James 2:14-26
James is speaking about practical Christian life in here. Faith always demands work. It’s like water stored in a high rise dam. It has the potential to bring out the change-may be for electricity production, or some irrigational purposes. This can be achieved only if it is allowed to flow out! Our potential faith will have a meaning only if makes an impact on the place we are. Just like the dam, we create a boundary around our faith. It can be the barrier of color, wealth, education, or any other possessions we have. A Christian must never have an attitude of social discrimination. Jesus is our role –model. He never showed any disparity or segregation based on caste, creed, ethnicity, or color.
Faith in action brings out revolutionary changes. It can mend the minds, it can save the souls and it can heal the spirit.
While I was doing my degree in Electrical Engineering, we learned a lot of theoretical stuff about different motors including their efficiency, performance, and many other factors in ideal conditions. But, while we do experiments in the laboratory, the calculations we had never came near to the ideal conditions. Its performance, efficiency, and characteristics change depending on the design of the machine, atmospheric conditions, and the losses in the machine. Similarly, most of us are having theoretical knowledge about the faith, but, we have to check whether the theoretical knowledge and the practical knowledge go in synchronism.
- Social life,
- Spiritual life.
Social life:
Faith comes into action when we are ready to serve the people around us. It can be the poor, needy, or the most deserved people in society. If we are neglecting a person who is in need, then we are not reflecting Christ or our faith in Him to the world. Or in other words, we can say that faith in action means coming out of our comfort zones for the betterment of society.
James is explaining the action of faith through a simple example. “If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that?”(Verse 15, 16). Food, clothing, and shelter are the basic needs of a human being.
When we read Luke 3:11, “John answered, “Anyone who has two shirts should share with the one who has none, and anyone who has food should do the same.” In this passage, John the Baptist speaks about producing fruit in keeping repentance. True repentance is when we accept our fellow brother and sister irrespective of their physical or financial status. From this, we can say, faith in action is when we produce the fruit of repentance. Faith can and never gets its true meaning unless we do things out of love and empathy.
James calls the faith without action is dead (vs. 17) and barren (vs. 20). Both can never bring any productiveness out of it.
Christians, just as all others have some social responsibilities. Sometimes, we fail to do the obligations as we think within the four walls. Churches will never grow if our faith is confined within the four walls of the church. None will see Jesus unless we show the world how Jesus lived because our life is the greatest Gospel.
Spiritual life
When considering the spiritual aspect, faith in action means taking a step without seeing anything but accepting the command from the LORD.
The example that James quoted in this paragraph is about Abraham. He sacrificed his son, Isaac, by faith. When we read Genesis 22, we can never find a verse that Abraham sacrificed Isaac to the LORD. But, he was justified. How? When he decided in his mind, he sacrificed his son to the LORD. Real sacrifice/worship begins within our hearts and the body responds to the same through action. When God looks at the heart of Abraham, he sacrificed Isaac with a whole heart to the LORD. His action- tied his son and put him on the altar, was the fulfillment of his faith. Abraham believed that God can give Isaac back from the ashes. When his faith, combined with the action, his sacrifice was accepted by the Lord and he became righteous. When we are ready to execute what’s in His mind, then we are becoming His friends.
The second example James narrates in here is about the Rahab, the prostitute in Jericho. A prostitute has to be stoned to death, but, Rahab, she believed that GOD will give Jericho to the Israelites and gave shelter to the spies. Her action, to save the Israel spies, saved her entire family from ruin.
Bring life to your faith via actions. Bring changes in our society, our spiritual life, and in our families. Let our faiths throbs with life to give life to others.
