Show Me Your Faith
“What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him?” – James 2:14
Hmm, good question brother James, what does saving faith look like? Off the bat, before I even skim the top of this question, I would like to clarify one thing. James is in no way saying that a person can save themselves through works. His friend and colleague Paul makes this quite clear. The difference is that where Paul talks about God’s grace alone saving through faith (Ephesians 2:5), that is, a believer’s initial entry into a relationship with God through Christ, James here talks about what that transforming, new creation life looks like once brought into relationship and under the care of God. Friends, Jesus did not take the sins of the world upon himself so that we could give him a nod of acknowledgement and then go right back to sinning, NO, we are made into a new creation, “created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand…” (Ephesians 2:10). Before moving forward, a little word study on the ever so important term ‘works’ is needed…
The Greek word erga (work, deed, doing labour) is quite prevalent thorughout this passage in James. The ESV and NKJV use ‘works’ while the NLT uses ‘good deeds’ in many of the verses. The difference between the word choices are not too great, but are still imporant. The NLT takes the liberty of interpreting the kind of works James has in mind, but what exactly are these good deeds or works? Given the context it would seem that James considers ‘works’ to be something tied to one’s faith (v.18) or belief (v.19). In the Old Testament ‘works’ seem to denote God’s actions as is seen in Deuteronomy 3:24 and therefore is predominatly tied to the Creator. Again, in passages of the New Testament ‘works’ are what Jesus does (Matthew 11:2; John 5:36) or what His followers do in order to bring others to Him (Matthew 5:16). Even when used in the negative, as in when Paul speaks of ‘works’ in Romans, the idea has to do with finding righteousness with God through actions (Romans 3:20). Erga (works) then, in the context of James 2:14-26, should not be seen as anything a person does, but instead specifically of what that person accomplishes as a result of faith, that is, ‘works’ are fruit of the Spirit indwelling the beleiver. As the Heidelberg Catechism asks, “What do we do that is good?” It summarily answers, “Only that which arises out of true faith, conforms to God’s law, and is done for his glory; and not that which is based on what we think is right or on established human tradition.”[1] Got it? Good, let’s continue.
So, Jesus’ half brother James, author of this verse and letter, pastor of the Jerusalem church, which he shepherded around 40-62 AD, knew where his congregation was going and it was not in a good direction. His congregants, his sheep are, “…the twelve tribes in the Dispersion…” (James 1:1). The twelve tribes of course refer to the descendants of Jacob’s (Israel, Genesis 32:28) twelve sons (Genesis 35:23-26), which make up Israel. During James time and today however, these are not just those born into Jewish homes, but those who have named Jesus as their savior. For as Scripture tells us, “If you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to promise” (Galatians 3:29). Dispersion in the greeting could mean the letter was sent to those that were scattered after the stoning death of Stephen (Acts 11:19). This would create economic hardships because of the new surroundings and therefore lack of contacts to secure employment. James refers to their economic standing by asking, “Are not the rich the ones who oppress you, and the ones who drag you into court? (2:6). In short, James, the leader of the church in Jerusalem, felt it necessary to exhort and remind those that fled their homes in Jerusalem that their identity in Christ needs to be apparent not just in words, but also in how they live their daily lives. Looking at the verse again, it presents what James refuses to believe, that faith and works can be separated. Friends’, saying you’re Christian doesn’t make it so…
The Greek word erga (work, deed, doing labour) is quite prevalent thorughout this passage in James. The ESV and NKJV use ‘works’ while the NLT uses ‘good deeds’ in many of the verses. The difference between the word choices are not too great, but are still imporant. The NLT takes the liberty of interpreting the kind of works James has in mind, but what exactly are these good deeds or works? Given the context it would seem that James considers ‘works’ to be something tied to one’s faith (v.18) or belief (v.19). In the Old Testament ‘works’ seem to denote God’s actions as is seen in Deuteronomy 3:24 and therefore is predominatly tied to the Creator. Again, in passages of the New Testament ‘works’ are what Jesus does (Matthew 11:2; John 5:36) or what His followers do in order to bring others to Him (Matthew 5:16). Even when used in the negative, as in when Paul speaks of ‘works’ in Romans, the idea has to do with finding righteousness with God through actions (Romans 3:20). Erga (works) then, in the context of James 2:14-26, should not be seen as anything a person does, but instead specifically of what that person accomplishes as a result of faith, that is, ‘works’ are fruit of the Spirit indwelling the beleiver. As the Heidelberg Catechism asks, “What do we do that is good?” It summarily answers, “Only that which arises out of true faith, conforms to God’s law, and is done for his glory; and not that which is based on what we think is right or on established human tradition.”[1] Got it? Good, let’s continue.
