the Olympians. The question is always, and will always be, will you serve the Lord and only the Lord?
God doesn’t expect perfect people to rise from the baptismal, but he expects us to be devoted people. Our devotion is shown through our love. Not our Bible app streak. Not our stewardship. Not our patriotism. Not our policies. Not our giving receipts. Not our work history. Only our love for our God and for our neighbors. Some of the things I mentioned can be ways to show our love to our neighbors. The mistake is when the method replaces the source.
Let us commit to showing that love to the felons. Let us commit to showing that love to the sexually immoral. Let us commit to showing that love to those who hate another man based on the pigmentation of his skin. Let us commit to showing that love to the Muslims. Let us commit to showing that love to atheists who use science to attempt to disprove our faith. The love that hung on a cross and died for the worst of our sins is the love we live with. That is the love that we are baptized into the day we accept Jesus Christ as our Risen Lord and Savior. That is the love that is the only proof of our faith. We don’t need to be finished products to have faith. Therefore, we don’t need to be finished products to love.
Go and love.
Leave a Reply