Tuesday | James 2:14-16

James 2:14-26

14 What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? 15 If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, 16 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? 17 So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. 18 But someone will say, “You have faith and I have works.” Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works. 19 You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder! 20 Do you want to be shown, you foolish person, that faith apart from works is useless? 21 Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered up his son Isaac on the altar? 22 You see that faith was active along with his works, and faith was completed by his works; 23 and the Scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness”—and he was called a friend of God. 24 You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone. 25 And in the same way was not also Rahab the prostitute justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out by another way? 26 For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so also faith apart from works is dead.

More than a controversy, as Christians, we are sometimes at polar opposites. One on hand, you may encounter a Christian who preaches “have more faith!” and on the other hand, you may encounter one preaching “do more work!” But what if, faith and works are not at odds with one another? To be clear, there is a distinction between faith and works yet both are necessary. So, what is it that bridges faith and works? Grace. 

Christian, the faith you have in the Lord Jesus was a gift to you (Ephesians 2:8-9) by His grace. Additionally, the works or fruit that we bear are our response to the faith gifted to us (Ephesians 2:10). Faith and works are not at odds with one another, but are complemented by the grace of God for you in Christ. 

Grace, God’s unmerited favor toward sinners, saves, sustains, and transforms us not simply to be better, but to be godly. Faith and works are necessary, but are not in competition with one another. Rather, they exist by the grace of God for the glory of God.