Continuing in James 2:
14 What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works? can faith save him?
15 If a brother or sister be naked, and destitute of daily food,
16 And one of you say unto them, Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled; notwithstanding ye give them not those things which are needful to the body; what doth it profit?
17 Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone.
18 Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works.
19 Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble.
20 But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead?
21 Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar?
22 Seest thou how faith wrought with his works, and by works was faith made perfect?
23 And the scripture was fulfilled which saith, Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness: and he was called the Friend of God.
24 Ye see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only.
25 Likewise also was not Rahab the harlot justified by works, when she had received the messengers, and had sent them out another way?
26 For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.
[bold emphasis added]
I think these verses are hard for us to swallow sometimes. [At least, I’ve had difficulty on occasion… 🙂 ]
{And there’s a bit of Old Testament here… because it’s just as relevant today as it was then! But that’s another post…}
Is James telling these Jewish Christians to maintain keeping the law in order to be saved?
NO. He isn’t.
But he is telling them, and us, that after we have confessed Jesus there WILL be a mark of works that show our faith to a lost world [and even to other Christians].
There is not really any explanation necessary:
We show our Christianity to others by
the works we do in our daily lives.
It’s that simple…
~ ~ ~ ~ and it’s that hard.
I’d love for you to share your thoughts on these verses!
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I’m also on Instagram!
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and I’m on Twitter!
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