James 2:14-17 The Message
Faith in Action
14-17 Dear friends, do you think you’ll get anywhere in this if you learn all the right words but never do anything? Does merely talking about faith indicate that a person really has it? For instance, you come upon an old friend dressed in rags and half-starved and say, “Good morning, friend! Be clothed in Christ! Be filled with the Holy Spirit!” and walk off without providing so much as a coat or a cup of soup—where does that get you? Isn’t it obvious that God-talk without God-acts is outrageous nonsense?
The Word of God for the Children of God.
Glory be to the Father,
and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen, amen.
Believing and Acting
A wise person has said that we should imagine our faith and actions written up in a feature story splashed across the front page of every known newspaper.
What would that look like?
Myriads and myriads of scandals erupt because high profile Christians don’t behave like the believers they vigorously claim to be.
But the tension between our walk and our talk brings dishonor to our Lord.
There are many times when believers deserve to be called hypocrites.
In those moments, our faith and deeds show a rather severe disconnect.
James speaks bluntly to this contrast between believing and acting.
Our trust relationship with God must show itself in acts of obedience.
Just nodding in agreement to a biblical teaching doesn’t transform the way we treat our next-door neighbor.
What about your faith?
Is it authentic?
Does it show others that you have a living relationship with Christ?
Real faith turns the misunderstood contrast between faith and works into a dynamic combination of genuine faith and real action.
Receiving God’s Word through Action
Faith and action go together.
Understanding and works are tethered—joined together at salvation through the working of the Holy Spirit in the lives of believers.
James 2:14-17 asks us,
Faith without Good Deeds Is Dead
14 What good is it, dear brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but don’t show it by your actions? Can that kind of faith save anyone? 15 Suppose you see a brother or sister who has no food or clothing, 16 and you say, “Good-bye and have a good day; stay warm and eat well”—but then you don’t give that person any food or clothing. What good does that do?
17 So you see, faith by itself isn’t enough. Unless it produces good deeds, it is dead and useless.
The poor, orphaned, widowed, and lost don’t just need a word from God.
They need us to act on our beliefs and love and serve selflessly with the help of the Holy Spirit.
Gathering together as believers to worship is just a part of what God intends for us as his children.
If we are to receive all that God has for us, if we are to walk in the abundant life God intends, we must resolve to be doers of the word.
James 1:23-25 gives us a window into the life of a believer who never puts action to his faith.
Scripture says,
23 For if you listen to the word and don’t obey, it is like glancing at your face in a mirror. 24 You see yourself, walk away, and forget what you look like. 25 But if you look carefully into the perfect law that sets you free, and if you do what it says and don’t forget what you heard, then God will bless you for doing it.
Your identity as a disciple of Christ undoubtedly comes from relationship with God, but it is meant to be lived out in your deeds.
God longs for you to live a life of good works in response to the unconditional love you’ve been given.
He longs for you to live in selfless humility sharing with others what he’s done in you.
We’ve separated Christianity from the world.
We’ve separated Sunday from Monday, the sacred and secular.
Jesus lived in line with God’s love every minute he was here.
He broke the rules in healing on the Sabbath.
He ministered almost completely outside of the walls of the synagogue.
He brought the good news of God’s grace to all who would believe everywhere he went.
His life was in no way segregated.
Jesus’s turning the water into wine at a party was just as holy and spiritual as his standing up, reading of Isaiah in the temple, proclaiming his fulfillment of the prophecy regarding the Messiah.
His love was put into perfect action through every word, miracle, step, glance, and prayer.
With Jesus as our perfect example, let’s live in accordance with God’s will.
Let’s blur the line between faith and works until the two become one.
Let’s regard meals, conversations, rest, family time, and parties as important and holy as worshipping inside the walls of our churches. Let’s live as Jesus did and reveal His love as an action instead of just an idea we talk about on Sunday.
In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,
Guided Prayer:
1. Meditate on God’s desire for your faith to produce good works.
“What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, and one of you says to them, ‘Go in peace, be warmed and filled,’ without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that? So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.” James 2:14-17
2. Ask God where he would have you put faith into action.
It could be the completely random act of buying flowers for your wife, or your finding a new way to honor your husband, taking your children on a special trip, or offering encouragement to someone around you at meal at work or at school.
Ask the Spirit to give you specific ways in which he desires you live out the love you have received.
3. Ask God for the strength and courage to live out his word.
Follow the leadership of the Holy Spirit into the good works he has prepared for you today.
The Spirit has an incredible ability and power to guide a willing heart into action for God.
Receiving the knowledge of God’s love for the people around you will open up doors in your own life to better know the fullness of God’s heart.
You will be more deeply blessed by serving others than you could ever be blessed in being served.
God pours his love and grace out on those who minister in line with the leading of the Holy Spirit.
It’s truly an honor to be used by God to further the advance of his kingdom in the earth.
You were made to live out the truth of the gospel.
So choose today to act upon the leading of the Spirit.
Choose to be a doer of the word.
Psalm 100 New American Standard Bible 1995
All Men Exhorted to Praise God.
A Psalm for [a]Thanksgiving.
100 Shout joyfully to the Lord, all the earth.
2 Serve the Lord with gladness;
Come before Him with joyful singing.
3 Know that the Lord [b]Himself is God;
It is He who has made us, and [c]not we ourselves;
We are His people and the sheep of His pasture.
4 Enter His gates with [d]thanksgiving
And His courts with praise.
Give thanks to Him, bless His name.
5 For the Lord is good;
His lovingkindness is everlasting
And His faithfulness to all generations.
Lord Jesus, by the power of the Holy Spirit, renew my heart, refresh my heart, change and transform my heart so my trust in you becomes a powerful, and active display of your grace and power. Help me to serve you by serving, caring about others. Amen.
Glory be to the Father,
and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen, amen.
Loving God, Living God, Loving Hope, Living Hope, Loving Living Life His Way! "Many things are possible for the person who has hope. Even more is possible for the person who has faith. And still more is possible for the person who knows how to love. But everything is possible for the person who practices all three virtues." - Brother Lawrence (1605-1691), Practicing the Presence of God (1692). 