James 2:14 What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works? can faith save him? Vs.15 If a brother or sister be naked, and destitute of daily food, Vs. 16 And one of you say unto them, Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled; notwithstanding ye give them not those things which are needful to the body; what doth it profit? Vs. 17 Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone. First this does not mean, help them but only if they belong to your church, or they are the ones giving to the church. This means even those who are not in the church or even in the faith!! Wow!!! How many times has a person called or told us, I need prayer, or I have a family member who needs prayer. How many times had our response been, ok we will pray, then we hang up or walk away to some other task or person? Is this faith with works? If it is then it is completely dead. 100% void. We are told to be instant, in season and out. In other words, even if you are in a slump or battle our self, you reach out and respond to this need. Maybe you learn that there is a family who are struggling to put food on the table, you say well we will pray for them. Is this not what James is talking about.? Now, I am getting greedy to step on some religious toes. All I can say is, get your toes out of the way! Are you ready? We are not justified by faith alone but also by works!! Let me say that again, we are not justified by faith alone, but by our works. I know I am going to hear about this statement! There are some that are saying right now, “wait a minute Brother,” the bible says, “not by works of righteousness which we have done but according to His mercy He saved us.” (Tit 3:5 Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost; ) Absolutely. It is by His mercy He SAVED us. There is nothing we could do to deserve the sacrifice He paid, when all of us know that we deserved every stripe and bruise He took on His body. However, James is not talking about salvation, he is talking to a church and explaining to them how they should behave and function as a body of believers!! I know there are still some who are saying, that I=has nothing to do with works. Will you listen to a disciple of our Lord, will you hear from one of His own apostles? Look at James 2:24. ( let me say this first. The bible is not to be given to personal interpretations. In other words if the scripture goes against what our religious up bringing has taught us, don’t ignore it or try to find a different meaning. Yes the word of God meets us where we are in our maturity and in our need at the time. There are scriptures I read a s anew Christian that helped this baby in Christ through the trials. I read the same thing today and I see deeper hidden gems laying within the same passage that I did not see at the time). James 2:24, “ Ye see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only.” Some will say, oh that’s to much for me to swallow, well, “spit it out and take a smaller bite”. In Jesus’ parable of the ten virgins, (Brother, why do you always go there? Because it is a parable about the end times and the rapture of the church and that is where we are, some one should be teaching it!”) The five foolish were not backslidden any more than the church in Ephesus. The five worshiped ministered and traveled with the other five. They had, like the church in Ephesus, lost their first love. If faith without works are dead why? Because the bible tells us that Faith works by LOVE. Gal. 5:6For in Jesus Christ neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision; but faith which worketh by love. Now in verse 18-20 James says a man may say, Thou hast faith and I have works ( saying isn’t that going to balance itself then). Then James says, show me thy faith without your works and I will show you my faith with my works. Lets compare them and see what happens in other words. He goes on and says, yes you believe God is real (paraphrasing) then he says so do the devils believe there is a God, and they tremble! James says, you need to know that faith without works is dead. It is no good and void. Look at 1 Corinthians 13 to back this up. Verse 2 And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not love, I am nothing. You see faith works by love and love alone. If the love of God is truly shed abroad in our hearts, then we will add the ministry of works with our faith. We will not serve in just word alone. We as a body of Christ will stand out because we put action, true love to work in our faith. How do you reach the masses, faith with works. Why because that is what love does. It motivates the faith that we have and helps us put it to work. Do you know how the believers came to be called Christians? It is because the people in the area could not fathom and comprehend the way that they loved every one and they backed up their words with actions. Its true. So they called them Christians the only tag they could think of to describe what they observed. THEY WILL KNOW WE ARE CHRISTIANS BY OUR LOVE. Father, in Jesus name I repent for my lack of true love. I ask forgiveness for my faith that was dead because there were no works motivated by love. I ask that You would shed the love of God in my heart. That this love would grow and reach out to others to show them the love of God and that my works no longer be dead, in Jesus’ name
Posted on: Tue, 27 Aug 2013 20:40:47 +0000
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