Faith Without Work Is Dead?

Because of these bible verses in the Epistle of James, the amount of laboring in the Lord from a believer has been used as a checklist to monitor the level of faith a believer has...

1. James 2:14 ~ What does it profit, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can faith save him?

2. James 2:20 ~ But do you want to know, O foolish man, that faith without works is dead?

3. James 2:26 ~ For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.

This Epistle from James, the Elder of the early Churches in Jerusalem then, was written to the twelve tribes of his Jewish counterpart scattered among the nations. This Epistle was the first letter ever written in Bible time at around AD48 to AD62, about 15 years after our Lord was glorified and the birth of churches at that Feast of Pentecost.

The Jewish believers then were struggling between putting their faith in the Lord and obeying their Jewish tradition which derived from the Commandments. They were torn between two lovers (Law and Grace), feeling like a fool... It was their transitional period and time then was tough. Because of the fact that, all the Jewish people were equipped with the knowledge of the Mosaic Law from their young age, this Epistle from James was written to encourage them to live out their knowledge through faith by trusting their Messiah, as He had already accomplished the law at the cross. Nevertheless, due to their religious background and that transitional period, this Epistle was somehow, written with legalistic aspect because during that period of time, the message of grace was not yet given as Paul, the Apostle of Grace to the Gentiles was still in Arabia being ministered by the Lord.

I would conclude that James was ministering to his Jewish counterparts with “a bit” of legalism because in Galatians chapter 2, Peter was led to draw back from eating with the Gentiles and separated from them when he heard that certain men came from James were in Antioch. The most obvious evidence of James’ legalism is that, it was not even James himself but certain man from him coming to Antioch that caused Peter to withdrew from Gentiles… If James was not legalistic then, why should Peter, a well known Apostle in the New Testament who ever walked on the water, who ever preached a message that saved three thousands, was afraid of these certain men? I don’t think we need to be a rocket scientist to understand this contradictory situation and we see lots of this happening in a legalistic churches... :)

As Paul saw that many were led astray by Peter’s hypocrisy, the Apostle of Grace to the Gentile, rebuked Peter as he saw him (his act of hypocrisy) not acting in line with the gospel. If you have the revelation from these two examples, you will know that Peter’s testimony was actually the living testimony of what James was saying as faith without work is dead. Peter had witnessed and knew of the Gospel and yet he did not act in line with the gospel. A living example of faith without work is dead! If you don't believe the gospel, you will not have faith. Therefore, how can a dead faith produce good work? It is all hypocrisy!

The problem here is not work, the problem is not faith either. The problem is, Peter did not believed. Believe what...? Believe the gospel...! In John 6:28, people were asking Jesus, "What must we do to do the works God requires?" And Jesus answered, "The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent." Oooh… faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ. Seeing is one thing, witnessing is another thing; if only Peter would have believed the word of Christ instead of depending on his religious knowledge, faith is just a branch of his right believe and the work, will subsequently be the fruit from that branch of faith!

Wow... there is hope for all of us because even Peter could fail to believe... and the Grace of our Lord is ever super abounding so that one day, yes one day, we all will believe!

Have you been hearing the right message? According to Paul, who wrote two third of the New Testament, our faith is dead if we do not act in line with the Gospel! Are you hearing the message of the Gospel or you have been thinking that the Gospel is only for the Gentiles? Paul was using the Gospel to measure Peter’s faith and Paul said there is no other Gospel but one - the Gospel of Grace!

So, faith without work is dead, but faith without believing the TRUTH is also dead. How can a dead faith produce any good work? It is not what we can work out, it is what we have believed. Please put the cart back before the horse, right believing produces right living. When we believe the right thing (the truth), our faith is right. When our faith is right, our work will be right. When our work is right, our faith is not dead!

So why worry so much about our faith? Do not fear, just believe.... the Gospel of Grace!