Can you have faith without works?

[Anne]

Study of the Epistle of James

Chapter 2

My question is this, can you have faith without works? Is faith without works dead? As I read today's Bible study I got my answer.

Verse 14

What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works? Can faith save him?

Verse 15

If a brother or sister be naked, and destitute of daily food,

Verse 16

And one of you say unto them,

[tsth]

Thank you Anne for the wonderful Words of Truth. I give thanks for you and the sharing of the Word. It is a good work to me.

In His Love,

Suzanne

[Anne]

Thank you Suzanne, also thanks to those who have PM'd me, your words of encouragement are deeply appreciated.

As someone who is new to studying the Bible, I have found Matthew Henry and Thomas Scott's commentary on the Holy Bible and excellent aid, I would recommend it to anyone, however study must, as always, be taken from the Bible.

I've noticed a spelling mistake in the title, it should read, "Can you have faith without works?" lol, what can I say, maybe I should take up spelling lessons!

Your Sister in Christ Jesus

Anne

[Guest angelhair]

Hello, I believe absolutely FAITH WITHOUT WORKS IS DEAD. As well as being a baby in the Word(2 yrs) I am also involved in AA. The program was founded on SPIRITUAL PRINCIPLES-where there is darkness, let me be light, where there is sadness, let me be joy. where there is despair, let me be hope. It teaches me to not be selfish, to live one day at a time and to be a help and a blessing to someone whenever I get the opportunity or whenever someone asks. To clean coffee pots and scrub toilets at meeting places-to talk with someone who hasn't drank for 2 days and share my experience, strength and hope with them(Faith without works is dead)

Thank you-I need to remember that everyday. When I wake up in the morning the first thing I try to think is "This is the day the Lord has made, I shall rejoice and be glad in it" and I do

Thank you-Angelina

[jcm]

[Repent1]

Greetings Anne,

I pray you the joy, peace and love of the Father and the Son

You gave an excellent testimony, when I read those passages I too hear the same message

Verse 17

Even so faith (trust/confidence in the testimony of God), if it hath not works (actions/deeds/activities), is dead (unproductive), being alone (Without equal)

Verse 18

Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith (trust), and I have works (actions): shew (show) me thy faith (trust) without thy works (actions), and I will shew (show) thee my faith (trust in Christ) by my works (action/deeds/activities).

Keep striving to please God....

Your brethren in Christ,

Repent1....

[Botz]

That was good Anne thanks....I think that quite often Christians approach faith and works from the perspective of 'salvation' and argue that you don't need to 'do' works to gain salvation...just to have 'faith'.....but I think here the Apostle James puts things in perspective and shows that in reality you cannot have one without the other....this is a very Jewish concept and one that the Christian Church has been guilty of theorizing over the years...becoming more interested in 'doctrine' than 'doing'...and so keen to prove that we are saved by grace that the concept of counting the cost and putting our hand to the plough becomes secondary....and yet is part of the salvation package without in any way taking away from the free gift of G-d through Messiah.

To show that the teaching of Paul and James were not contradictory but different aspects of the same gospel we can balance...

Ephesians 2:8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:

Eph 2:9 Not of works, lest any man should boast.

With the next verse that is often neglected.

Ephesians 2:10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.

But above all I like to link in 1 Corinthians 13 with those verses from James...as it shows just what James is talking about in such a clear and challenging way.... everything we do we must be rooted in Love/Yeshua

1Co 13:1 Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal.

1Co 13:2 And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing.

1Co 13:3 And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing.

1Co 13:4 Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up,

1Co 13:5 Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil;

1Co 13:6 Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth;

1Co 13:7 Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.

1Co 13:8 Charity never faileth: but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away.

1Co 13:9 For we know in part, and we prophesy in part.

1Co 13:10 But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away.

1Co 13:11 When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things.

1Co 13:12 For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.

1Co 13:13 And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity.

[Frank]

Thanks. You've answered some of the questions i've been pondering about. BIG thanks.

Frank!

[tsth]

Oh how awesome is the work of the Lord, in the sharing of His Word, by His children. His Word is not returning void in this thread!

In His Love,

Suzanne

[ted]

A very good study, indeed.

James, one of the earliest of the NT books, comes out as a raw introduction as to the beginnings of the Epistles of Paul. Two separate people, that are in harmony.

In my own simple words, James is telling us not to rest on our faith and that if one is claiming a new heart, his works will prove him.

Paul's letters were written afterwords and I'm not sure if he had the benefit of reading the letter of James, but the two line up in many ways. Without taking both of them in the proper context, it's easy to confuse the message and apply the theory of works producing Salvation, where in fact, it is the Salvation of one's soul that produces the works.

Now that I have everyone scratching their heads with confusion do to my lack of writing skills, have a good day!

t.