James 2:14-17

14 What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? 15 If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, 16 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[b] is that? 17 So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.

Familiar with this passage in scripture?  If  you’ve been a Christian for sometime, I’m pretty sure you have come across it. It’s one of the most controversial verses and often misunderstood in all of scripture. Verses like this tend to divide Christians and we build walls and pick our sides.  In fact this verse was actually hated by Martin Luther, the leader of the Protestant Reformation. Remember him? He was the one who broke off from the Catholic Church because of his studies of the Bible and what he found. What he discovered was that salvation is only through faith alone and not by good works.  He didn’t know what to do with this verse in James.  He hated it so much, he wanted the whole book removed from the Canon of scripture. It’s understandable how he felt because this verse is very contradicting. After all the apostle Paul tells us in Ephesians “it is by faith you have been saved not by works.” So what in the darn hill is James smoking? Why does he seem to contradict Paul?  The typical response you get from some Christian commentaries is that James was talking about a genuine faith.  They will cite Paul in Ephesians 2 stating that we are God’s workmanship created to do good works that He’s prepared for us in advance.  Then they’ll tell us that a real Christian displays good works. Therefore, if you claim you are a Christian and aren’t displaying good works then clearly you aren’t a Christian. So, the problem I have with this, is that right away the gospel just went from Jesus doing all the work for our salvation and giving us the gift of salvation, to now your eternal salvation hangs in the balance based on your performance in proving the validity of your faith. Wow, what happened to it being a gift? Can you imagine when you were a kid if your parents gave you a bicycle for your birthday. “Happy birthday enjoy your gift, we love you!”.  You’re all excited to play with your gift. You play with it everyday. Then suddenly your parents give you the credit card bill for the bike. It’s still your bike but you still have to do something to prove ownership of your bike. If you really want to keep it they say. I mean what parents would do something like that? But we humans live in a world where that’s what’s expected. Nothing really is for free. You got to earn your success. But God says eternal life is a free gift but we have a tough time accepting that and we call it “easy believism”.  We flip the script and tell everyone if you’re really a child of God you better be doing some good works or else it’s not really your gift. Ever since I first encountered James, I too have wrestled with this verse. I agree that it’s a “faith alone but not a faith alone” but where I differ with some Christians is the reasoning behind why God wants a faith that’s accompanied by works. In my studies over the years I’ve come to the conclusion that the reason we activate our faith is not so we that can prove we’re going to heaven. It’s not a bragging right for Christians. I persevered, therefore I’m a good Christian, and Jesus will definitely let me into heaven. No, its actually not that at all. Let me explain.  In the letter that James is writing, he is writing to people who are already believers in Jesus. These believers are being  dispersed all throughout.  In other words,they are being persecuted for their faith in Jesus. They are suffering, yet James encourages them to persevere by considering it pure joy because of what God is doing in them.  He devotes his whole letter to focus on how believers should live and practice out this faith even during trials. He encourages believers to not fall into temptation and to also tame their tongue. Both things that people struggle with when going through trying circumstances. James also points out what some of them were actually doing because of their suffering. They were trying to provide for their needs by showing favoritism towards rich people. Instead of loving on the poor and needy, they were only focusing all their love and attention on those who were wealthy. But James reprimands them. In fact, James reminds them pure religion is loving the widows and orphans. You see, when one gives to the widows and orphans or the poor, they can’t give you anything back. The believers were suffering and some were trying to meet their needs by looking after those that could pay them back. That’s not really trusting in God is it? So, when James tells them to have a faith that is expressed in works because that will save him, he is talking about a different kind of salvation. Just because the Bible uses the word “saved” or “salvation “, we automatically want to think it means eternal salvation. But there are several times in scripture where the word “saved” is used as a temporal salvation. For example, David crying out in the Psalms for God to save him from his enemies. So, in the context of James, a letter to believers who are already eternally saved, James is urging them to publicly express this faith but the salvation is for a temporal salvation.  