A Living Faith
We have now come to the end of James chapter two. Just as James makes sure to cause the reader to reflect on their faith, he also wants to leave them with an encouragement. That is why in the second half of this chapter, James leaves his brothers and sisters in Christ an example of what a true and living faith is.
“20 But are you willing to acknowledge, you foolish person, that faith without works is useless? 21 Was our father Abraham not justified by works when he offered up his son Isaac on the altar? 22 You see that faith was working with his works, and as a result of the works, faith was perfected; 23 and the Scripture was fulfilled which says, “And Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness,” and he was called a friend of God. 24 You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone. 25 In the same way, was Rahab the prostitute not justified by works also when she received the messengers and sent them out by another way? 26 For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead.“
James 2:20-26
Last week we discussed that a dead faith is one that provides no fruit of a changed life. The person continues to behave the same way as before they “professed” to know Christ. Now James offers a comparison of what a living and fruitful faith is by providing two examples. James begins with Abraham. To understand the magnitude of James remarks about Abraham, I ask that you go back and read Genesis 15. In this chapter God makes a promise that Abraham’s descendants will be as numerous as the stars (Genesis 15:5). At the time, Abraham was childless and believed that he would not have any children. Yet God would later provide Abraham two sons. For the purposes of this post, we are going to focus on Abram’s second son, Isaac who the promise that God made Abraham was intended for.
Now I would ask you to go and read Genesis 22. In this chapter we see that Abraham is being tested by God. Abraham is asked to go and sacrifice his son, Isaac. We see a hint of Abraham’s faith in verse 5, “5 Then Abraham said to his young men, “Stay here with the donkey; I and the boy will go over there and worship and come again to you.” Abraham knew what was being asked of him, and yet he still told and believed that both he and his son would return to the men. This faith continued even up to the point that he nearly sacrificed Isaac (Genesis 22:10). Abraham did not know how God would uphold His promise if Isaac was killed, and yet Abraham submitted wholly to the will of God. He showed his faith by his willingness to listen to God.
The second example that James provides of a living faith is that of Rahab. To understand how Rahab lived I ask that you read Joshua chapter 2. The first thing to note here, is that Rahab is not Jewish. In fact, considering she identified as a harlot (Joshua 2:1) she is the last person that many would assume to have a life changing faith in God. Yet this woman had heard of God and knew that He has authority in heaven and on earth (Joshua 2:11), she recognized God’s authority and through her faith that God’s servants would keep their promise to her, she assisted them in escaping. Rahab’s story continues in Joshua 6 were we see that all of her city was destroyed except for her family and their home (Joshua 6:17).
Through both Abraham and Rahab, as well as the others that are mentioned in Hebrews eleven which I highly encourage you to read for encouragement, we see that a true faith in Jesus Christ results in a changed life. We do not remain the same as we were before we accepted Jesus as Lord and Savior, through the Holy Spirit we produce fruit. It is through the fruit of our works that we are then identified by others as followers of Jesus Christ. I ask you to look back now through your own walk with Christ, are you simply going through the motions and living out a dead faith? Or is your faith producing works that point others to the Man who came to serve others, Jesus Christ?
Seek the truth and encourage one another,
Alex