Faith & Works -- Bible Study #9

Dear DJAN Friends,

Future readings in this series will come from the letters of Paul, the apostle who stresses that we are justified (made right with God) by faith in Jesus Christ. It is appropriate that we also hear from James whose letter offers a different, though not necessarily contradictory, emphasis.

What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but do not have works? Can faith save you? If a brother or sister is naked and lacks daily food, and one of you says to them, "Go in peace; keep warm and eat your fill," and yet you do not supply their bodily needs, what is the good of that? So faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead. But someone will say, "You have faith and I have works." Show me your faith apart from your works, and I by my works will show you my faith (James 2:14-18).

A central theme of scripture is that love of God and love of neighbor go hand in hand. The author of James affirms that faith (trust in God) is important; what he opposes is a "dead faith" that isn't expressed in care for neighbors in need. "What," he asks, "is the good of that?" There no doubt are different emphases in the writings of Paul and James (compare, for example, Romans 3:28 and James 2:24), but they agree that a living faith is inseparable from a life of good works. Our service to others, as Paul would put it, is a loving response to the One who has loved and served us–the One in whom we trust. Without this response, James would add, our trust (faith) is of no consequence. When we actually read the Bible, we are repeatedly reminded of its diversity (e.g., James and Paul). Far from offering a single message, scripture gives us multiple perspectives from which to glimpse a Reality that, inevitably, is beyond our full grasp as finite creatures.

May God grant us understanding and commitment.

--Rev. Dr. Michael Kinnamon