Living faith
Now someone may argue, “Some people have faith; others have good deeds.” But I say, “How can you show me your faith if you don’t have good deeds? I will show you my faith by my good deeds.” You say you have faith, for you believe that there is one God. Good for you! Even the demons believe this, and they tremble in terror. How foolish! Can’t you see that faith without good deeds is useless? Don’t you remember that our ancestor Abraham was shown to be right with God by his actions when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? You see, his faith and his actions worked together. His actions made his faith complete. James 2:18-22
During the Reformation, there was a realization that one is justified by faith alone. This is what the apostle Paul understood after he placed his faith in what Christ had accomplished on the cross; the only way to be saved and made righteous before God. “This Good News tells us how God makes us right in his sight. This is accomplished from start to finish by faith. As the Scriptures say, “It is through faith that a righteous person has life”” (Romans 1:17). It is impossible to be made right with God without placing one’s faith in Christ. “And it is impossible to please God without faith” (Hebrews 11:6). Faith in Christ is the essence of Christianity. But genuine faith in God should be followed with actions. This is what God is telling His followers through the Book of James. Real faith is rooted in the willingness to obey God manifested in the way Christians live their life. When people in Antioch saw how the followers of Christ live their lives and proudly identified themselves belonging to Christ they called them “Christians.” “It was at Antioch that the believers were first called Christians” (Acts 11:26). If you have placed your faith in Christ, you are expected by God that your relationship with Him be manifested in your actions. Once you do this, you provide the people around you a visible evidence of what Christ does to a person’s life once surrendered to His Lordship. “Faith shows the reality of what we hope for; it is the evidence of things we cannot see” (Hebrews 11:1). What faith does in the life of a believer is that it shows what living in the Kingdom of God looks like and how God accomplishes His plan of reconciling people back to Him. Today, ask God to help you that you will not just claim you have faith in God but by your actions prove that He is alive in your life.
Blessings,