{"id":5834,"date":"2014-11-17T01:49:12","date_gmt":"2014-11-17T01:49:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.firstofallpray.com\/?p=5834"},"modified":"2014-11-19T01:47:20","modified_gmt":"2014-11-19T01:47:20","slug":"james-220-faith-without-works-is-useless","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.firstofallpray.com\/?p=5834","title":{"rendered":"James 2:20\u2014Faith without works is useless"},"content":{"rendered":"

But are you willing to recognize, you foolish fellow, that faith without works is useless? <\/em>\u00a0James 2:20<\/p>\n

James labored with this group of believers. You can hear it in his tone in this portion of the letter. Evidently, they thought that being \u201csaved by grace through faith\u201d meant that they could coast from here on out. They were \u201cin\u201d with God for eternity; the rest was gravy. Indeed, there was some <\/em>cause for their ease\u2014authentic faith in Christ and His atoning work on the cross truly did make them new men and women. But again, it appears they mistook their position of rest in Christ for license to live for themselves without regard for the conviction and promptings of the Holy Spirit.<\/p>\n

It is likely that these believers were so thrilled with the message about grace that they took it to the extreme to the exclusion of the rest of the teachings of the apostles. The same tendency is alive and well today, and as a result, the teaching of God\u2019s wonderful grace gets a bad rap. The fact that you are loved by God despite your sin is foundational to salvation; without His grace, you can\u2019t get saved. The fact that you live in this dispensation of grace\u2014a set time in history in which God views you through the blood of His Son Jesus\u2014is absolutely true and should set your life ablaze with thankfulness to Him. The fact that God\u2019s grace is always extended to you in your life, unconditionally connecting you to the Father as a son or a daughter is intended by Him to comfort, encourage, and empower you.<\/p>\n

Yet despite the wonder and all-encompassing depth of His grace, the Bible is also very clear about another important truth: you are accountable to God for your choices and behaviors in this life. Faith in Jesus and His accompanying grace does not exempt you from responsibility to live uprightly and to walk in love with others.<\/p>\n

James was adamant about this. When he asked, \u201cAre you willing<\/strong> to recognize\u2026?<\/em>\u201d he was spotlighting the root of the problem\u2014the will of man. As it is now, so it was in James\u2019 day\u2014people want to believe what they want to believe and are often unwilling to hear anything else\u2014even if it comes straight from the Word of God.<\/p>\n

He even called them foolish, using a Greek word that means \u201cempty, vain, devoid of truth\u201d (see http:\/\/www.blueletterbible.org\/lang\/Lexicon\/Lexicon.cfm?strongs=G2756&t=KJV<\/a> ). They were foolish because they assumed that they could live their lives believing in Jesus without ever manifesting His love to others.<\/p>\n

…faith without works is useless…<\/em><\/p>\n

Faith without works is useless<\/em>, but works won\u2019t save you. However, if you say that you believe in Jesus without exerting any effort to help others, yours is a very unstable faith, at best, and according to James, that type of faith is useless.<\/p>\n

I know that I need to lean upon the grace of God to do the works of God whether they are supernatural or completely natural. If I pray for the sick or lead the lost to Jesus, I need grace to empower and direct me. If I buy groceries for someone or write out a check so they can pay rent, I need the grace of God to empower and direct me. If I open a door for a stranger, say a kind word, or catch someone’s eye and smile, I need the grace of God to remind me that it\u2019s not all about me.<\/p>\n

James was unwavering\u2014he taught that faith without works is useless, similar to lighting a lamp and then hiding it under a bushel (see Matthew 5:15). Jesus’ death freed us from sin; He did not redeem us so we could live for ourselves alone or just be like everyone else. Instead, His sacrificial death empowers us to walk in newness of life (Romans 6:4), to manifest the sweet aroma of the knowledge of Him in every place (see 2 Corinthians 2:14), and to declare His praises (1 Peter 2:9). It is an honor and an adventure to take part in the works of faith, however God may lead you. And He will<\/em> lead you.<\/p>\n

May your faith be demonstrated by the gracious works of God!<\/p>\n

Dorothy<\/p>\n

\u2026prove yourselves to be blameless and innocent, children of God above reproach in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you appear as lights in the world, holding fast the word of life\u2026<\/em> Philippians 2:15b-16a<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

But are you willing to recognize, you foolish fellow, that faith without works is useless? \u00a0James 2:20 James labored with this group of believers. You can hear it in his tone in this portion of the letter. Evidently, they thought that being \u201csaved by grace through faith\u201d meant that they could coast from here on […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5834","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-james-2"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.firstofallpray.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5834","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.firstofallpray.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.firstofallpray.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.firstofallpray.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.firstofallpray.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5834"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/www.firstofallpray.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5834\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5837,"href":"http:\/\/www.firstofallpray.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5834\/revisions\/5837"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.firstofallpray.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5834"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.firstofallpray.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5834"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.firstofallpray.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5834"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}