Sheep And Goat Good Works

What good is it, my brothers and sisters, 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 might 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. (James 2:14-18)

“Faith of itself, if it does not have works, is dead.”  This quite a departure from later thinking marked by Martin Luther's understanding of faith.  Luther believed that salvation is a gift God alone granted to sinners who passively affirm their faith in Christ, rather than something a sinner can actively obtain through the performance of good works.  This divergence in thinking about the importance of works or deeds led to the Reformation and Protestantism. 

I suggest “works” can be described as doing God’s will.  That will was made clear by Matthew (25:31-46): “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit upon his glorious throne, and all the nations will be assembled before him. And he will separate them one from another, as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will place the sheep on his right and the goats on his left. 

Then the king will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father. Inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, a stranger and you welcomed me, naked and you clothed me, ill and you cared for me, in prison and you visited me.’ 

Then the righteous will answer him and say, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? When did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? When did we see you ill or in prison, and visit you?’ 

And the king will say to them in reply, ‘Amen, I say to you, whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me.’ 

Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you accursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, a stranger and you gave me no welcome, naked and you gave me no clothing, ill and in prison, and you did not care for me.’ 

Then they will answer and say, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or ill or in prison, and not minister to your needs?’ He will answer them, ‘Amen, I say to you, what you did not do for one of these least ones, you did not do for me.’ And these will go off to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”

Having faith, but acting as goats on Jesus’ left would seem to have us go off to eternal punishment and fire prepared by the devil and his angels (demons). That seems like awfully harsh treatment and a dismal fate for those who simply have faith in Jesus and love their God.  

Also, that devilish eternal-punishment penalty doesn’t seem like something our forgiving Jesus would support.  Frankly, these passages seem more like Matthew’s way of insisting on good works to help those in need.  All well and good, but those of us who are faithful “goats” and serve in other ways, such as being kind and loving, appreciate Matthew’s emphasis, but not his condemnation.  

Deacon David Pierce