What Good Is It?

What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him? Faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead. As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead. (James 2:14, 17, 24, NI 1984).

My Musings – Many who proclaim a saving faith in Christ are not saved. “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.” (Matthew 7:21, NIV 1984). That is not to say that works is a prerequisite to saving faith. Rather, works is evidence that faith has saved.

Saying one has faith, “confess[ing] with [their] mouth” is insufficient to save. One must also “believe in [their] heart.” (Romans 10:9, NIV 1984). What one says with their mouth is easy to recognize. So too should what one believes in their heart. “Make a tree [heart] good and its fruit will be good, or [leave] a tree [heart] bad and its fruit will be bad, for a tree [heart] is recognized by its fruit.” (Matthew 12:33, NIV 1984).

My Advice – “The Lord says: ‘These people come near to me with their mouth and honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.'” (Isaiah 29:13, NIV 1984). Deeds do not result in saving faith, but faith should result in deeds. But make certain that your deeds are not merely outward performance but are the result of a genuine transformance of the heart.

Author: thebrewisamusing

I was raised in a Christian family and my earliest childhood memories include regular Sunday school and Church attendance as a family. I was taught that our Judeo-Christian values were not just a part of our Sunday routine they should be part of our character and influence all aspects of our lives. I was also taught that as important as these values were they could not save us. We must also be “born again” by accepting Christ. View all posts by thebrewisamusing