Radiant Blog: A Fizzling Faith

Radiant Friends, 

Today we will finish up chapter two of the book of James. And just think! It only took us 7 months to cover the first two chapters! ;-) I actually hope to finish up the book of James by Christmas. This book just has too much to say to rush it!

The last two paragraphs of James 2 are probably the most controversial part of the whole letter. Did you know that this book was almost not canonized? This passage is one of the reasons for that! Here’s the passage. Please read it and take in its meaning:

 "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.

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. You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder! Do you want to be shown, you foolish person, that faith apart from works is useless? Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered up his son Isaac on the altar? You see that faith was active along with his works, and faith was completed by his works; 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. You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone. 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? For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so also faith apart from works is dead."

James 2:14-26

Let’s take a minute to remember that at the very end of chapter one James gave us a reminder that ‘religion’ that is pure and undefiled will take care of the vulnerable. This was one of the “tests” of a genuine faith. He then very naturally flowed right into a discussion of the injustice and sin of partiality and mistreatment of the vulnerable in the church. Another important part of the context for our focal passage today is that in chapter one James has emphasized that we must not be only hearers of God’s Word, but also doers of God’s Word. There was already a call for action. Now James will make this point even more clearly than before. And this passage also makes it strikingly clear that he considers this a test of whether one’s faith is genuine and steadfast.  

Some questions this passage leaves us to wrestle with are:

Does the faith I claim to have prove itself genuine in my everyday life?

Do my actions reflect that I have true faith in the Lord Jesus?

Do my choices show that I really trust Him?

Simply stated, James is telling us that if indeed our faith is real, it cannot help but show itself in our actions.  

For the first time, I noticed today that James is using two related words for “faith” and “believe” in this passage. One is a noun, and one is a verb. Now that may not sound like a big deal to you, but I think it is directly related to the point he is trying to make.  

A belief is a noun. It’s unable to be active on its own. It’s something you could hold onto, but you may or may not choose to do anything with it. Faith, on the other hand, as used in this passage - is a VERB! Verbs are the ACTION words in language! If we have true faith, it will be active and drive our actions, or “works.”  

For me, this is such a timely lesson! We live in a day and age of cultural Christianity! There are many who claim to have Christian “beliefs.” In fact, I heard today that 95% of people in America say they believe in God. But it was a much smaller fraction of those same individuals who said they had a personal relationship with “God.”  

James was dealing with something similar! He said quite bluntly that we must not merely believe…even the demons do that! So what’s the difference? How do we move from simply holding a belief to truly having genuine faith?

We entrust ourselves to Jesus.  

We entrust every part of our lives to Him.

That’s the difference. And when we entrust our whole selves to Him, we will let Him direct our actions. And friends, that will cause us and our faith to grow! We will begin to be transformed - becoming more and more like the one we have entrusted ourselves to.

So here we find ourselves facing another TEST of genuine, steadfast faith. This one is a very simple test: 

Our WORKS are evidence that our FAITH is real, genuine, steadfast, and LIVING.

Therefore, if someone claims to be a Christian but that person’s works are not in alignment with that faith, there is a flaw. A pastor I adore and have quoted many times is Brother Jim Everidge. Many times I’ve heard him say, 

“A Faith that Fizzles before the Finish was Flawed from the First.”

James calls this a DEAD faith

As always, let’s consider James’ original audience: they were JEWISH Christians. Their whole entire history as a people involved adherence to so many “works” that they may have believed these "works" saved them. Now they're trying to grasp that there’s been

a glorious new covenant…

and now…

salvation rests on JESUS’ works alone!

They needed to place their faith in Him…entrust every part of their lives to Him. But maybe they were struggling to understand this point: 

This glorious faith-based salvation enables us to do good works

for His glory…but not for our salvation.  

Good works are evidence of salvation - not the means of that salvation. 

And yet works still matter very much. 

I happen to think James offers simple messages throughout his book. I happen to wonder if many, without meaning to, have complicated this passage. And maybe, just maybe, the two Old Testament examples James provides muddied the waters for them. But overthinking these can cause us to miss James’ very strait-forward message. Notice James has been a very strait-forward communicator from verse 1:1. We have no reason to believe he has changed his whole style of communicating for this one point. . ere’s what I see in his two Old Testament examples of Abraham and Rehab.

Abraham was a Jewish male, and his faith caused him to obey God even when it was hard. His faith was shown genuine by his steps of faith, which in turn “completed,” or “perfected” his faith and grew his character. He became more godly over time as he exercised his faith through works.

Rahab, on the other hand, was a Gentile woman. Her faith caused her to help God’s people despite the great risk. She began with a limited understanding of God, but as she acted on her faith, her understanding grew.

These examples show us that genuine faith

can take root in any person of any background

and be developed into steadfastness

that causes spiritual growth.

I think James wanted his Jewish Christian readers to remember that while works did not save them, works are still important because salvation is accompanied by sanctification. There will always be an outward expression of inward transformation.

This message wasn’t just needed and timely for James’ original audience. We need this today too. Otherwise - we could grow up in a Christian home; go to church and even Sunday school. We could be part of a certain denomination; wear Christian t-shirts or cross necklaces. And we could essentially be lost in the flood of cultural Christianity without having any real salvation, relationship with Jesus, spiritual growth, or life change.

Let’s truly examine ourselves today, as James has clearly intended. Let’s ask ourselves some very important questions. In fact, now might be a great time to journal and/or pray. It’s good for all of us to take time to examine ourselves and ask the Lord to search us:  

What works or deeds in my life are evidence of a faith that is alive, real, and genuine?

When has my faith led me to act in obedience that required sacrifice or risk?

How am I using my time, energy, spiritual gifts, and money to help others?

In what ways have I obeyed so consistently that it transforms me to be more like Jesus?

How might I be avoiding actions or steps of faith? 

(Examples: Feeling sorry for others, but taking no action. Or praying for people without a willingness to help them.)

Am I really trusting Him in each area of my life?

Looking to Him - and examining myself,

Tina