Is Faith Without Works Is Dead, what does it really mean

[pogi]

When I was living in the Philippines, my wife's sister came over the house and ask me if I believed that one must do good works to have great faith. She confessed to be a born again Christian. My answer was NO, one does NOT have to do good works to have great faith. So she asked me, do I not believe in what James 2:14 says - Faith without works is dead faith? I told her she misunderstood what the bible was saying. I then asked her a couple of things:

 A beggar lady who had nothing saw a cold and hungry child; the beggar lady prayed to God to give the child relief. A affluent man came by and gave her a coat and food. Would the affluent man have more faith then the beggar women who had nothing but her faith to give to the child. 

A person that is born with physical disabilities - a person that struggles everyday just to get around, but loves and worships Jesus with all their heart and mind, would their faith be dead, would it be fake, or would it be Real?

A man was in and out of prison all his life, and he hated God for a number of reasons. One day he was send to prison for life, and in prison he killed someone and was sentenced to solitary confinement. Two years later and 6 months before he was to be put to death, he turned to Jesus, confessed his sins, and worshipped and praised Jesus until the day he died in solitary confinement. Was his faith real or was it fake and dead because he did no good works. 

My sister died of ALS disease, the last year of her life there was little that my sister was able to do, was her faith less than it was before she got sick, was her faith dead because she was no longer able to do anything?

I ended by saying, NO you do NOT need to do good works to have great faith, NO you do NOT need to do good works to go to Heaven

BUT BUT BUT

If you have the means, ability, opportunity to help your fellow man, and refuse to give support to someone in need  and just give lip service then your Faith is weak, and will die. 

Peace and love to all. 

 

 

 

[simplejeff]

14 minutes ago, pogi said:

to have great faith.

As Jesus says,  if you have true faith trusting and relying on the Father in heaven, and you have faith the size of a mustard seed,  you can heal someone.

If someone has great faith,  they can heal someone every time Yahweh says to.  Just like the disciples with faith the size (apparently) of a grain of mustard seed did. 

Of course,  they do not claim any thing to be their own. 

[notsolostsoul]

5 hours ago, pogi said:

James 2:14 says - Faith without works is dead faith?

 

5 hours ago, pogi said:

just give lip service then your Faith is weak, and will die.

 

59 minutes ago, Sojourner414 said:

unless there is a genuine change in the heart of the one who believes that manifests itself externally, then their "faith" is just words.

So the works are from within the individual who claims faith in God? (Working on one's self.) When they are in God, he will perform outwardly works through them?

It should be genuine. Whether they are just getting into their faith or from experienced faith, it's about the heart truly being in God.

If the individual performs all the Right Looking works (giving to charity, speaking of God's goodness, doing prayers for others.... etc), these works mean nothing if it is not purely from the heart that is in God.

I'm trying to verify that my thoughts align.

I love how you both explained it.

Thank you!!!!

[Tristen]

A Christian is someone who has sincerely surrendered ownership of their life to Christ as a faith response to His Gospel. As the process of sanctification proceeds, the sincerity of our surrender (i.e. our faith response) will be evident in the good works God has prepared for us as part of our destiny.

Ephesians 2:8-10

8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, 9 not of works, lest anyone should boast. 10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.

Those good works are manifestations of the influence of the indwelling Holy Spirit in the believer.

Galatians 5:22-23

22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law

The absence of change away from sin and towards righteousness casts a question over the sincerity of one's faith confession of surrender - i.e. whether Jesus is really one's Lord.