A Working Faith

“What doth is profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works? Can faith save him?”

Thus begins a treatise that has caused much turmoil. Why? Because it would sound like James is saying that the Christian is “saved” by what they do, and not by their faith. Not only that, but he has the audacity to use the same example of righteousness found in Paul’s arguments for justification in Romans 4, Father Abraham! “Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar?” whereas Paul writes, “For if Abraham were justified by works, he hath whereof to glory; but not before God.” Are these two doctrines opposite one another?

Perhaps out of context of chapter, and of the entirety of scripture. In his writings, Paul is dealing with the issue of forgiveness of sins and righteousness before God, for our righteousness, i.e. our deeds, are as “filthy rags” before God. The bar was set: perfection. Only one man has achieved such a standard: Jesus Christ. The only way, therefore, a man may be seen as perfect before God, is by being in Christ, “the Lord our righteousness”, and trusting in Him that was “made… to be sin for us, who knew now sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.”

The blood of Jesus Christ was our propitiation, and “his great love wherewith he loved us” should humble any man. What then, becomes of us? Are we free to do whatever we want, that, after we “believe” in God (which in our day means saying a prayer), we are allowed to be as we wish? In Paul’s words, “God forbid!”

What James is getting at is the essence of true faith. It is easy for a man to say, “I hath faith!” Anyone could say that. If that were all that consisted of salvation and belief, my, evangelizing would be simple! I want to highlight some of James’ key phrases in this section of chapter 2:

“… shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works.”

“Thou believest there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble.”

“Seest thou how faith wrought with his works, and by works was faith made perfect?”

James is not saying a man is forgiven by what he does; rather, works, from his perspective, are the evidence of faith. He is simply saying that the way we live out our time here on this earth is the proof of what is in our hearts. If we truly believe in Jesus – not just the praying of a prayer, but presenting out bodies “a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service” – then it will evidence itself in the way we act, speak, and all other manner of things.

Let’s compare something: James says, “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 the things which are needful to the body; what doth it profit?”

John says, “He that saith he is in the light, and hateth his brother, is in the darkness even until now. He that loveth his brother abideth in the light, and there is none occasion of stumbling in him.”

Jesus says, “A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.”

Would it not be ridiculous if a Christian came to the door of another believer, begging for food, and the one in the warm, cozy house said, “God bless ya brother, I love you!” and slammed the door? That would not be considered love! Yet Jesus and John explicitly say that if they don’t do that, they are in darkness, and have no part with God. This is what James would call fake faith: saying you believe, but without evidence of it.

Look also at Matthew 25, and the parable of the sheep and the goats. Notice the emphasis Christ places on the deeds of each: “Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me… Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me.”

You see, Jesus isn’t just after getting a bunch of people into heaven; He has a job for us to do here on this earth, and it will take believing upon Him with everything in our being, to do it. He wants us to go out, and in His power, love as He loves, and do as He would do. The call of the Christian is not to have a mediocre life and sit about waiting for heaven to come to them. Rather, by faith and works, the Christian is called to expand the kingdom of God upon this earth. This is the question James was getting at: Does your life prove your faith? Or are you merely nodding at all the right points and merely saying you believe?