In this sin-fallen world, faith can neither stand alone nor standstill—if it does, it is because it is dead! (See James 2:26).
Christian works are the living, practical expressions of one’s faith in Christ.
James throws down a challenge to the “Faith Only” preachers: “But someone may well say, “You have faith and I have works; show me your faith without the works, and I will show you my faith by my works” (James 2:18).
The apostle Paul, often used by “Faith Only” preachers to support their false doctrine, agrees completely with James. Don’t miss how Paul brings everything together when he says: “The only thing that matters is faith WORKING through love.” (Galatians 5:6). He is saying exactly what James is saying in James 2:18 above.
Paul goes on to say that saving faith is faith that “serves one another in love” (Galatians 5:13). Later, he defines Christian service, and its results when he commands: “Bear one another’s burdens, and thereby fulfil the law of Christ” (Galatians 6:2).
The Law of Christ that Paul is speaking about is best summed up in Jesus’ own statement: “This is My commandment, that you love one another, just as I have loved you” (John 15:12).
In the very next verse, Jesus demonstrates what “just as I have loved you” means. He says, “Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends” (John 15:13).
The apostle John leaves us in no doubt as to what a living faith in Christ looks like:
“We know love by this, that He laid down His life for us; and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren” (1John 3:16)
Therein, we fulfil the Law of Christ – faith WORKING through love!
John Staiger
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