Faith produces good works

BY Argie Simonis

 "Even so faith, if it has not works, is dead, being alone." James 2:17 

Just as the air we breathe saves us from death, the same way faith works according to James. The air is what saves us, but we are the ones who have to breathe it.

So faith is what saves us,

"Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law." Rom. 3:28 

"For by grace are you saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God"  Eph. 2:8 

but true and genuine faith must have actions to be alive. Acting according to our faith is like breathing. This is what makes faith come alive and enables it to produce and bring to the natural realm what exists in the "invisible", the spiritual realm.

Keep on reading:

"You believe that there is one God; you do well: the devils also believe, and tremble." James 2:19

This I believe is one of the most sarcastic statements in the Bible. If you believe in the existence of the one and true God, you are doing well, but you have done nothing more than what the demons have done, who know very well who God is and that He exists. But the demons are not saved. All their actions are against the Lordship of Jesus. They are completely antichrist.

What distinguishes us, believers in Christ, from the devil and his demons is that our actions correspond to our faith in the Lord. In other words, our actions are the fruit of our faith in the Lord. James tries to explain this here by saying that "faith, if it has not works, is dead, being alone."

Simply acknowledging the existence of God without corresponding acts of submission to His Lordship puts us in the same category as the devil and his demons. Hell will be full of people who have acknowledged the Father and Jesus, but who have never acted on that faith in humble submission.

Amen!