Monday Meditation: Faith And Works

 

 

   

"What good is it, my brothers, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? 
Can such faith save him?  Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food.
If one of you tells him, "Go in peace; stay warm and well fed" but does not 
provide for his physical needs, what good is that?  

So too, faith by itself, if it does not result in action, is dead. 

But someone will say, "You have faith and I have deeds."  Show me your faith without
deeds, and I will show you my faith with deeds.  You believe there is one God. 
Good for you! Even the demons believe that-and shudder. 

O foolish man, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is worthless? Was not our
father, Abraham, justified by what he did when he offered his son, Isaac on the altar?

You see that his faith was working with his actions, and his faith was perfected by
what he did.  And the Scripture was fulfilled that says, "Abraham believed God"
and it was credited to him as righteousness and he alone was called a friend of God.
As you can see, a man is justified by his deeds and not by faith alone. 

In the same way, was not even Rahab the prostitute justified by her actions when
she welcomed the spies and sent them off on another route?  As the body without the
spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead. "
(James 2:14-26)

 

Rahab Helping The Two Israelite Spies Escape
Image courtesy/Pinterest
 

 

"...the Holy Spirit now illustrates through the case of Abraham and Rahab, so
different from each other, the one the Father of the faithful, the other the harlot of Jericho.
  The works of both bear witness to the character of true faith which produced them.

In the case of Abraham, he offered up his only son.  Of Abraham it was said, "He believed God."
That he acted as he did, in unquestioning and unhesitating obedience, was proof that he
believed God. What he did was the seal put on his faith, by which he was justified before God. 

Rahab also believed, and her faith was demonstrated when she received the spies,
 hid them, and associated herself with the people of God, while she separated herself
 from her own people. Thus faith was seen as perfect faith, as the true faith, by works.

This is what the Holy Spirit teaches through James.  In Romans, justification before God is
taught, which is by faith only.  James does not say that our works justify us before God;
such are not needed before an omniscient God; for He sees the faith of the heart, which
man does not see.   It is an exercise with regard to Him, by trust in His Word, in Himself,
by receiving His testimony in spite of everything within and without,
this true faith God sees and knows. 

-Gaebelein's Annotated Bible