Faith That Works: Works

I think my 8 year old son at times truly believes that he is a superhero.  There are times I have observed him playing alone and he is in his own little imaginary world with a sword and a shield battling invisible enemies in the backyard.  He is climbing through the swing set, jumping on the trampoline, or up in the tree house (making light saber sounds) living out a scene from Star Wars.  It is one thing for Zachary to think and say that he is a superhero, it’s a whole other thing for him to actually BE one! 

READ:  James 2:14-26

In a similar way that Zachary says he is a super hero, it is easy for us to say that we have faith in Jesus Christ.  And although it is impossible for Zachary to experience the reality of being a super hero, it is possible for us to experience a life of transformed attitudes, actions, and words through a real faith in Jesus Christ!  Before we dig further into what this means we have to answer a few simple questions . . .

What are faith and works?  1) FAITH = Christian worldview (belief) that a person is saved by grace through Jesus Christ and that He is the Lord (and therefore the leader) of the actions of their life.  2) WORKS = Good attitudes, actions, words (deeds/actions) exhibited by a Christian who is being obedient to the leading of the Holy Spirit.  We are not saved by works, but works are the (super)natural result of a life built on faith in Jesus Christ!

How do works reveal (confirm) the existence of our faith?

1.  Works display that our faith is ALIVE (vs 17, 26) – Before faith in Christ we are dead in our sins and are incapable of doing works that please God (Eph. 2:1-3, Col. 2:13, Rom. 8:5-8).  When we put our faith in Christ we are “reborn”, we are a new creation, we are given a brand new spiritual life (Jn. 3:1-8, 2 Cor. 5:17, Eph. 2:4-5, 10).  It is the good works that come from the leading of the Holy Spirit living inside those who have put faith in Jesus Christ that provide objective evidence that our faith is living and real (Rom. 8:9-11, Gal. 5:16-25)!

2.  Works show the AUTHENTICITY of our faith (vs 18) – Saying we have faith is not a sufficient response for those looking to us for how faith makes a real difference in life.  Even demons believe in God!  Saying we have faith must be accompanied by a tangible, Holy Spirit led, action that benefits others. The good lives we live are the best “proof” we have to show others that we have put faith in Jesus Christ and that He is the Lord of our lives. 

3.  Works is what makes our faith USEFUL (vs 20-25) – Our faith does more than simply give us a new spiritual status (forgiven, heaven).  Our faith begins the process of sanctifying us and restoring our very existence back to the way God originally intended it to be.  The good works of our lives become practical expressions of the glory God created us to enjoy and experience.

For some of us having a living, authentic, and useful faith is only in our imagination.  There are times that we pretend and it may appear that our faith is real, but we know that there is something missing.  In order for our faith to be resurrected from the dead and come alive we simply need to acknowledge that we are a sinner and put our faith in Jesus Christ for forgiveness and commit to making Him the Lord of our lives.  For others, our faith is alive, it’s real, and it is expressing itself through good works.  We must continue being obedient to the Holy Spirit so the world can be eye-witnesses of what a living, authentic and useful faith in Jesus Christ looks like!