I Will Show
You My Faith By My Deeds
What good is it, my
brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can
such faith save them? Suppose
a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to them, “Go
in peace; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about their physical needs,
what good is it? In
the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.
But
someone will say, “You have faith; I have deeds.”
Show me your faith
without deeds, and I will show you my faith by my deeds. You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons
believe that —and shudder.
You
foolish person, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless? Was not our father Abraham
considered righteous for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the
altar? You see
that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made
complete by what he did. And the scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed
God, and it was credited to him as righteousness,” and he was called God’s
friend. You see
that a person is considered righteous by what they do and not by faith alone.
In
the same way, was not even Rahab the prostitute
considered righteous for what she did when she gave lodging to the spies and
sent them off in a different direction? As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds
is dead.
James
2:14-26
Faith without good works
is nothing, but good works will affirm that our faith is real. It is easy to
say we believe in God, but only our works can prove the truthfulness of our
words.
What matters
is not faith and works; it is not
faith or works; it is faith that works.
Our Daily Bread –