You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder.
You foolish person, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless.
Was not our father Abraham considered righteous for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar?
You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did.
And the scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness,” and he was called God’s friend.
You see that a person is considered righteous by what they do and not by faith alone.
In 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?
As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.
We are saved by true faith in God alone, as Ephesians 2:8-9 emphatically states, and so does Titus 3:5. There’s no righteous work we can do to become saved. It only requires belief or trust. But if belief and trust are authentic, they will be demonstrated in our actions. Hence, there is no contradiction between the words of Paul and James. They both believe in faith, and they both believe in works that demonstrate that faith. They just say it in different ways, both of which we need to hear.
This is a good article on faith/beliefs and works/actions and how both are necessary and should be interrelated.
I was glad to hear my friend is studying Paul’s life in the book of Acts. I have a graphic novel, called The Apostle. It’s Scripture based, but I also imagine (and the artist envisions) what Paul’s life looked like.
Finally, here’s an excellent article on “the Way.”
This article originally appeared here and is used by permission.
