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Works Without Faith
by Jerry Ousley Let's say that I have a million dollars. Man, I certainly wish that were true. It would make a whole lot of difference, not only for me and my family, but for a lot of others too. I don't have that kind of money, but for the sake of this article, let's say that I do (just the thought of that makes my heart skip a beat and drops of perspiration begin to roll down my forehead). I've basically got it made with that kind of money. I can have nearly anything I want. Now along comes a guy who has lost his home, his car, and his family is barely scraping by. He needs help and I have the means to help him. I could give him some work to earn it and that might help him feel better about a gift, or I could just give it to him. But somehow money has a way of stirring up greed in a person's heart. So I don't give him a dime and tell him, "I am really sorry about your situation brother, I'll be praying for you. I'll let you go, and go in peace and be prosperous." What have I done in that situation? I have turned away a brother in need. I have lived exactly what James wrote about. He said that faith without works is dead. Here's the full context of that passage of scripture: "What does it profit, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can faith save him? 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. 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" (James 2:14-18). Do you see the picture? We teach that we are saved only by grace and that is true. As we have already established, there is nothing, no good work, no good deed, that is good enough to earn salvation and buy us a free pass into Heaven. Can't happen; won't happen. Only by our acceptance of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, and faith in His resurrection can we be saved. Now along comes James and says "You say that you have faith and do nothing to prove it? I say that faith that does not yield works is a dead faith! You show me your faith without works and I'll show you my faith by my works!" It seems, on the surface, contradictory to what Paul was teaching. James was right however; a believer in Christ allowing our Lord to live through and in him or her will be like Jesus. That's what the title "Christian" means you know; "Christ-like." We have become like Jesus Christ. That means that we are now interested in the things Jesus was interested in. It means that we act like Him. We can never be greater than our Lord; after all, He is the Son of God. But we have become adopted sons and daughters of God through Jesus. It should now become second nature (or should that be first nature) to be like Jesus Christ. This being the case, what would Jesus do? He taught people to love each other. He promoted living peaceably with each other. He taught us to believe in God the Father. And we should teach these things too. But He also had compassion on people. That means that He felt their pain; He put Himself in their shoes as they told Him their stories. He didn't stop there; He did something about it. He healed them. Now in ourselves we don't have power to heal. But Jesus in us does. Sometimes healing for others comes through our compassionate prayers. More often, healing for others comes through our obedience to what God is telling us in our hearts. When we have the means to help others we should do it. I believe that God blesses us as a consequence of our faith in Him. Those blessings come in a variety of ways. However, when the Lord has blessed us with wealth, be it meager or exuberant, He has given us a responsibility to use those resources to help others. I don't have a lot of money and I'll bet that the majority of you don't either. We are just common people, insignificant to this world. But Jesus has given us a mandate. What are our works of faith? They are to be obedient to what God is speaking in our hearts, and proving our faith by blessing others. Jerry D. Ousley is the author of ?Soul Challenge?, ?Soul Journey?, ?Ordeal?, ?The Spirit Bread Daily Devotional and his first novel ?The Shoe Tree.? Visit our website at spiritbread.com to download these and more completely free of charge. Article Source: http://www.faithwriters.com |