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JesusFollowerForever

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Dear Friends in Christ,

Greetings, I write to you with love and concern for the truth that sets us free, the truth of God’s Word. It has come to my attention by reading many posts that some among you wrestle with the words of James, where he declares that "faith without works is dead." Some may conclude that this teaching means that works are required to secure salvation. Let us together seek clarity, guided by the Spirit and the words of our Lord.

In James 2:26, we read, "For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also." This passage is indeed powerful, and its meaning is profound. But it must be understood in the light of all Scripture and the teachings of our Lord Jesus Christ. Let us remember first what Jesus taught about salvation. He said, "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life" (John 3:16, NKJV). Salvation is a gift, freely given, and it comes through faith in Him who gave His life for us.

Yet, faith is not a passive thing. It is not mere words or an intellectual agreement. True faith, the kind that saves, is alive, vibrant, and transformative. Jesus spoke of this when He said, "You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles? Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit" (Matthew 7:16-17, NKJV). The fruit does not make the tree good; rather, it reveals the tree’s true nature. In the same way, our works do not make us saved, but they reveal the genuineness of our faith.

James’ teaching is not at odds with the truth of salvation by faith. Instead, he warns against a counterfeit faith—a faith that is claimed but not lived. Consider a lamp that has no light or a seed that never grows. Can such things fulfill their purpose? In the same way, faith that does not produce works is lifeless and cannot be called true faith. James calls us to examine our lives, not to earn salvation, but to ensure that the faith we profess is real and active.

Let us also look to the parable of the sheep and the goats in Matthew 25:31-46. Here, Jesus speaks of the righteous who cared for the hungry, the sick, and the imprisoned. Their works were not performed to earn salvation but were the natural outflow of hearts transformed by love for their King. The works were evidence of their relationship with Him. Jesus makes it clear that what we do for others, we do for Him. Such works are not the root of our salvation but its fruit.

The apostle John echoes this truth, writing, "If someone says, 'I love God,' and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen?" (1 John 4:20, NKJV). Love for God and love for others are inseparable, and true love always results in action.

Let us then understand the relationship between faith and works rightly. Works are not the price of salvation but the proof of it. They are the evidence of a heart that has been redeemed and renewed by the power of Christ. A living faith will always produce works of love, mercy, and obedience, just as a healthy tree produces fruit.

Do not let the enemy deceive you into thinking that your works can earn what Christ has already purchased for you on the cross. His sacrifice is sufficient, and your faith in Him is the key to eternal life. But also, do not let complacency take root, for a faith that does not move us to action is no faith at all.

I encourage you, my friends, to walk as Jesus walked, to love as He loved, and to serve as He served. Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven (Matthew 5:16). In doing so, you will not only honor God but also bear witness to the world of the saving grace of Jesus Christ.

May the Lord bless you and keep you, may He strengthen your faith and guide your works, and may your lives reflect the beauty of His love. Let us press on together, not striving to earn salvation but living as those who have already been redeemed.

With love in Christ,

JFF
 

stevevw

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This reminds me of what Jordan Peterson said when asked if he believed in God. He said I don't trust the idea of people just saying they have faith in todays world as it seems to have lost its meaning. It doesn't reflect the way people act.

I think this is true for modern society. The profession of faith is like some signifier that is substituted for identifying as a Christain without any real commitment.

I don't think faith is just about works as far as moral fruits are concerned. Non Christains can display good fruits. I think faith is a personal thing and not just about morals. Its about your personal walk with God. This may mean your choice of work, being in conflict with friends and family about your faith, how you behave in specific situations according to Gods spirit. Which may have nothing to do with morality at that time but Gods will.

Another qualifier for faith I think is love. As mentions a renewed mind and heart is one of love reflection Gods love for us through Christ. But we learn in 1 Corinthians 13: 1-3 that one can have faith that moves mountains and a person can give all their possessions away to help the poor. But if they do not have love then this is nothing.

If I speak in the tongues[a] of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast,[b] but do not have love, I gain nothing.

So it seems love is a core ingredient and that love comes from God sacrificing His Son to save us. That is what transforms our minds and hearts which then comes from us into the world and leads us to the good works and fruits of the spirit.
 
