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PieWriter — On Works and Faith
Published: 2013-02-16 03:15:44 +0000 UTC; Views: 4016; Favourites: 55; Downloads: 0
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James 2:14-26, NKJV [link]14 What does it profit, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can faith save him? 15 If a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food, 16 and one of you says to them, “Depart in peace, be warmed and filled,” but you do not give them the things which are needed for the body, what does it profit? 17 Thus 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 without your works, and I will show you my faith by my works. 19 You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe—and tremble! 20 But do you want to know, O foolish man, that faith without works is dead? 21 Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered Isaac his son on the altar? 22 Do you see that faith was working together with his works, and by works faith was made perfect? 23 And the Scripture was fulfilled which says, “Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.” And he was called the friend of God. 24 You see then that a man is justified by works, and not by faith only.
25 Likewise, was not Rahab the harlot also justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out another way?
26 For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.
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There is a balance between works and faith in Christianity. While it is made clear that Christ is our only way to gain eternal life with God, Christians also seem to forget that our faith calls us to action not for our own good, but for the glory of God and for the betterment of our fellow humans; they even seem hostile to people who encourage them to do some form of good works. There are also, sadly, many Christians who are deceived into thinking that they are better than others simply because they donate more money, and then make sure that mere faith is not enough to save them.
However, Peter and Paul had strong faith in Christ and helped the early Church grow through their actions. Even today they are an inspiration! Because of their faith, their works had true meaning and potential; because of their works, they were able to grow in their faith in God and spread that wonder to others.
Faith and works go hand in hand, and both are needed to have a genuine, growing, truly loving, relationship with our Creator and to forever be with Him in Heaven.
Peace be with you.
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Also, note that I am not saying that people who are not Christians are wasting their time volunteering and doing other charities; I mean, the people they are helping are certainly benefiting, and I love it when I see non-Christians doing God's Will. Without faith, the good works that non-believers do are in themselves good, but they are not meritorious.
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Related Deviations:
Grace and works, condemnation and conviction: [link]
Faith and Works: Introduction: [link]
Faith and Works: Love: [link]
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If you think there is another deviation that I could list here related to faith and works (including one you made yourself), feel free to send me a link and let me know.
Related content
Comments: 16
My instant thought:
Red: Jack Chick
Blue: Jack Chick's idea of Catholics
Neither: right
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I had to look up Jack Chick to know what you were talking about.
I threw up a little :s
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Wow, Jack Chick is just annoying.. :/
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Works without faith are useless.. but the second guy talks like he has faith, since he mentions Christ.
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I added the "I'm a shining example of Christ" for them both as a sarcastic note to their misguided beliefs. He mentions that everything he has to do must be perfect and he has to make sure other people know about his "good works", both of which are not Christ-like. Yes, we must work as good as we can, but it is not necessary to let the world know about it and one certainly can not work into Heaven alone.
I hope that makes sense.
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ok, I understand now
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Also, note that I am not saying that people who are not Christians are wasting their time volunteering and doing other charities; I mean, the people they are helping are certainly benefiting, and I love it when I see non-Christians doing God's Will. However, works are useless to themselves as individuals as it will not gain them anything in the long term and it does nothing for their soul.
Perhaps the vocabulary you're looking for here is that 'without faith, the good works that non-believers do are in themselves good, but they are not meritorious.'
So the atheist who clothes the poor may very well love the poor, and without examining his interior life he may be doing an authentically good act. But the act he does has no merit, because he does not include grace in his works. Now, God gives all of us grace, and all of it is unmerited--it is a gift. But as a gift it must be received, accepted, and acted upon. The atheist, for example, who does good works but does not respond to grace only does objective good. He does not necessarily do an act of merit in the spiritual sense since the Spirit is not a part of him as he acts.
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That's what I meant, yes. 
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