James 2:14-17 (NIV)
14What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him? 15Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. 16If one of you says to him, "Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed," but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? 17In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.
posted by Mel at 9:22 AM
2 Comments:
Ok. What have we got here? This seems to contradict the concept of grace, but does it? I don't think so. Earlier, I posted Jesus talking about children. What are the qualities of children? Humbling themselves, humility, that is what the passage said, but is there more? Yes, I think so.
If we are indeed Gods children, what is a reasonable response to His expression of his love for us? Grace has saved us, but is there more?
I think that simply put, our reaction should be the same as a child who desires to please a loving parent. Not everything we do is going to be pleasing, to be sure. I know that children can rebel, especially the strong willed and prideful ones. And yet, when I discipline my own children, and then come back to them and express my love to them and how it hurts me to have to punish them, the reaction is still the same: They act in a way to please me, and although I cannot know their heart, they seem sincere, and that is the way I take it.
So, then, grace saves us, but our understanding of that grace should compell us to act accordingly. Simple, I'd think, and yet we seem to miss this again and again. The works do nothing of themselves, but as an outpouring of our faith, they can be a witness for us. That is not to say that acting as if we had faith has any great value, however, I don't think we should even judge our own motives too harshly, as Jesus himself told his disciples to allow others to cast out demons in his name.
Funny. James is one of my favorite books of the new testament. I didn't know that about the book of James. Hmmm. I wonder why Martin Luther thought it should not have been included.
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