Faith is Proved by Love

James 2:10–18
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Chuck Swindoll tells how he and his wife had the pleasure of spending an evening with former astronaut, General Charles M. Duke. They were fascinated as he told of the Apollo 16 mission to the moon, including some interesting tidbits related to driving “Rover,” the lu … More

Obedience

James gave us a great truth in this passage. He knew people would hardly consider themselves as lawbreakers when they showed prejudice or undue respect for the rich. However, James makes it plain that this is no small offense. Total obedience to God is the important fact. God has unalterable laws and spiritual maturity is only attained by complete and consistent obedience (vv. 10-13).

Paul says we are saved by faith and not by works alone (Eph. 2:8-9). Now James says we are saved by works and not by faith alone (vv. 14-18). How can both be true? There are basically 3 kinds of faith and only one is true saving faith:

No Faith (Dead Works): Paul was writing to Ephesian legalists who were saying “we do not need faith we have works." Paul tells them that works without faith will not save.
Dead Faith James is writing to religious Jews who were saying “we have faith so we can live any way we want." Just because they said they were believers did not make them saved.
Living Faith that Works: Both Paul and James would agree that true faith in Christ will result in a changed life.

Application

Is there some area in my live in which I am not in complete obedience to God’s plan for my life? This one reason I need to be searching the Scripture daily to find out if there is.

James 2:10-18 (English Standard Version)

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