James 2:26 As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.
Have you met people who just seem dead on the inside, lacking purpose, love or seemingly life itself? You look in their eyes and they seem empty. When you talk with them it is as though they were a balloon and someone untied the knot. It is only a matter of time before it completely deflates.
These people need to be encouraged. We need to pass along the courage we have received and help them accept the courage being offered to them. But so many of them just want to sit and melt away.
Our text in James comes at the end of a section dealing with the kind of faith that is able to receive the grace God has already provided. So many people who claim to be Jesus followers lack something essential. They lack what makes faith a faith that matches with the ideal of Biblical faith.
The missing element that James focuses on is the presence of actions that accompany that faith. Faith must be put into action. It can not be passive. It must be active.
James focuses on an argument that must have been active in his community. There was a debate between those who emphasized faith and those who emphasized deeds/actions. It is as though they saw these things as being disconnected from each other.
But James shows that these two are vitally connected. In fact, James would say, not only that they are connected, but that the kind of faith that saves is a faith that gets worked out in our actions. We can’t say we believe and not have actions that match our faith.
Many people today say they have come to faith in Jesus, but their lives just don’t change. They stay the same, have the same priorities, do the same things. Their lives aren’t being transformed by the power and moving of the Holy Spirit.
It is these type of people that James writes to in these verse. Saving faith must lead to changes in our actions. We must “be holy” as He is holy.
In our day and age we desperately need Christians to live their faith daily, mirroring the life of Christ in this world. The world has enough people living by its standards and moral values. Just take a look around and see the affect of this selfish, destructive, hedonistic mindset. Lord, help us.
But He has helped us. He makes it possible for these same hedonistic people to be transformed by the power of God into people who serve others in love. They get transformed as they yield to His moving in their lives. It is His power that changes us.
We must be willing to allow change to take place. We must be willing to let go of things, and attitudes, and allow new to replace the old. We are active in this process. He won’t overrule our will.
Faith that lacks the matching action is like that balloon, empty of its power. All the air has been let out. It is empty.
And so many people seem to have empty faith today. Their faith lacks power, because they aren’t putting their faith into practice. They are content to be empty, shells of Christians.
But I want others who are filled with God’s power, the power that changes us from the inside out. And that change works its way out in the way we live, interact with others and impact our world. I want radically active Christians in this world.
The Arnold Journey 