Faith And Works

What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him?   If a brother or sister has nothing to wear and has no food for the day, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, keep warm, and eat well,” but you do not give them the necessities of the body, what good is it?  So also faith of itself, if it does not have works, is dead.

Indeed someone may say, “You have faith and I have works.” Demonstrate your faith to me without works, and I will demonstrate my faith to you from my works. You believe that God is one. You do well. Even the demons believe that and tremble.   Do you want proof, you ignoramus, that faith without works is useless? 

Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered his son Isaac upon the altar?  You see that faith was active along with his works, and faith was completed by the works. Thus the scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness,” and he was called “the friend of God.” 

See how a person is justified by works and not by faith alone.  And in the same way, was not Rahab the harlot also justified by works when she welcomed the messengers and sent them out by a different route?  For just as a body without a spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead.  (James 2:14-26)

I opened my Bible to James after having “discovered” him again.   The above passages are what I found.   “You have faith and I have works.”   At Christ the King we have both made clear by our many ministries and parishioners who work hard for Christ.   

For those of us who forgive and speak with love and compassion, we are also working – and that work can at times be more difficult than work done with hands and feet.    It’s the work of our tongues made gentle through faith that is truly alive.

Deacon David Pierce