Faith without actions is dead!
James 2:14-26
What good is it, my brothers, and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them? Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.
But someone will say, “You have faith; I have deeds.”
Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by my deeds. You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder.
You foolish person, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless? Was not our father Abraham considered righteous for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did. 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. You see that a person is considered righteous by what they do and not by faith alone.
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? As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.
You have a choice to make.
We must acknowledge that we don’t always understand what God is doing.
Believe and have Faith that there is a God who gave up his son Jesus Christ to be crucified to pay for our sins, died, descended into Hell and on the third day rose from the dead. Repent of your sins and ask God in Jesus name for forgiveness and with your faith, he will forgive your sins and remember them no more especially on Jesus’s second coming. You need to stop sinning. Once you believe and have faith, you will be born again to start a new life and have eternal salvation and on Judgement Day you will be judged on your good works as none of your sins are in your book of life as they have been forgiven forever.
If you have been born again, not only is your inward self-altered, and your outward self too, but the very root and principle of your life must become totally new. When we are in sin we live to self, but when we are renewed, we live to God to be more like him and his son Jesus.
How does the Bible say we are born again?
Jesus answered, “I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water (baptism) and the Spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. You should not be surprised at my saying, `You must be born again.
Ways the Holy Spirit works in your Life:
He makes known the presence of Jesus.
He helps us to understand the bible.
He helps us to pray.
He guides us to do good and not evil.
Whoever believes in him is not condemned.
Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son. John 3:18
The following was published by Dave Foucar on December 7, 2023 on Christiangrandfather.org.
For the believer, we have a purpose. We don’t have to wander, or wonder looking for the reason we are here. God has made our reason, our purpose, plain to us.
God has created us to do good works. We need to be people who do good things. Helping others. Meeting needs. Sharing our faith and the gospel. In fact, every good work that we do can be laced with the gospel when we do it in Jesus’ name. And every good work we do in Jesus’ name brings glory to God. Doing good is what we are created for. It’s why we are here.
Patrick Brown was born at Davis Monthan Air Force Base in Tucson, AZ on February 25th, 1949. He became a Christian Believer when he stepped off the plane in Vietnam in 1971. Since that time, he has devoted his life to the Lord through ministering as a Sunday School teacher in various churches in Mississippi. He is a graduate of Exploding Evangelism (EE) and certified as a Gospel Evangelist Trainer. Patrick is a member on staff at Christian Grandfather Magazine in charge of Daily Devotionals. He and his wife, Sherrilyn, enjoy retirement in Ridgeland, MS.
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