[:en]SCRIPTURE: JAMES 2
“My brothers, as believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ, don’t show favoritism” (James 2:1)
“Faith by itself it it is not accompanied by action is dead” (James 2:17)
“As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds id dead” (James 2:26)
A. True faith is manfested by “LOVE”
Love is shown by accepting people for what they are. We should treat people fairly and without favoritism. James specifically mentioned about the rich and the poor. Most often, the rich were respected and given high honor while the poor were being despised and ignored. This kind of attitude is unacceptable especially in the Christian assembly. Men look on the outward appearance but God sees the heart (1 Sam. 16:7). Christ clearly stated the the poor shall inherit the kingdom of God. James reminded them that the rich often oppress the poor and brought saints to court. They also blaspheme the name of Christ.
B. True faith is manifested by “WORKS”
Paul wrote: “For it is by grace you have been saved through faith, and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God – not by works, so that no one can boast” (Ephe. 2:8-10). According to James, faith without deeds is dead. Are they contradicting each other? Of course not. To Paul, he was explaining how a sinner is justified before God. To James, he was writing about how a saved person can prove his salvation before men. Salvation is by faith alone but after faith, works must follow. People can see our saving faith by what we say or do. A living faith leads to action deeds.
James gave two examples of faith that leads to works:
- Abrahamn believed God’s promise to give him a son. When he had a son, God asked him to sacrifice her son Isaac on the altar. Abraham obeyed and proved his faith by his works.
- Rahab was a sinner but she believed God’s judgment on Jericho. She received and protected the two spies by risking her own life to identify with Israel. Her faith accompanied by proven work saved her family and her name was listed in the family of Christ.
LESSON:
A real faith is proven by “love”. What is love? Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoice with the truth. It always protects, always trust, always hopes, always persevere. Love never fails” (1 Cor. 13:4-8) Showing favoritism is unkind and rude.
A real faith is proven by works. Faith that does not lead to work is a dead faith. Christians that profess faith with their lips only is denying God in works. A true Christian must do good works, bear fruits and show good life testimony to glorify His name. We are justified before God by faith, but we are justified before men by works.
Is your faith “living” or “dead”? Are you treating people impartially without prejudice to their social status? Do you show compassion to people in need with action?
[:]