Faith Without Works - It just ain't happenin'!

Let me start by saying that FAITH is what saves. Works has nothing to do with it. Sanctification is by FAITH. Works has nothing to do with that either. Yet, James says that faith without works is dead. What? Dead faith? I thought faith was life giving?
Well, of course faith is life giving! Faith comes from God! For by grace are you saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God. But faith without works is dead? Really? What does this mean?

As a grace person, I have questioned this many times. I know that there is no work for me to do. I know that the only 'work' that Christ has for us is to believe unto salvation. I know that there are no 'shall's and 'shall not's for the Christian. So what are these works?

They are simply the simple outflows of Christ! It is the fruit! By your fruit you will know them. These works are not something that we do, but something that Christ does through us! These works are not something for us, but something for others to see Christ! These works are evidence to a lost world that Christ has made a difference in our lives.

James 2:18 "Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works."

So, a random 'good person' walks up to a random 'good Christian.' The Christian says, "Hey, you need to get saved!!" The good person says, "Nah, I have good works, I don't need anything else. I'm ok." (like the man who told Jesus that he had kept the 10 commandments from his youth) The Christian insists that salvation comes by faith alone, and the good person says, "Sure, prove it! I'm living a good life, but you are just talking a good life."

Hmmm... So James says, "I will show you my faith! I will give visible evidence to you of my faith. You will see it in my works. But were they 'James' works?? Did James then strive harder and harder to achieve a Christ-like life? No, of course not. In fact, James was a total grace freak!!! SWEET! :)

James 1:25 But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed.

Can I just say I'm losing it right now!!!!!! I have heard vs. 22-24 so many times 'be a doer, be a doer, yada yada yada. But WOW! James says those who walk in liberty, those who live totally absorbed in the precious grace of God, those people who are FREE indeed, are doers of the work! These people have looked at Grace, and not turned away. These people have looked at Christ and chosen to surrender all and abide in Him, and works are a natural outflow of that! Christ in us, leading us to work for His Kingdom. Some of these things are works we are not even conscious of until after the fact, some of them are things we choose to do at the Spirit's prompting, but all of them are for one purpose: to show our faith to the lost, that people will be saved and that God will get the glory!

Let's back up a bit: Faith is life-giving. Faith gives life to me! Faith brings Christ's resurrected life to this dead spirit. Faith rocks! But, faith without works is dead because it doesn't give life to others. There is life in me, but not life for others. It's kinda like a married couple that are both perfectly fertile. They have everything they need to pass on their 'life' to a new generation. But they never have intercourse. They never consummate their relationship. Hmmm. Wonder where the children are?? What's wrong? They never 'did' anything! We have life. We are perfectly fertile Christians with the very life-Giver Himself dwelling within us... but where are our works? Where is the 'deed' that brings about New Life?

I'm not saying that we need to evangelize more, or soul-win more, or door-knock more, or start nagging all of our friends. NO!!! That is not the moral of the story!! Those are just works. I'm not talking about plain old works. I'm talking about works that spring up naturally out of love for Jesus. These aren't works you have to write down on a list so you don't forget them, or works that you need guilt-trip yourself over if you neglect them. These are works that the Spirit will guide you into and you will look back and giggle to yourself, and wonder with amazement that He allowed you to be his instrument!

But, you still have to take the initiative. We all have the option to look into the law of liberty, face that mirror, see what the Spirit wants to do in our lives to affect the lives of others, and only talk about it.