Putting our Faith to Work.
(ESV) James 2:14 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 is that? 17 So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. 18 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.
I am a woman of faith, but I recognized the truth of this scripture before I was even aware of the scripture itself. As Christ followers, we are called to be not just the face of Jesus, but to allow our hands to do the work of Jesus. The spirit most certainly needs the bread of life, but when the body is hungry or cold, should we not take care of the physical needs first?
Faith and works must go hand in hand to accomplish all that we have been given to do. Paul says in Eph 2:8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast. 10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.
James was not trying to replace faith with works, but instead was showing that works were the result of our salvation. If I am asked upon entering heaven why I should be allowed entrance, God forbid that I say anything other than “Jesus.”
It is Christ who came for us, Christ who showed us how to live, Christ who died for us, and Christ who obliges us to live a holy life. In 2 Corinthians 5 we are told to be ambassadors for Christ. Why? Because Christ’s love compels us.
May we live today in the light, or knowledge, we have been given—that a life transformed by salvation will result in putting our faith to work.
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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Seeking Holiness 