JAMES: Respect, Faith and Works (cont.); "Faith without works is dead, for as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also!"

For whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet stumble in one point, he is guilty of all. (James 2:10);  For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also. (James 2:26)

In the previous study, we studied two of the three main points in chapter two of James: do not show favoritism to a person, based on their appearance or wealth (James 2:1-9); there are no different levels of sin, but sin is sin, regardless of which one we commit (James 2:10-13).  Now we will study how our "works" prove our faith (James 2:14-26).

Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible. (Hebrews 11:1, 3) Faith has two main characteristics: to believe in God, even though we can't physically see Him, because everything we can see is proof and evidence that He exists; and to obey the Word of God, even if we don't fully understand it or even agree with all of it, because God said to do "it", whatever it is. Remember God's ultimate goal for us is to “Be holy, for I [the Lord your God] am holy.” (I Peter1:16)

Once we have established that we do indeed have faith in God and His Word, we have to have actions that prove our belief: What does it profit, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can faith save him? But someone will say, “You have faith, and I have works.” Show me your faith without your works, and I will show you my faith by my works. You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe—and tremble! But do you want to know, O foolish man, that faith without works is dead? For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also. (James 2:14, 18-20, 26) 

We can profess to be Christians, but if we don't have any physical evidence that our faith in God is beneficial to someone other than ourselves, we're just believers. You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe—and tremble; they believe, yet they're still not saved!  Let's not let the same thing be said about us. Just as in Jesus parable about the sower, we know the "seed", the Word of God fell on good ground because it ...yielded a crop: some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. (Matthew 13:1-9; Mark 4:1-9; Luke 8:4-15) So what actions can we demonstrate, that would be an outward showing of the faith we profess to have in God: If a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food, and one of you says to them, “Depart in peace, be warmed and filled,” but you do not give them the things which are needed for the body, what does it profit? Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. (James 2:15-17)  

Jesus teaches about works lead by faith very clearly: "Then the King will say to those on His right hand, ‘Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.’ ... ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.’ “Then He will also say to those on the left hand, ‘Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels: for I was hungry and you gave Me no food; I was thirsty and you gave Me no drink; I was a stranger and you did not take Me in, naked and you did not clothe Me, sick and in prison and you did not visit Me.’ ...Then He will answer them, saying, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.’ And these will go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.” (Matthew 25:34-46)

For some of us, helping others may come easier than this next way we must  demonstrate our faith, by doing what God tells us to do, even if it's difficult and requires us to give up someone or something we don't want to: Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered Isaac his son on the altar? [Genesis 22:1-19] Do you see that faith was working together with his works, and by works faith was made perfect? And the Scripture was fulfilled which says, “Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.” [Genesis 15:4-6] And he was called the friend of God. You see then that a man is justified by works, and not by faith only. (James 2:21-24) Abraham did not want to obey God when God said, “Take now your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you.” (Genesis 22:2) But when God tells us to do something, we have to make the hard choice, just like Abraham who arose and went to the place of which God had told him (Genesis 22:3).  

We have the Word of God, full of all kinds of promises to us who have put our faith in Christ Jesus, and when we know the promises God has made to us, just like Abraham knew the promise God made to him, “Look now toward heaven, and count the stars if you are able to number them.” And He said to him, “So shall your descendants be.” (Genesis 15:5), we will bravely and assuredly do what God tells us, because we know he will bless our obedience.  Even in knowing what God had told him to go do, Abraham confidently told his companions who went with him to sacrifice Isaac “Stay here with the donkey; the lad and I will go yonder and worship, and 'we' will come back to you.” (Genesis 22:5)

Finally, through faith in God, anyone can be saved and used by God: Likewise, was not Rahab the harlot also justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out another way?[Joshua 2, 6] (James 2:25) Rahab was a prostitute in a country that did not believe in God, but had heard about God and she became a believer, who helped the men of Israel, even though she was risking her own life:  “I [Rahab] know that the Lord has given you the land, that the terror of you has fallen on us, and that all the inhabitants of the land are fainthearted because of you. For we have heard how the Lord dried up the water of the Red Sea for you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to the two kings of the Amorites who were on the other side of the Jordan, Sihon and Og, whom you utterly destroyed. And as soon as we heard these things, our hearts melted; neither did there remain any more courage in anyone because of you, for the Lord your God, He is God in heaven above and on earth beneath. (Joshua 2:9-11)

Because of Rahab's faith and works, And the young men who had been spies went in and brought out Rahab, her father, her mother, her brothers, and all that she had. So they brought out all her relatives and left them outside the camp of Israel. And Joshua spared Rahab the harlot, her father’s household, and all that she had. (Joshua 6:23, 25) Joshua later said, which we all should be willing and able to say, "And if it seems evil to you to serve the LORD, choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, ... But as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.” (Joshua 24:15)