Bible Reading
You foolish person, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless? 21 Was not our father Abraham considered righteous for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? 22 You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did. 23 And the scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness,” and he was called God’s friend. 24 You see that a person is considered righteous by what they do and not by faith alone. 25 In the same way, was not even Rahab the prostitute considered righteous for what she did when she gave lodging to the spies and sent them off in a different direction? 26 As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.
James 2:20-26
James 2:20-26
Devotional
Attending an open-casket funeral for the first time can be strange, especially for a child. There is often a looming sense of awkward confusion. What do I do? What do I say? How am I supposed to behave in a situation like this? These are some thoughts that may have gone through your mind when you first experienced this. Another strange aspect of a funeral is that the person who died is there, but they are also not there. Their body may be present, but the life within the body is not. There are no actions, movements, words, or even thoughts. The body is dead, but the eternal spirit lives on somewhere else.
This picture of a lifeless body in a coffin is similar to the idea of faith without deeds. Faith is lifeless and dead without movement and action. Staying with this metaphor of a funeral, a person who dies will be remembered for their deeds, not something they held in their heart but was never acted upon. What good is it for a father to feel love for his children yet refuse to act upon that love; to refuse to protect them, to provide for them, and to lovingly care for them? What good is it for a wife to claim she loves her husband, yet refuse to care for and share loving words or actions with him? What good is it for a person to claim to value legacy and the next generation yet to squander their wealth and leave nothing behind for them? Something held in your heart must be acted upon, or it is useless. What if God so loved the world but he didn't give his son? What if God claimed his love for us yet did nothing to reconcile that which was disconnected and broken? What if Jesus didn't go through with it? The result would be that we would still be separated from God and would be for all of eternity. But that is not what God did. His love was backed up by and followed through with action, the greatest act of love that could ever be done.
James explains and clarifies this idea further using the Old Testament character Abraham. Abraham's righteousness came from what he did in faith. The only things that Abraham did that counted for anything were actions done in faith. The covenant between God and man was written in faith and signed by action! The idea is simple; a person is considered righteous by what they do and not what they intend to do. Intentions and beliefs are not enough, they need to be acted upon for your faith to be made complete. Anyone who refuses to accept this truth or ignores it is acting foolishly. As a body without the spirit is dead, so is faith without deeds. James used very blunt and direct language because of how important this idea was for the local church. And if it was important for the church and those within it then, it is still important now.
This picture of a lifeless body in a coffin is similar to the idea of faith without deeds. Faith is lifeless and dead without movement and action. Staying with this metaphor of a funeral, a person who dies will be remembered for their deeds, not something they held in their heart but was never acted upon. What good is it for a father to feel love for his children yet refuse to act upon that love; to refuse to protect them, to provide for them, and to lovingly care for them? What good is it for a wife to claim she loves her husband, yet refuse to care for and share loving words or actions with him? What good is it for a person to claim to value legacy and the next generation yet to squander their wealth and leave nothing behind for them? Something held in your heart must be acted upon, or it is useless. What if God so loved the world but he didn't give his son? What if God claimed his love for us yet did nothing to reconcile that which was disconnected and broken? What if Jesus didn't go through with it? The result would be that we would still be separated from God and would be for all of eternity. But that is not what God did. His love was backed up by and followed through with action, the greatest act of love that could ever be done.
James explains and clarifies this idea further using the Old Testament character Abraham. Abraham's righteousness came from what he did in faith. The only things that Abraham did that counted for anything were actions done in faith. The covenant between God and man was written in faith and signed by action! The idea is simple; a person is considered righteous by what they do and not what they intend to do. Intentions and beliefs are not enough, they need to be acted upon for your faith to be made complete. Anyone who refuses to accept this truth or ignores it is acting foolishly. As a body without the spirit is dead, so is faith without deeds. James used very blunt and direct language because of how important this idea was for the local church. And if it was important for the church and those within it then, it is still important now.