“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.
Thou
believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and
tremble. But wilt thou know, O vain man,
that faith without works is dead? Was
not Abraham our father justified by works, when he had offered Isaac his son
upon the altar? Seest thou how faith
wrought with his works, and by works was faith made perfect? And the scripture was fulfilled which saith,
Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness: and he was
called the Friend of God.
Ye
see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only. Likewise also was not Rahab the harlot
justified by works, when she had received the messengers, and had sent them out
another way?
For
as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.”
- James 2:14-26
I think this scripture is pretty
clear about how faith MUST be accompanied with works, but to help us understand
it better imagine this:
At the circus the tight-rope walker
stands ready to walk out on the tight-rope.
Does he go out there without anything in his hands? No, he is given a very long pole to which he
puts his hands in the middle of the pole.
When he feels he is balanced and ready he steps out, holding the pole to
help him maintain his balance. He walks
forward and he even walks backward, all the while holding the pole in the
middle. He finally makes it to the other
side and the crowd cheers and claps in elated applause at the feat he just
accomplished.
Now, imagine him take the pole and
stepping out on the tight-rope holding it more towards one end than the other. He will not be able to maintain his balance
because the weight of the pole will pull him toward the longer side which has
become heavy. He will fall. What if he decides to hang on closer to the
other side of the pole. The same thing
will happen; the heaver side will pull him down and he will fall. The pole must
be evenly balanced to prevent the fall.
Now, imagine yourself as the
tight-rope walker. You are given a pole
with one end labeled “faith” and the other end labeled “works”. You step out on the tight-rope and do the
routine you have been called to do by the Lord, keeping the pole evenly
balanced the whole time. Success! Yet if you step out and give more credence to
“faith” then the weight of the “works” side of the pole will pull you
down. Or if you give more credence to “works”
then the “faith” side of the pole will pull you down. Praise God that He is our “safety net” and
catches us when we fall, then he sets us back up on the rope with our pole
evenly balanced and we finish our walk.
Implementation: when I sit on the steps and share with my
neighbor about what God is doing in my life then I am using both faith and
works. God prompted me to go out and sit
on the steps (faith) and then the neighbor comes along and I share
(works). When I go to the store and have
to sit to wait for a motorized shopping cart I start praying silently for those
customers passing by (faith & works).
When I go to church and someone mentions that they need prayer to obtain
food for their family I not only pray there but I pray about it at home too
(faith) then I get a bag of food together and make sure it gets to them ASAP
(works). This is just to give you ideas;
I recommend you ask the Lord to show you opportunities to put both your “faith”
and “works” into practice. He will open
them up for you! He has just been
waiting for you to ask.
