Faith and works
Day 662, Thursday, June 4
James 2:14-26
Perhaps the best known quotation from James is the last part of verse 26: “faith without deeds is dead” (often translated as “faith without works is dead.” The whole verse reads, “As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.”
Most often I hear this used to promote active service, sometimes with a suggestion that active service is more “real” than faith. This attitude is hinted at in verse 18, “But someone will say, ‘You have faith; I have deeds.’”
The right relationship between faith and deeds is made clear in verses 20-25 as James recounts the stories of Abraham’s willingness to sacrifice Isaac and Rahab’s willingness to lie to protect the spies Joshua had sent to scope out Jericho.
I find it interesting that both stories have moral ambiguity—neither child sacrifice nor lying are normally considered to be good things. But in both cases it is faith in God that leads the person, both Abraham and Rahab, to do something that comes at a great sacrifice and with significant danger—and in both cases the deed could have been rejected on grounds most would find reasonable.
The deeds James speaks of aren’t just nice things to do—they are sacrificial acts demanded by faith in God. They aren’t just evidence of goodness; they are evidence of commitment.
James says of Abraham, “You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did.” He later says, “You see that a person is considered righteous by what they do and not by faith alone.”
To James, faith and deeds aren’t two things that are nice to have together. It is faith that prompts action, and action that gives evidence of faith.
Thursday meditation
Psalms 134:1-3
Praise the Lord, all you servants of the Lord who minister by night in the house of the Lord. Lift up your hands in the sanctuary and praise the Lord.
May the Lord bless you from Zion, he who is the Maker of heaven and earth.
Prayer focus
Deepen our faith so that it will shine forth in our actions.
-Rev. Mark Fleming