Faith and Good Works: A Meditation on James 2, for the 15th Sunday after Pentecost

 

What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and

have not works? can faith save him? If a brother or

sister be naked, and destitute of daily food, And one

of you say unto them, Depart in peace, be ye warmed and

filled; notwithstanding ye give them not those things which

are needful to the body; what doth it profit? Even

so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone.

Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works:

shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee

my faith by my works.

The Epistle of James has troubled many a soul since it’s writing, and that was likely its intent.  St. James writes about various aspects of Christian life, cautioning his readers against an unholy life which can only bring forth death, and having a ridiculous hypocrisy of favoritism toward the rich when earthly riches are all passing away.  When he writes at length about the nature of Faith and Good Works, he concludes his section at the end of chapter two with these haunting and frightening words:

For as the body without the spirit is dead,

so faith without works is dead also.

Many errors in the Church have come about by failing to read St. James properly.  First, it should be noted, that St. James is right.  He was an Apostle, and as such had the seal of the Holy Spirit so as to teach the Word of God rightly.  The Church recognized St. James’ writings for what they were, and included them in the canon of Holy Scripture, thereby putting his inspired writings out for all the faithful to read and believe.  Even if his writings may be hard for us to understand or accept, we ought not try to pull them out of the canon of Scripture, or cast doubts upon the author.  Rather, like all of Scripture, we should learn from it and submit ourselves to it, because it proceeds out from the very Word of God Himself:  Jesus Christ.

Secondly, we must be careful not to pit St. James against St. Paul.  The same Holy Spirit which inspired St. Paul to bear witness to Christ, is the One who inspired St. James to do likewise.  St. Paul and St. James were not at odds with one another, but taught the same body of doctrine given by God through the Old Testament and our Lord Jesus during His earthly ministry.  St. James and St. Paul should be read together as brothers in the same faith, hope, and love which united the whole Apostolic band.

So, without throwing either St. James or St. Paul out the proverbial window, or dreaming up a rivalry between the two, how do we understand this relationship between faith and works?  Precisely by listening to them both in their own words.  St. Paul will teach in Ephesians 2:  “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, ⁹ not of works, lest anyone should boast. ¹⁰ For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.” and St. James will teach that, “faith without works is dead.”  The reconciliation comes in understanding what living, saving faith actually is.

Faith, first and foremost, is a gift from God.  It is not the product of degrees and education, or any other work of mankind (as evidenced by so many wealthy and educated unbelievers in the world, and so many heretics with a wall full of degrees.)  It is not a creation of man, but a gift of God, which clings to God above all things.  It hears God, loves God, obeys God, and lives in God by His grace.  This living, saving faith is a divine gift which comes by divine means, for as St. Paul will also write in Romans 10, “faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God.”  It is God who creates the kind of faith St. Paul is talking about, which brings forth repentance from sins and works the fruit of the Holy Spirit in the lives of all who are born from above by Water and the Spirit.  When St. Paul speaks of saving faith, he speaks of a living thing that gives life to the believer, which cannot do anything but bring forth good works in accordance with the same Word which brought forth this faith.  It is a faith born of grace, which abides in grace, by the power of the Holy Spirit working through the Word of God.  It is a faith which alone receives grace and salvation in Jesus Christ, but a faith which by its own definition is never alone (never without the good works of faith.)

On the other hand, the faith St. James is writing about is not saving faith.  It is something more like theoretical knowledge, or studied opinions.  Such a faith which abides only in the mind and does nothing to transform the whole life of the Christian, is no faith at all—it is a dead, hypocritical, and vain thing.  St. James rightly observes that “Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble.”  The devil and all his accursed fallen angels also fully know who God is, and understand that He exists.  But the devil and the demons cannot love and trust God, because they do not believe that He loves them.  They live under the curse of the Law, knowing God only as Judge.  Such intellectual knowledge will not save them, and it will not save us.  If you share the same vain intellectual faith of the devil, you’ll end up in the same hell with him.

There is no way you can seek out a faith which will save you.  You can’t work yourself into a saving faith, nor can you earn it with a lifetime of merits.  Such faith only comes from God, and it only comes through His Word.  This Word is more than the Word of the Law, which shows us how much more like the devil we are in thought, word and deed—things we’ve done, and things we’ve left undone.  This Word which creates a saving faith in you is the Word of His Holy Gospel:  that Jesus Christ has come to save you, precisely because you could not save yourself.  His great and boundless love for you is manifested in this, that while we were yet sinners, He died for us that our sins might be forgiven.  This Holy Gospel is what comes to us from above, and creates in us a saving faith which loves God for His mercy.  Having imbibed of the wondrous waters of life He gives to us through His merciful grace, out flows from us works of love, mercy, compassion, and grace to all we come in contact with.  The Word of Jesus Christ crucified and risen for you, is the Word which the Spirit uses to create living, saving faith in you.

That same Word will continue to call you to repentance of your sins, that you might turn away from the works of darkness.  It will call you to works of mercy for your neighbor, beginning in your own household.  It will show you the paths of righteousness for His name’s sake.  But more than this, His Word will give you a faith which can walk in these sacred paths, can turn from evil, and reflect the love of God to a lost and dying world.  You cannot earn this grace—it is given to you freely for Christ’s sake, and born to you by His free and Eternal Word.  Hear His Word call you to faith and repentance today, that you may live forever in Him, bringing forth His good works both now and for eternity.  Amen.