Faith with No Favorites

Day 322: James 1:19-2:17

“What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him?” - James‬ ‭2:14‬ ‭ESV‬‬

As you can already tell from our short time reading James, he loves to talk about faith and action (works). He mentions faith 13 times in his little book and speaks of works 16 times.

In the original language (Greek), James is doing a little tongue-in-cheek. The word used for faith is the word pistis. Volumes and volumes have been written about this one word! Another way to translate it is as trust or faithfulness or persuasion.

So faith, by itself, is defined as active. It is definitely not a passive word. All we have to do is re-read Hebrews 11 to see that faith is an activator that brings a level of constancy that is needed to sustain the Christian life.

Paul prays the following in 2 Thessalonians 1:11, and it is perfect for sharing here: “So we keep on praying for you, asking our God to enable you to live a life worthy of his call. May he give you the power to accomplish all the good things your faith prompts you to do.”

Do we see needs around us? Meet them.

Do we see racism around us? Actively love those who are different from us.

Are we tempted to shirk the poor to accommodate the rich? May we repent and look for ways to show mercy.

"James shows the inadequacy of a merely claimed faith by the use of another powerful hypothetical example. Someone who is more than a neighbor, a brother or sister in Christ, comes to you in obvious need of the bare necessities of life. What should you do?" - Holloway, G. (1996). James & Jude (Jas 2:14)

“Mercy triumphs over judgment.”