Tuesday, May 16, 2017, 8:33 a.m. – The Lord Jesus put in mind the song “Have Thine Own Way, Lord.” Speak, Lord,
your words to my heart. I read James
2:14-26 (ESV).
Dead Faith (vv.
14-17)
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.
I believe there are two types
of faith. One is human faith, and another is God-given faith. God-given faith,
which is the kind necessary for salvation, is divinely persuaded as to God’s
will for our lives, and if persuaded, and originating in God, it then conforms
to God’s holiness and righteousness, because it is supernatural (of God), not
natural (of human origin).
Many people today are
presenting the gospel of salvation in such a way that the faith they describe
as necessary for salvation is human faith, not God-given faith, because they
teach that God requires no repentance, no obedience, and no submission to
Christ and his cross. They are being taught that all they have to do is believe
that Jesus took their place on a cross, that he died for their sins, and that
he took their punishment for sin so that they could escape hell and have the
promise of heaven when they die. But, they are not being taught that Jesus died
that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. The prayer they pray for
salvation is more like just a thank you to Jesus for what he did, but without
confession or repentance of sin, and without turning to God to walk in obedience
to Christ and his Word.
And, this is what James is
addressing here, I believe. If we say we have faith in Jesus Christ (in God),
but our lifestyles speak the opposite, then do we truly have God-given faith? Or,
is it human faith, which acknowledges only what Jesus did for us, but does not
bow to Christ, nor does it feel it has to? If we say we believe in Jesus, and
in his sacrificial death on a cross for our sins, then it should make a
difference in our lives, shouldn’t it? If it doesn’t, then what good is the
faith? James gives the illustration here of seeing someone truly in need and
yet not lifting a finger to help. If all we do is tell them to go in peace, but
we do nothing to help, what good is that? He says, then, that in the same way
if our faith is not followed (accompanied) by works (not of the flesh, but of
the Spirit), it is thus dead (useless) faith.
Genuine Faith
(vv. 18-26)
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.
Hebrews 11 is considered the “faith”
chapter of the Bible. In nearly every account in that chapter it describes
someone’s faith much like this: By faith he (fill in the name) did (something).
Abel offered a sacrifice acceptable to God, and Noah, in reverent fear, constructed
an ark for the saving of his household, as God had commanded him to do. Abraham
obeyed when he was called of God to go to a place he was to receive as an
inheritance, even though he did not know where he was going. By faith Moses considered
the reproach of Christ greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt; by faith he
kept the Passover and sprinkled the blood, etc. And, by faith the people
crossed the Red Sea on dry land, and the list goes on (See: Heb. 11).
And, by faith in Jesus Christ,
and in what he did for us in dying on a cross for our sins, so that we could
escape hell, be delivered from slavery to sin and have eternal life with God, we
willingly die with Christ to sin. We are crucified with Christ in death to sin,
and we are resurrected with Christ to newness of life, created to be like God
in true righteousness and holiness. We leave our old lives of sin behind us,
and we turn to follow Jesus Christ with our lives in obedience to him and to
his Word. If we say we have fellowship with God, though, but we walk (in lifestyle)
in darkness (sin), we lie, and we do not live by the truth (See: Lu. 9:23-25; Jn.
6:35-66; Acts 26:16-18; Ro. 6:1-23; Ro. 8:1-14; Gal. 2:20; Eph. 4:17-24; 1 Jn.
1:6).
So, God-given faith is
inseparable from corresponding action (works of the Spirit). It is not enough
to just believe with human or with intellectual or even with emotional faith generated
in oneself. James said that even the demons believe in the existence of the ONE
true God, and that they even shudder. And, that is because they know God exists
because he created them, and because they used to be angels in heaven. But,
that belief was not enough, because they still rebelled against God and became
demons.
It is true that we can do
nothing to earn or to deserve our own salvation, and it is only by God’s grace
that we are saved, through faith, and this not of ourselves for it is a gift of
God, not of works lest anyone should boast (Eph. 2:8-9). Yet, we are God’s
workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared
beforehand, that we should walk in them (v. 10). If we walk according to the
flesh, we will die in our sins, but if by the Spirit we are putting to death
the deeds of the flesh, we will live with Christ for eternity (Ro. 8:1-14; cf. Lu.
9:23-25). So, faith is active along with works (of the Spirit), and faith is
completed by such works. So, as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so also
faith apart from works is dead.
Have Thine Own Way, Lord
Adelaide A. Pollard / George C.
Stebbins
Have Thine own way, Lord! Have Thine
own way!
Thou art the potter, I am the clay.
Mold me and make me after Thy will,
While I am waiting, yielded and still.
Have Thine own way, Lord! Have Thine
own way!
Search me and try me, Master, today!
Whiter than snow, Lord, wash me just
now,
As in Thy presence humbly I bow.
Have Thine own way, Lord! Have Thine
own way!
Wounded and weary, help me I pray!
Power, all power, surely is Thine!
Touch me and heal me, Savior divine!
Have Thine own way, Lord! Have Thine
own way!
Hold o'er my being absolute sway.
Fill with Thy Spirit till all shall see
Christ only, always, living in me!
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