God wants us to use faith as the foundation of our love for Him. This daily devotional continues to look at the connection between faith and works.
Nuggets
- Believing in God is not enough.
- We are foolish to believe we can have faith without doing the work.
- James again used examples to show what he was talking about.
- James again summarized what he had been discussing.
Devotions in Living Out Our Faith series
James closed Chapter 2 by summarize what he had been talking about and using examples. Let’s take a look.
Let's Put It into Context #1
Here is a running list of nuggets for the series.
Let's Put It into Context #2
“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” (Jas. 2: 18 ESV)
Throughout the first two chapters of his book, James focused on two things: faith and works. “So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead” (Jas. 2: 17 ESV).
James knew there was a connection between faith and works. That connection is God. Our faith is in God alone.
If we do our works without faith in God, they are just works. Yes, they may be good works, but they aren’t done to glorify God.
We do the works through faith to show others the character of God.
Belief Is Different from Faith
“You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe — and shudder!” (Jas. 2: 19 ESV)
Believing in God is not enough.
When we put our faith in God, we believe in an unseen Savior. “Jesus said to [Thomas], ‘Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed’” (Jn. 20: 29 ESV).
The demons, on the other hand, see God. They believe Him is real because they lived all we read in Scriptures. They lived the fall from Heaven.
What? They have faith?
No, belief isn’t the same as faith.
I believe the chairs to my dining room table are meant to be sat on. They have four legs, a seat, and a back.
I do not have faith that we won’t go crashing to the ground one day. They have been glued several times but are still broken.
Demons know that God is Sovereign God. Thomas said this. He wrote, “Devils believe in that which is the foundation of all truth, that there is ‘one God.’ The Bible also teaches that they believe in many other things common to our creed; such as the Divinity of Christ and the approaching of a terrible retribution.”
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They choose not to serve Him. They choose to disobey Him.
Thomas reminds us that disciples and devils have totally different outcomes in their works. Disciples experience happiness and hope. Devils experience misery and hopelessness.
Can this belief in God really produce both happiness and misery? Yes.
Think of it this way. God is the focus in both cases.
The problem is that their responses to God is completely opposite.
That is why we keep saying it can’t just be head knowledge. Demons see God, know He is real.
And don’t follow Him.
We have to get it to the heart level where we submit to Him.
Don’t be Foolish
“Do you want to be shown, you foolish person, that faith apart from works is useless?” (Jas. 2: 20 ESV)
We are foolish to believe we can have faith without doing the work.
Yep, James called things as he saw them. He called non-believers foolish people.
Manton told us why he thought they were foolish people. He wrote, “Presumers are either ignorant or inconsiderate.”
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Think about it a second. If non-believers are ignorant of Who God really is, they have a false view. They may think that they are doing right, but they aren’t.
If they are inconsiderate, they are mistaken. They make a conscious choice to not follow God because they think they are above Him and do not have to listen to Him.
Two Examples
“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?” (Jas. 2: 21-25 ESV)
James again used examples to show what he was talking about.
The Jews made a big deal out of being Abraham’s children. That is understandable since the original covenant was made with Abraham.
What the Jews missed was that the covenant was made with Abraham because of his faith in God.
Abraham showed this faith by leaving his homeland and following God’s directions to go to a place where He would show him (Gen. 12: 1). He wasn’t told to go to Canaan. He was just told to go.
Go on faith. Faith that God would take care of him. That God would provide.
Abraham went, and God did.
God provided for Abraham because he put feet to his faith.
Manton talked about honoring and justifying our faith by works. He told us what this entails.
- Loyalty
- Attitude
- Wisdom
- Thankfulness
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Bengel told us why following God in faith is so hard. He wrote, “Our natural disposition with regard to spiritual exercises is a compound of indolence, coldness, and faint-heartedness; therefore we need continually to be stirred up, chafed, and animated by the Word of God and by prayer.”
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Our sinful nature is so opposite to what God wants that sin must be cut out of us. It will not be an easy makeover.
Abraham was sincere in his submission to God, so that he was called a friend of God.
To me, that seems amazing. God is Sovereign God. He is also our Father.
That is two positions of authority over us. Yet, He wants to be our friend. He wants our communication with Him to be at that level.
What level is that? A peaceful level.
Think about the level of assurance that gives us. We personally know that God will provide for us when we put our faith in Him.
Well, Jesus called us friends, too. “Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends” (Jn. 15: 13 ESV).
Just because it is called friendship doesn’t mean that it makes us equal with God and Jesus. We are still their subordinates.
We can only have this friendship with Sovereign God and our Savior when we are reconciled to them. That means that we have ABCDed.
The ABCDs of Salvation
If you have not become a believer in Christ, please read through the
Plan of Salvation and prayerfully consider what God is asking you to do.
A – admit our sins
B – believe His Son Jesus is our Redeemer
C – confess God as Sovereign Lord
D – demonstrate that commitment by making any changes needed in our lives to live the way in which God has called us
The Disciple’s Job Description
The relationship is only because of God’s mercy. God’s mercy is an act of sovereign will that produces an unexpected and undeserved response from God as He responds in love to our needs.
James also used Rahab as an example. Rahab was the prostitute who saved the spies that were checking out the Promised Land. Eventually, she became the grandmother of King David.
I know. We think it is unusual for God to use such an obvious sinner.
But God did use her and does use us.
Spurgeon made a good point. Rahab wasn’t instructed by her parents to have faith. Yet when she was introduced to God’s power, she began to think.
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We, too, can break away from what we have been taught to follow the true God. Even if we are the worst of sinners, God can use us when we repent.
Why Faith Dies
“For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so also faith apart from works is dead” (Jas. 2: 26 ESV)
James again summarized what he had been discussing.
Arnot said something interesting. He wrote, “The covenant of mercy, although framed before the fall, was revealed after it.”
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God didn’t extend His mercy to us until we needed it. If Adam and Eve would have chosen to follow God, they would not have needed His mercy – the mercy that God uses to reconcile us to Himself.
Making the Connections
Look what Spurgeon said. He wrote, “Faith is to credit contradictions, and to believe impossibilities, when Jehovah’s word is to the front. If you and I can do this, then we can enter into friendship with God, but not else; for distrust is the death of friendship.”
Spurgeon also said, “If we are to be the friends of God, there must be a conformity of heart, and will, and design, and character to God.”
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Faith is above the confusing and the impossible. We have to totally believe. Then, we, too, are friends of God.
How Do We Apply This?
- Consistently fulfill the requirements of our faith in God today.
- Don’t think that faith in God can just be knowing of His existence — submit to His Will.
- Don’t think that faith in God can just be believing He will do what He says He will do.
- Be filled with God’s joy.
- Do not question God – obey Him promptly.
- Glorify God in everything we do.
- Pray unceasingly.
- Foster love and gratitude within us.
- Conduct ourselves righteously.
- Have an active faith.
- Understand the connection between faith and works.
- Examine ourselves to grow our faith.
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Father God. Before the foundation of the world, You knew that we would need a Savior. You knew that we would disobey You. Help us to grow more like You through the works You give us to do to build our character. Amen.
What do you think?
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