Faith & Works - Part II: Without Works

Archived on Feburary, 2001

Part Two: Without works, Faith is dead.
For this second part of "Faith & Works", I want you to turn to the Book of James, we are going to stay in this Book of James and look at how Faith is dead without works. So open your Bibles to Chapter 2 of this book and let's start diggin'.

James 2:1 My brethren, have not the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, with respect of persons.
Some of the organizations today in the Religious Community would do well to take heed to this! Don't do good to only those you want to, true Christian love knows no boundaries.

James 2:2 For if there come unto your assembly a man with a gold ring, in goodly apparel, and there come in also a poor man in vile raiment;
James 2:3 And ye have respect to him that weareth the gay clothing, and say unto him, Sit thou here in a good place; and say to the poor, Stand thou there, or sit here under my footstool:
James 2:4 Are ye not then partial in yourselves, and are become judges of evil thoughts?
The expression here, "..judges of evil thoughts.", means to judge someone according to man's thinking and not God. You must judge with righteous judgement, according to the Word, then and only then is it righteous. If you deal with people according to their dress, or position in society, then we have allowed bad thoughts and unrighteous judgement into our heart, and have committed sin, yes that's right! Read on.

James 2:5 Hearken, my beloved brethren, Hath not God chosen the poor of this world rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom which he hath promised to them that love him?
Indeed he has!

James 2:6 But ye have despised the poor. Do not rich men oppress you, and draw you before the judgment seats?
James 2:7 Do not they blaspheme that worthy name by the which ye are called?
James 2:8 If ye fulfil the royal law according to the scripture, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself, ye do well:
James 2:9 But if ye have respect to persons, ye commit sin, and are convinced of the law as transgressors.
Why is it possible that we commit sin, simply by having respect of person? Remember, Matthew 22:39 And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
This is the response that Jesus gave to those who asked Him what the greatest commandment was. He said the first was to Love our Father(v.37) and the second is to love your neighbor. He simplified the commandments by doing this, it is all based on love. To Love the Father, we cover the first five, To love our neighbor, we cover the last five. Let's continue in James...

James 2:10 For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all. James 2:11 For he that said, Do not commit adultery, said also, Do not kill. Now if thou commit no adultery, yet if thou kill, thou art become a transgressor of the law. James 2:12 So speak ye, and so do, as they that shall be judged by the law of liberty. If you break one commandment, you have broken them all, for you have not loved. That is that law of liberty. We should strive to walk in love, for if we do not...

James 2:13 For he shall have judgment without mercy, that hath shewed no mercy; and mercy rejoiceth against judgment.
Judge without mercy, and ye shall be judged accordingly. Now with that, we are going to get further into this Faith and Works. These last verses were setting us up to understand all about our works and how it compliments faith..

James 2:14 What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works? can faith save him?
What good is it brothers! If you say you have faith but don't show it? By showing mercy and kindness toward your neighbor.

James 2:15 If a brother or sister be naked, and destitute of daily food,
James 2:16 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?
If someone comes to you asking for help, and you say "Oh, Jesus loves you, now go in peace" and then send them away, what good is that? Do you think they will love Jesus? That is highly unlikely, but if you help them and give them what they need in Yahshua's name, now that's a witness!

James 2:17 Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone.
James 2:18 Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works.
And so, without works, your faith is in vain, for it does not help anyone and you have committed sin. Yet show your faith by what you do, how you treat people, your neighbor and then you will not be ashamed in the day of Judgement.

James 2:19 Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble.
James 2:20 But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead?
Even satan and his ministers believe and know that God is real, they tremble at his presence and the thought of what he can do to them and will do. So, just because you believe, does that make your belief better? No, without those works, your belief is like that of satan.

James 2:21 Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar?
James 2:22 Seest thou how faith wrought with his works, and by works was faith made perfect?
James 2:23 And the scripture was fulfilled which saith, Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness: and he was called the Friend of God.
James 2:24 Ye see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only.
Father Abraham, showed that he loved God, by doing something to prove it! He was willing to sacrifice Isaac, oh how Abrham must love our Father, that would be a hard thing to do, yet Abraham had Isaac bound and ready for sacrfice when God provided a lamb in Isaac's place. An example of what was to happen with our Father offering His Son, The Lamb.

James 2:25 Likewise also was not Rahab the harlot justified by works, when she had received the messengers, and had sent them out another way?
James 2:26 For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.
Here is another example of religion being Reality! Rahab helped Joshua's spies(Josh. 2:1-7) get out of dodge, so to speak. She did something that set her apart from those others in the city. Yes, faith without works is dead! What does it mean by being dead? It's kind of like owning a car but not driving it anywhere, it just sits there. If you have faith, but do not exercise that faith, it is kind of selfish, and helps noone but you. Without works, you won't have many treasures waiting for you in heaven, and your robe will be kind of holey, and I don't mean Holy. As it is written in Revelation Chapter 19, Our garments are made from our righteous acts, so exercise your faith and be clothed in a magnificent robe of righteousness! In Christ's love, Carl Towns.

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Part II