Wait, but I'm not Catholic...

After a long hiatus, I'm back in the book of James. Today's reading comes from James 2:14-26

Faith and Deeds

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.

¹⁸But someone will say, "You have faith; I have deeds."
Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do.

¹⁹You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder.

²⁰You foolish man, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless^d]">[d]? ²¹Was not our ancestor Abraham considered righteous for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? ²²You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did. ²³And the scripture was fulfilled that says, "Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness,"^e]">[e] and he was called God's friend. ²⁴You see that a person is justified by what he does and not by faith alone.

²⁵In the same way, was not even Rahab the prostitute considered righteous for what she did when she gave lodging to the spies and sent them off in a different direction? ²⁶As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.

....................................................................................................................................................................

This passage has always been a bit confusing for me. Martin Luther preached faith alone while the Catholic church preached faith and works as a means for salvation. How does one reconcile this verse about faith without works being dead and Ephesians 2:8 - "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith--and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God." ?

In the past , I think I neglected the context of the book of James. James was writing to Jewish Christians of whom were being persecuted at the time. He warned them against both hypocritical behavior and being Christians by mouth alone.

James isn't saying that works are necessary for our salvation. He's saying that works should be the outcome of our faith in Christ. If we say that Jesus is Lord and yet neglect His teachings, do we really believe that Jesus is Lord? My dad and I have a close relationship and I trust him deeply. Suppose for a second that I was going around talking about how much I trust my dad and boasting about it. The next second, my dad comes by and asks to borrow my ipod because he wants to listen to a song, promising that he'll give it back when he's done. Afraid that he won't give my ipod back, I decide not to give it to him. Well, somethings gotta give. My words say that I have faith in my dad's word while my actions say otherwise.

James gives us two very clear examples of faith in action: Abraham and Rahab. In the case of Abraham, God promised him a son and that son did not come for many years. God promised lots of stuff for Abraham and his son and Abraham was faithful. He waited upon the Lord. Now fast forward and Abraham and Sara have Issac, the son that God promised. Issac grows up and Abraham has the joy of being a father and also can rest assured that God will fulfill his promises about Abraham and the generations to come. Next thing you know, God tells Abraham to sacrifice Issac on an alter. Wait, what the?! How is God going to keep His promises if the lineage ends when Issac dies on an altar? Well, those would have been my thoughts anyway. Good thing I'm not Abraham. Abraham responded in faith by obeying God and taking His son to the altar only to be rewarded in his faith by not having to sacrifice Issac afterall.

Abraham said he was a man of faith and it showed. He listened to God even when it was tough. He obeyed when it made him uncomfortable. He followed God when things didn't make a lick of sense. He trusted God even when God's will and his will were in conflict. That is faith and deeds, not just saying all this stuff but really living it up for God.

That's a huge challenge to me. Am I growing in my faith? Is my faith something that's transforming the way that I act? Is my faith one that only serves God when its easy or is it one that continually trusts God when the darkness sets in and my back is against the wall? To be honest, I find myself in the latter of those two way too often. I'm fearful. I'm scared of getting mocked. I'm scared of possible outcomes and scenarios. Time to pray for change.