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Soyeong

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Dear Friends in Christ,

Greetings, I write to you with love and concern for the truth that sets us free, the truth of God’s Word. It has come to my attention by reading many posts that some among you wrestle with the words of James, where he declares that "faith without works is dead." Some may conclude that this teaching means that works are required to secure salvation. Let us together seek clarity, guided by the Spirit and the words of our Lord.

In James 2:26, we read, "For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also." This passage is indeed powerful, and its meaning is profound. But it must be understood in the light of all Scripture and the teachings of our Lord Jesus Christ. Let us remember first what Jesus taught about salvation. He said, "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life" (John 3:16, NKJV). Salvation is a gift, freely given, and it comes through faith in Him who gave His life for us.

Yet, faith is not a passive thing. It is not mere words or an intellectual agreement. True faith, the kind that saves, is alive, vibrant, and transformative. Jesus spoke of this when He said, "You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles? Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit" (Matthew 7:16-17, NKJV). The fruit does not make the tree good; rather, it reveals the tree’s true nature. In the same way, our works do not make us saved, but they reveal the genuineness of our faith.

James’ teaching is not at odds with the truth of salvation by faith. Instead, he warns against a counterfeit faith—a faith that is claimed but not lived. Consider a lamp that has no light or a seed that never grows. Can such things fulfill their purpose? In the same way, faith that does not produce works is lifeless and cannot be called true faith. James calls us to examine our lives, not to earn salvation, but to ensure that the faith we profess is real and active.

Let us also look to the parable of the sheep and the goats in Matthew 25:31-46. Here, Jesus speaks of the righteous who cared for the hungry, the sick, and the imprisoned. Their works were not performed to earn salvation but were the natural outflow of hearts transformed by love for their King. The works were evidence of their relationship with Him. Jesus makes it clear that what we do for others, we do for Him. Such works are not the root of our salvation but its fruit.

The apostle John echoes this truth, writing, "If someone says, 'I love God,' and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen?" (1 John 4:20, NKJV). Love for God and love for others are inseparable, and true love always results in action.

Let us then understand the relationship between faith and works rightly. Works are not the price of salvation but the proof of it. They are the evidence of a heart that has been redeemed and renewed by the power of Christ. A living faith will always produce works of love, mercy, and obedience, just as a healthy tree produces fruit.

Do not let the enemy deceive you into thinking that your works can earn what Christ has already purchased for you on the cross. His sacrifice is sufficient, and your faith in Him is the key to eternal life. But also, do not let complacency take root, for a faith that does not move us to action is no faith at all.

I encourage you, my friends, to walk as Jesus walked, to love as He loved, and to serve as He served. Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven (Matthew 5:16). In doing so, you will not only honor God but also bear witness to the world of the saving grace of Jesus Christ.

May the Lord bless you and keep you, may He strengthen your faith and guide your works, and may your lives reflect the beauty of His love. Let us press on together, not striving to earn salvation but living as those who have already been redeemed.

With love in Christ,

JFF
Works are not extrinsic to salvation, so they are neither the root nor the fruit of salvation, buy rather being a doer of good works is intrinsically part of the gift of salvation. In Titus 2:11-13, our salvation is described as being trained by grace to do what is godly righteous, and good, and to renounce doing what is ungodly, so God graciously teaching us to experience being a doer of those works is part of His gift of salvation.

A gift can be the experience of doing something, such as giving someone the opportunity to experience driving a Ferrari for an hour, where the gift intrinsically requires them to do the work of driving it in order to have that experience, but where doing that work contributes nothing towards earning the opportunity to drive it. Likewise, God's gift of eternal life is the experience of knowing God and Jesus (John 17:3) and the gift of God's law is His instructions for how to have that experience, not for how to earn it (Exodus 33:13, Matthew 7:23). This is why Jesus said in Luke 10:25-28 that the way to inherit eternal life is by obeying the greatest two commandments and something that we inherit is a gift.
 
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JesusFollowerForever

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Works are not extrinsic to salvation, so they are neither the root nor the fruit of salvation, buy rather being a doer of good works is intrinsically part of the gift of salvation. In Titus 2:11-13, our salvation is described as being trained by grace to do what is godly righteous, and good, and to renounce doing what is ungodly, so God graciously teaching us to experience being a doer of those works is part of His gift of salvation.

