Topic: Faith without Works?
Memorise: But without faith it is impossible to
please him: for he that cometh
to God must believe that he is, and that he is a
rewarder of them that diligently
seek him. – Hebrews 11:6
Read: ( James 2:14-17 KJV )
14 What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man
say he hath faith, and have
not works? can faith save him?
15 If a brother or sister be naked, and destitute of
daily food,
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?
17 Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead,
being alone.
Bible in One Year:
Jeremiah 49:23-50:46
Acts 26:1-23
MESSAGE:
It is necessary to first establish the fact that the
statement of James that “faith
without works is dead”, applies to the fellow who
knows the gospel of our Lord
Jesus Christ. Such a person knows the facts
about God in the mind, is
persuaded of the truth of the gospel and is in
agreement with Christian
principles. In fact, such a person takes part in
Christian worship, is a church-
goer and believes with all sincerity that he or she
is a true child of God. The
only issue is that such a person fails to commit
to Jesus in a way and manner
that leads to changes in lifestyle. Such people
refuse to allow old things in their
lives to pass away – there is no crossing the line
from darkness to light, there
is no spiritual development or growth and such a
person does not bear the
fruits of righteousness. James 2:17 describes a
person whose faith is dead
because there are no works to show for it. In
Matthew 7:21 , Jesus was
referring to such people when He said.
“Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord
shall enter into the kingdom
of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father
which is in heaven.”
It is very clear therefore that there is a form of
action that must follow any
profession of faith in Christ Jesus before such
faith can be called a living faith.
When profession of faith is not backed up with
action, then such faith is dead.
Many are in the Church today living their lives the
same way as people who do
not know Christ. The Bible in 2 Timothy 3:5a ,
described such people as
“Having a form of godliness, but denying the
power thereof:”
Such people profess faith in the Son of God; they
claim that they believe in the
Gospel of Jesus Christ but they flatly deny the
transforming power in the Word
of God. They would do anything in the Name of
God except allow any genuine
transformation to take place in their lives.
“And be not conformed to this world: but be ye
transformed by the
renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is
that good, and
acceptable, and perfect, will of God.” – Romans
12:2
Children of God, faith without works is dead, and
dead faith is of no use to
anyone. Renew your faith today by backing it up
with active works of
righteousness. Put on the new man who is
renewed in knowledge and
transformed into the image of Christ ( Colossians
3:10 )
Action Point: Faith without works is dead, follow
up your faith with works of
righteousness.
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