He gives an illustration of a poor person asking for help and getting none. What a useless, dead faith he says. How can this faith save that poor person in their time of need and how can that faith save the believer in their temporal needs as well? Do you see it? James is not talking about eternal salvation but a temporal salvation. Pay attention to this part carefully. When we activate our faith in obedience, we don’t do it to prove that we are truly saved, by no means! We do it so that GOD CAN PROVE THAT HE SAVES. God wants to so badly publicly display his salvation to His people and to others but He wants His people to step out in faith through obedience so that He can reveal His plan of salvation. Think about it. When a Christian who is faced with an opportunity to give of their resources to help someone, they are in essence trusting that God will temporarily save that person and also temporarily save themselves by meeting their financial needs as well. It takes faith to give up of your time, resources and talents for God’s kingdom to those who can’t repay you. Your only hope is in God saving you. That’s the faith and salvation James is talking about. He gives us an example of Abraham. Abraham trusted that God had a plan to save him in his situation. He didn’t know how but he believed God would save his son from being killed. He did not know why but he believed God and activated his faith by climbing up the mountain to sacrifice his only son. Abraham’s faith and works set God up to showcase His saving power. God did just that, sending His angels and sparing his son by providing him a ram instead. James also gives an illustration of Rahab the prostitute. Rahab was not a saint, in fact she was still practicing her livelihood when she first met the Israelite spies. Yet, she activated her faith in the God of Israel and displayed her faith by hiding the spies from being killed that day. Through the demonstration of her faith, she put God in a position to then display His salvation first to the spies that day and then later when He rescued her family from being killed by the Israelites when they eventually attacked her city.  Is it making sense now? James is encouraging believers who are already eternally saved to activate their faith so the God of salvation can prove He loves to daily save people in their time of need. And when we obey God we are trusting God to save us also in our time of need. That’s all James is saying. But when James throws in words like dead faith, words like saved, and useless faith like a demon, people get confused and think James is talking about your eternal salvation. James is just saying activate your faith. Don’t let it be useless like a demon faith. He’s just using an extreme analogy that’s all. He’s not saying you’re going to hell like a demon if you’re not doing works along with your faith. He never says that but that’s what people assume. I think about our faith this way. Our faith is not always active. Sometimes our faith is dead and sometimes it’s alive. When you are on Facebook and you see the ad from the Salvation Army to donate to the hurricane relief fund and you decide to continue to scroll down, ignoring it, your faith is dead at that moment. In that moment you have chosen not to activate it. It’s like a car that just sits in your driveway. Our faith is a gift from God and like a brand new car it is just waiting for us to drive it. There will be times we don’t drive it but it doesn’t mean it’s not there. So it is with our faith. God wants it not to stay in the driveway and be useless but God wants us to put the key in the ignition and turn it on. We are always eternally saved by a faith alone. But as believers, we get to practice our faith publicly so God can publicly make known His everyday salvation to others and to us. God loves to save people. Whether it’s eternal salvation or temporal such as saving someone from hunger and giving a poor person a meal.  I know this is a different outlook on this verse but when you see it this way, isn’t it liberating? Doesn’t it take the pressure off of us to save our souls? Our response to God is obedience but it’s not so we can prove we are truly saved, it’s all so God can prove that He truly saves.  So, the next time you’re struggling financially but you know of someone who just lost their job, activate your faith and give. Trust God to meet the needs of those you are giving to and expect Him, to rescue you in your time of need. Remember, God is in the business of saving, our part is to be that vehicle that He uses to do so. The more we activate our faith, the more we will get to experience God’s amazing love and plan of salvation He has for others and in our lives as well. Hey, I get it, not every believer will agree with me on this and my intentions are not to divide or win any debate. My encouragement to you is to activate your faith so God can show you how He will bless you and meet your needs as you allow Him to use you to bless and meet the needs of others. So what are you waiting for?  God has given us a gift, that gift is a shiny new car called faith. Don’t just let it sit in the garage. Show it off. You don’t have to concern yourself so much on how it works, that’s on Him.  All we get is the joy and privilege of participating with Him as we press down on the gas pedal of our faith, following His directions as we head down the narrow road of our salvation.