DEEDS

What good is it, dear brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but don’t show it by your actions? Can that kind of faith save anyone?… Now someone may argue, “Some people have faith; others have good deeds.” But I say, “How can you show me your faith if you don’t have good deeds? I will show you my faith by my good deeds.” You say you have faith, for you believe that there is one God. Good for you! Even the demons believe this, and they tremble in terror. How foolish! Can’t you see that faith without good deeds is useless?… So you see, we are shown to be right with God by what we do, not by faith alone… Just as the body is dead without breath, so also faith is dead without good works. –James 2:14, 18-20, 24, 26

People can say faith all they want, but that does not make it so! I can say I am a doctor, but that does not make it so. I can say I am anything, but that is not the case. The outward evidence of my life will give a good indication of whom and what I am. I can stand on a used car parking lot but that does not make me a used car. Or, a person can go to a church, but that doesn’t make him a follower of Christ.

Faith has outward evidence. Jesus said that “by their fruit you will know them” (Matthews 7:15-20). Fruit is the outward evidence of what a person is and without fruit a person can say they have faith, but they really do not. Faith and works go together and one does not exist without the other. It is a “dead” faith when one says they have faith but there is not external proof indicating this is so. Works or deeds do not save me but show that I am saved! May our faith be active and be giving evidence that we truly love the Lord Jesus.

Dear Father, may the fruit in my life be evident that the Holy Spirit is working in and through me and that I truly am a follower of Jesus.