Scripture: James 2:14-26
In today’s 4th
lesson from James, we get an answer to that age old question, “So what is the
big deal about faith? Aren't they all as good as any other?” You may remember those
words from James 1:25
which we considered a couple weeks ago
–“ 25 …
whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and
continues in it - not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it - they will
be blessed in what they do.” Not only should we never forget what
scripture tells us, but we should also be living it - doing it -
every day.
The interesting thing
about faith is that it is far more than just a collection of words that we can
use selectively to justify the lives we choose to lead. Faith is a four pronged approach to life –
first, it is based in the totality of God’s word, not just in the passages we
are comfortable with; second, in its completeness, it provides us with the
overriding truth of God’s heart and way; third, it must be active and not
simply a passive, reflective type of lifestyle without any obligation to act
upon those things we learn from the LORD; and lastly, it is only through living in
acceptance, trust and confidence through the teaching of Jesus Christ that we will
ever know His salvation.
Faith is the way of
living fully in God’s gifts and truth.
So what does James have to tell us about the faith we have received?
Read James 2:14-19
James is revealing the
depth of faith that must live within our heart and soul. The New Interpreters’ Bible tells us that “His
[James’] topic is the necessary unity between attitude and action …”,
and the NIB passage goes on to say that our “actions reveal (our) attitude
and make it alive.” This can also be
seen as the theme of the entire New Testament – that faith must be lived and
not only proclaimed.
Considering all that
Jesus did while He was here – could He ever be accused of that old saying, “do
what I say and not what I do!”? Didn’t the LORD Himself
do all that he preached? Consider His Sermon on the Mount in Matthew5-7).
In the passage we know
as the Beatitudes, He spoke about how God sees the outcasts of earth, and in
every instance, He treated them all in the exact same way He treated
anyone else. (Matthew 5:1-12)
He spoke against the
anger that resides in the hearts of many, and is directed toward those who have
wronged us. Even at Calvary, He prayed
that the Father would forgive all of those who were responsible for His
condemnation and suffering. (Matthew5:21-22)
He taught against
carrying out revenge upon those who have hurt us, and said that if others inflict
evil upon our lives, then we are to give them even more of ourselves than they
took from us! (Matthew 5:38-42)
He said that we are to
love our enemies, and to give to the poor without seeking honors and
gratification for all our acts of generosity.
(Matthew 5:43-48)
He taught us that the
only true way to treat our treasures and honors is to give them over to heaven,
and not to gather them up here to increase our worldly prestige and
position. (Matthew 6:19-24)
When it comes to
judging others, He said “For in the same way you judge others, you will be
judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.” He wanted us to understand that an attitude
of judgment will only burden our lives unnecessarily, for He will care for that
after His glorious return. (Matthew 7:1-6)
And His righteous
living would continue to reflect that which He taught throughout His ministry
as a prime example of not only what we should believe and trust in Him, but
just as important, He showed and taught us how to feel and act toward both God
and other people.
Read James 2:20-26
In James’ opening to
this next section, he refers to an unnamed, and most likely imaginary, person
who might still need proof that faith and deeds are mutually dependent upon
each other, and must work together if they are to be valid expressions of
trust in Christ. The NIV translates the
Greek word as “foolish”, while other translations use “empty” or “senseless”;
the significance of each being that if you need even more evidence that faith and deeds
support each other, just look to scripture, for it holds all the proof we will
ever need.
Abraham, Peter, Paul,
and the list could go on, with many examples of folks who truly believed in
Jesus, but who also saw the necessity of putting faith into action. But there are even other examples of what
happened to folks who saw no need to live and act in Christian ways. Consider the example of Ananias and his wife
Sapphira who claimed to be following Christian ways of generosity, but who
actually were only looking for personal gain and praise when they lied to both God
and the disciples about their gift to the needy. (Acts 5:1-11)
James wants to be very
clear, that friendship in the ways of earth is far from living as a friend of
God’s! The point is that if we only have
words as proof of our allegiance to Jesus, our actions and life can still put
us in the realm of earth instead of that of God. And good works outside of faith can easily be
misunderstood as examples of our love of God.
A friend of mine once attempted to justify good works as proof of true
faith when he told me that we need to consider the phrase “Fake it ‘til you
make it!” In other words, it should be
perfectly acceptable to give others the false impression that our faith is
genuine!
The imagery of
“fence-straddling” and “double-mindedness” has become all too commonplace in
both the world as well as in the Church.
How many folks do we know that feel that church membership is perfectly
acceptable proof that their faith in Jesus Christ is strong, and that involvement
in worship, service projects, and fellowship, as well as living and giving in a
Christian way, has become passe and is no longer important for our lives? Far too many, I’m sure!
Today’s verse 18
deserves repeating – “Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you
my faith by what I do.” This is the
attitude that is so prevalent in the world today. But when we look to the final verse for today,
we discover the true approach that will always guide us in our Christian
walk. “As the body without the Spirit
is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.” (verse 26) Faith and works is the only way to honor
Christ.
If we agree literally
with verse 18 – that either faith or works are all that is important for our
salvation, then we are truly “Friends of the world”, and will only have the
reward of earth for our lives. But
conversely, if we are trusting in the intent of verse 26, which tells us that
both true faith and the works that exhibit our faith are equally important in
our walk with Christ, it is then that we will be on the path to becoming
“Friends of God”.
Joshua challenged the
people of Israel to choose carefully who they would serve – whether it would be
their one true God, or the gods of earth.
(Joshua 24:14-15)
He never told them that they could have it both ways, but rather that they had
to choose one way or the other! We also
have to make that same decision – to consider just who it is that we will
strive to become “friends” with – will it be with the non-believers of the
world, or the faithful of Jesus Christ?
May true faith fill your
lives today, and may the way you live your faith reflect that choice!
