Is Your Faith Alive?

James 2:14-19 What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him? 15 Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. 16 If one of you says to him, “Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? 17 In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead. 18 But someone will say, “You have faith; I have deeds.” Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do. 19 You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder.

Imagine you find a ball of fur. How do you know if it’s alive? A kindergartner might say, “You poke it with a stick.” That’s not a bad rule of thumb. If you poke the fur, and it moves or makes a noise all on its own, you know there’s life there, however small or weak it may be. How do you know if faith in Jesus is alive in someone’s heart? While you can’t poke faith with a stick, James says you can see if it moves, if the new spirit within causes new movements on the outside. Simply put, does my faith demonstrate its presence by redirecting what I say and do towards the object of my faith: Jesus Christ, his grace and glory, and his will for my life?

God's goal is to keep his people in humble, living faith. That means fighting against pride and self-righteousness in one direction and licentiousness—using God’s grace as an excuse to live however I want—in the other. In his letters the Apostle Paul is often fighting against the former, anyone who would say that our good works are either necessary for or contribute to our being saved. Over and over again Paul says we are saved by faith in Christ's sacrifice and merits alone. In this letter James is fighting for the truth in the opposite direction, against those who would say, “I believe in Jesus and my sins are forgiven, and therefore I can live however I please and however is most convenient for me!” In other words, they claim faith in their hearts but have no deeds of love and obedience to show for it. This is the person who nominally claims to be a Christian but whose Christianity has no effect whatsoever on their thoughts, actions, and daily decisions. It doesn't affect where they go, what words they say, how they spend their money, or how they treat people. These are Christian in name only. Theirs is a faith that may possess much knowledge of God and his Word but does not put that knowledge into practice. James grants that even the devil and his demons have encyclopedic knowledge of Scripture, but they rage against God and do the exact opposite of what he decrees. They now cringe beneath his wrath.

Again, James supplies us with a practical example of the matter at hand: suppose you come upon a fellow Christian who is naked and has no food. How should faith respond in that situation? One could save face and maintain a degree of dignity in the eyes of the world by saying, "I'll pray for you! I hope that God gives you clothes and food! God bless you!" But if you refuse to care for their immediate physical needs, what good is it? As the Apostle John says in his First Letter how can the love of God be in that person’s heart (1 John 3:17)? Their words may be warm, but their actions show that their faith is stone-cold dead!

There's no way around it, living faith shows itself in what we do. After all “even a child is known by [their] actions” (Prov. 20:11), and Jesus says, "By their fruits you will recognize them” (Matt. 7:16). To be sure, the degree of sanctification in your life and mine is different, and it fluctuates from day to day, up and down as we struggle against sin in ourselves and in the world. Often our lives can look as much a sin-twisted mess as the next person’s, but were an impartial person to observe the video footage of our lives, there should be undeniable visible evidence that our faith in Jesus determines what we do, because faith works.

For Personal Reflection:

1.) Rejoice as you struggle to do what is right—it is a sign your faith is alive!  

2.) Reflect on your daily decision-making process. Consider how should faith in Christ govern and show itself in your family and friend relationships and your encounters with strangers; in how you spend your money, in your choices of entertainment?  

Prayer: Lord Jesus, you lived your whole life for me, intent on earning my salvation. Now help me to live each day in thanks and faith in you. By your Spirit and your Word empower and direct me in every situation to speak and act in line with your holy will to your glory alone. Amen.