Living Faith or Lip Service? - Part 2
James 2:14
“What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him?”James 2:14
Returning to our main text James follows his rhetorical question with another question. If someone claims to be a Christian, but has no good deeds in his life...nothing is ever demonstrated by a godly lifestyle… can that type of faith save him? James is not asking about the saving faith of the Bible here, he is not talking about the wonderful promises of God where we are saved by grace through faith. James is talking about a different kind of faith… a false faith. Can a person who only claims a head knowledge of God and never demonstrates any signs of being a true believer, a true follower of Christ… is that person really saved at all?
I remember a great story that illustrates this point. There once was a man who stretched a cable over a deep ravine. As crowds gathered around the man stepped onto the cable, and without a safety net, he walked the distance of the cable and back several times. The crowd cheered as the man walked on the thin band of cable over the deep depths of the ravine.
They all knew if he would fall it would result in his death. Next the man took a wheelbarrow and with the small front tire removed he placed the rim of the wheel on the cable and walked the wheelbarrow across the cable and back. Again the crowds roared with their amazement and appreciation.
The man jumped off the cable and standing on a platform he spoke to the cheering crowd asking them, “Do you believe I could take one of you and sit them into the wheelbarrow and cross the ravine returning them safely?” The crowd yelled out their approval with cheers and nods of their heads. With that answer the man asked them, “Then who will be first to enter the wheelbarrow and let me take them across?” The cheers died down as the question began to sink in and the crowd quickly became eerily silent. No one raised their hands...no one volunteered.
Do you understand the point? The crowd believed in their minds the man could safely take someone across the ravine and back safely, but when it came time to act on what they believed...their hearts, and their souls, told them they really didn’t believe enough to risk their lives. Head knowledge only results in a lot of cheap talk, but a deep felt heart knowledge acts on what they believe. This is the question…or the challenge I should say, that James is presenting to his church. He is challenging some in his congregation who claim to have salvation, but have no deeds of faith in their lives, to start living for the Lord. A head knowledge of God is only a claim that God exists… it is not real faith. Real faith is found in a relationship with God. Anyone can say the believe in God, but real believers demonstrate their claims in daily living… in obedience to God.
How is your faith? Do your claims of faith line up with your lifestyle?
