Trailblazin Ministries

A Dead Faith: Part 9 - James 2:26

Written by LaRosa Johnson
Friday, 11 January 2008

After a long arduous journey, we have finally reached the conclusion of James 2, in which we have extensively studied the topics of favoritism and a dead faith versus one that is genuine and alive. Our purpose today is to look at the concluding verse of James 2, as it serves as a summary of what James has spoken of in the previous twelve verses (verses 13-25). There is not a whole lot that can be said from this one verse, but when other verses are brought in with it, as well as looking at the passage as a whole, we can come to some firm conclusions on the matter of those that have a dead faith and those of us who have a living and active faith. Let us begin our study by reading our passage.

James 2:26 (NASB) - For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead.

There isn't a lot to be said in this verse, but let us start by explaining what it is that James is stating here. We see that he is comparing faith and works to the body and spirit, which is a perfect example. Just think about your body for the moment, knowing that it consists of the flesh and the spirit; as soon as your spirit leaves your body, your body becomes dead. It is your spirit that brings life to flesh and allows it to be alive and animate; as soon as you separate them, life ceases to exist in the body. Therefore, you can conclude that the body without a spirit is dead. The same holds true for faith. You cannot logically say that you have a faith that is alive if you have nothing that proves that it has life. Going back to the example of the body for a moment, if you lay completely still and don't breathe or move, people will assume that you are dead. That is what's happening here; if you don't have works to "animate" your faith then it may as well be dead; in fact, it is dead. As soon as you remove works of obedience from your faith, you no longer have faith that is alive. A faith that is alive is proven by the works that come as a result.

The logical question then becomes, how do you know that your faith is alive? One word: love. There are more than a handful of verses that prove this to be so. The most conclusive one would have to be John 13:15 where Jesus tells His disciples that, "all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another." That is to say, those who love those around them have a faith that is alive. Remember back in James 2:15-16 where it spoke about those who needed clothing and food? You have a faith that is alive when you take the time and resources to clothe and feed them, instead of simply telling them "go and get a job" or something to that extent. Paul stated this best in his discourse on love in 1 Corinthians 13:2-3 when he says, "...if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. 3 And if I give all my possessions to feed the poor, and if I surrender my body to be burned, but do not have love, it profits me nothing." If we have all the faith in the world but don't show any love or compassion, then it means absolutely nothing. We truly don't have faith if it's not motivated by love. It was love that moved God to sacrifice His Son, and it should be a similar love that leads us in our daily life. Our love for God and for His creation should lead us to works that prove that we have this love, which in turn proves that we truly have a faith that is alive through the Holy Spirit.

A passage that sums this up nicely is Galatians 5:6, which reads, "For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything, but faith working through love." As this verse says, our faith should be working through love. That's what it means to have a living faith. We are worshiping God and showing that we love Him by loving others. If we don't have love, then we don't have faith, and if we don't have faith, then we don't have anything at all. So test yourselves today to see if you are in the faith. Are you walking a life of love? Is your faith alive? If it is, then keep on moving forward; if it's not, you know what you need to do. Amen.