So, Jesus’ half brother James, author of this verse and letter, pastor of the Jerusalem church, which he shepherded around 40-62 AD, knew where his congregation was going and it was not in a good direction. His congregants, his sheep are, “…the twelve tribes in the Dispersion…” (James 1:1). The twelve tribes of course refer to the descendants of Jacob’s (Israel, Genesis 32:28) twelve sons (Genesis 35:23-26), which make up Israel. During James time and today however, these are not just those born into Jewish homes, but those who have named Jesus as their savior. For as Scripture tells us, “If you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to promise” (Galatians 3:29). Dispersion in the greeting could mean the letter was sent to those that were scattered after the stoning death of Stephen (Acts 11:19). This would create economic hardships because of the new surroundings and therefore lack of contacts to secure employment. James refers to their economic standing by asking, “Are not the rich the ones who oppress you, and the ones who drag you into court? (2:6). In short, James, the leader of the church in Jerusalem, felt it necessary to exhort and remind those that fled their homes in Jerusalem that their identity in Christ needs to be apparent not just in words, but also in how they live their daily lives. Looking at the verse again, it presents what James refuses to believe, that faith and works can be separated. Friends’, saying you’re Christian doesn’t make it so…
Fast forward to verse 19, “You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder!” This presents what has been known and taught throughout scripture, that doctrinal belief does not guarantee salvation, for even demonic forces attribute divinity to Jesus (Matthew 8:29; Luke 4:41) and of course are not saved, but unlike some professing Christians, they at least have the fear of God in them, for they shudder. That’s right, mere intellectual or head-belief doesn’t really do a whole lot. That means some of those regular attenders you see in church may not even be saved, they are, to use James’s word, dead! Oh, they believe Jesus is the unique Son of God, awesome; they believe He performed miracles, great; they emphatically know that He died on the cross for their sins and was raised from the dead, stupendous! The problem is…SO DO THE DEMONS! And you know where they’re going, HELL! Yeah, scary thought right. This should jolt you to the core of your being. What then must I do? Here it is, align yourself with Jesus and let the Holy Spirit continue to work in and through you. Who are you discipling right now? Who are you teaching Christ’s ways to, so that they can turn around and do the same, multiplying God’s family. The church is to teach, lead, equip, and send out fully developed followers of Jesus, so that the world will see their good works and immediately attribute them to lives changed by Jesus. Good works are not for self-aggrandizement, but to point others to the living God. Have you met Jesus, I mean the real Jesus, not just read about him? If so, what are you waiting for? Share your story of how you met Him with others. When you truly meet the real Jesus there should be a burning fire from within that cannot contain the excitement and joy of knowing Him. As Paul so aptly put it, “Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord” (Galatians 3:8).
A person must show how faith has changed them; it is not a have-to, but get-to type of works. It is evidence of a life truly transformed into a new creation. Life is not easy, to say the least, but just as James’ readers were going through hardship, Christians today will also go through difficult times that will test their faith and require an obedient response in line with that faith.
In short, do others know you are Christian only by self-identifying as such or do they see you are different and name you thusly? Be known not by who you say you are, but by what you do, that way, God’s name will be glorified as they see the faith-fueled works being done.
A person must show how faith has changed them; it is not a have-to, but get-to type of works. It is evidence of a life truly transformed into a new creation. Life is not easy, to say the least, but just as James’ readers were going through hardship, Christians today will also go through difficult times that will test their faith and require an obedient response in line with that faith.
In short, do others know you are Christian only by self-identifying as such or do they see you are different and name you thusly? Be known not by who you say you are, but by what you do, that way, God’s name will be glorified as they see the faith-fueled works being done.
Comments
Post a Comment