Faithbase

What is faith? No one says it better, more clearly, more directly than James, the book of James, and I want to read a section of that to you right now. We'll be in this for a couple days here because it's so poignant and gives us something to really wrestle with. Here it is. 2.14, you can read it below. What good is it, dear brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but don't show it by your actions? Can that kind of faith save anyone? Suppose you see a brother or sister who has no food or clothing and you say goodbye and have a good day, stay warm and eat well, but then you don't give that person any food or clothing. What good does that do? So you see, faith by itself isn't enough. Unless it produces good deeds, it is dead and useless. Now, someone may argue, some people have faith, others have good deeds, but I say, how can you show me your faith if you don't have good deeds? I will show you my faith by my good deeds. You say you have faith, for you believe that there is one God. Good for you. Even the demons believe this and they tremble in terror. How foolish can't you see that faith without good deeds is useless? I don't normally read the whole Scripture, but man, this is just so hard-hitting. James just goes straight for the logic and he says, this doesn't make any sense. How can faith even be called faith if there is no good deed or action or response from it? This is not a contradiction to salvation by faith alone. No, James is clarifying what faith is, the fundamental definition of faith, and he's saying, listen, faith is not just believing. It can't be because the demons believe. In fact, the demons know and they tremble in terror. So, what's the difference? Faith is belief and response. Response, obviously, in the positive, that it is true and that we ought to follow and live out the way that Jesus guides us. Faith is trust demonstrated. Faith is acting on what one says is true. Again, we're gonna take a hard look. Faith, how is it changing your life? How is it changing your behavior? We did a whole series on love. As I was been thinking about this conversation we're in, I always go back to love. Is love demonstrated in our life? Paul says, you can speak with the tongues of angels, but if you don't love, then you're nothing. Well, okay, we're having a very similar conversation here. Love is a demonstration. What is love? Well, you can go watch that series. But, friends, faith needs to have a response. In fact, that's what faith is. Faith is a response to what we believe to be true. Sit with this in prayer. Peace.