Here is an excerpt from the manuscript of my second book, HOW TO LIVE THE CHRISTIAN LIFE. I am posting it onto my blog because of the James Bible study I am involved in. Here are my thoughts about what "faith without works" means.
Chapter 5: Faith Without Works Is Dead
“What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works? can faith save him? If a brother or sister be naked, and destitute of daily food, 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? Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone.” James 2:14-17
I have always struggled with this verse. I know that we come to God by faith and he saves us. I also know there is nothing we can do that will make things right with God. The Bible says our righteousness is as filthy rags, which means that nothing we do will be right in the eyes of God except our faith in him and our faith in believing that he will do what he says he will do. Faith is the only thing we can do to please God.
“But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.” Hebrews 11:6
In my journey with God, he put on my heart that faith with works is believing that God will do what he said he will do and living your life so that all who see your life will know that you have faith. Abraham believed God and it was imputed unto him for righteousness. Believing that God is and living your life so that all who see your life will know that you have faith in the living God. That is what faith with works is.
“Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar Seest thou how faith wrought with his works, and by works was faith made perfect? 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.” James 2:21-23
When you pray to God and believe in your heart that he will answer your prayer, and live your life as if you are waiting for his answer, that is working faith. Having faith in God, but living your life as if there was no God, is dead faith. I recently watched a movie called, “Amish Grace.” It was about a man who walked into an Amish schoolhouse and shot several of the girls. One mother of a girl who died had a very hard time forgiving the man who shot her daughter and her husband said something to her that I thought was profound and also a very good description of true working faith. The husband said to his wife, “Faith, when everything is as you want it to be is not true faith. Faith is only when our lives are falling apart that we have the chance to make our faith real.” That’s faith with works.
Another good description of faith comes from Joyce Meyer. She said, “Faith is stepping out into something that you are not 100% positive of how it will work out. All you have is what you feel in your heart. You take that baby step and see how things work, and if that’s cool, then you take that next step and you see how that’s going to work. And if that’s cool, then you take that next step, and you see how that’s going to work. That’s how we walk by faith, one step at a time.”
The Bible says the just shall live by faith. What that means is when we accept Jesus Christ as our Saviour, we become justified by God. We become just as if we had never sinned. God is a God of justice and this requires him to punish sin. The Bible says that the wages of sin is death. Unless God did something, we would be hopeless. But God, two very powerful words, but God is a God hope. He came down to earth and became the needed sacrifice for our sins. If we believe that, we become justified and yes, the just shall live by faith. The just live by faith because even though they have not yet seen God, they believe what he wrote in his Word. They believe what he speaks into their hearts. They obey what he tells them to do, even though they have not seen him yet. That is faith with works.
“Understanding is the reward of faith. Therefore, seek not to understand that thou mayest believe, but believe that thou mayest understand.” Augustine