A gift can be the experience of doing something, such as giving someone the opportunity to experience driving a Ferrari for an hour, where the gift intrinsically requires them to do the work of driving it in order to have that experience, but where doing that work contributes nothing towards earning the opportunity to drive it. Likewise, God's gift of eternal life is the experience of knowing God and Jesus (John 17:3) and the gift of God's law is His instructions for how to have that experience, not for how to earn it (Exodus 33:13, Matthew 7:23). This is why Jesus said in Luke 10:25-28 that the way to inherit eternal life is by obeying the greatest two commandments and something that we inherit is a gift.
Sometimes you think like the pharisees, please read James 2:14-26.
 
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Soyeong

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Sometimes you think like the pharisees, please read James 2:14-26.
Thank you, Paul also thought like a Pharisee (Acts 23:6).

While it is true that Abraham believed God, so he was declared righteous (Genesis 15:6), it is also true that he believed God, so he obeyed God’s command to offer Isaac (Hebrews 11:17), so the same faith by which he was declared righteous was also expressed by being an obeyer of God, but he did not earn his righteousness as the result of his obedience (Romans 4:1-5). In James 2:21-24, he quoted Genesis 15:6 to support saying that Abraham was declared righteous by his works when he offered Isaac, his faith was active along with his works, and his faith completed his works, so he was declared righteous by his works insofar as that is the way to have faith, but not insofar as he was earning a wage.

The one and only way for someone to attain a character trait is through faith and what it means for someone to attain a character trait is for them be to become a doer of that trait. For example, the only way for someone to become courageous is through faith apart from becoming required to have first done a certain amount of courageous works, but it would be contradictory for someone to become courageous apart from becoming a doer of courageous works, and the same goes for righteousness and ever other character trait. This is why the same faith by which we are declared righteous apart from works does not abolish our need to be a doer of righteous works in obedience to God’s law, but rather our faith upholds it (Romans 3:27-31. In other words, everyone who has faith will be declared righteous and everyone who has faith is a doer of righteous works in obedience to God’s law, which is how Paul can deny that we can earn our righteousness as the result of our works while also maintaining in Romans 2:13 that only the doers of God’s law will be declared righteous. Jesus expressed his righteousness by being a doer of God’s law, so that is also what we have the gift of getting to do by being imputed with his righteousness.
 
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fhansen

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I think a person without good fruit won’t be saved. Being a child of God and right actions go hand in hand. The problem is where someone takes the doctrine of Sola Fide and understands it to mean that a believer could sin like the devil until he dies and then still expect to enter heaven.
 
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com7fy8

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James says that faith without works is dead. And I note how he gives three examples of works of faith that he means.

> helping a needy person

> putting God first, like how Abraham offered up his son Isaac

> helping God's servants, like Rahab helped the Jewish spies

All these are works of love. And our Apostle Paul says we need >

"faith working through love" (in Galatians 5:6)

None of the examples of James are copy-cat religious works which any self-respecting psychopath could imitate and use to blend into a church which judges people by their outward acting!! But helping someone is personal, and Abraham communicated personally with God about what God wanted, and Rahab personally shared with the servants of the LORD. Love is personal and sharing with communication.

"Let all that you do be done with love." (1 Corinthians 16:14)

I would say such works are not "evidence" of faith, or "products"; but they are included in loving. You can not have one without the other. I think it can be like how a child who trusts the child's parents will do wholesome activities with Mom and Dad. And by doing love things with people who know how to love, the child can learn and grow and mature in how to love. So, the works are included, and they can serve to have the child and parents together doing things with one another.

So, like this, in our faith we are trusting God and therefore in submission to Him who has us doing what He desires to share with us. So, our works are included, automatically, in trusting and submitting to God in His love with His creativity being shared with us. While we do things in submissive sharing with God in us, we are exercising in His love affecting us to become more and more mature and stable in how Jesus is humble and gentle and all-loving and generously forgiving and able to share and care as family, in true intimacy. So, such works are essential, and to be discovered by personally submitting to God and doing what He has us do.
 
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