Title: Faith and Works/James 2:14-26
Contents
Faith and works/James 2:14-26
Sometimes there is a debate about belief or deed. Which of these two takes precedence? is a problem Also, today's Christians are always the cause of internal conflict. However, the Bible does not say that faith and works are in an ambiguous relationship. In Romans, it is shown that only the righteous come through faith and deny human actions. The book of James treats faith without works as dead.
This shows that belief and action should not be considered separately, but should be together like two sides of the same coin.
When someone says how little faith is, people are talking about the good deeds that come from that person's faith.
In today's text, we are talking about faith without works, but it is not faith, but an illusion that disguises the form of faith.
A dead faith can never save a person. He knows the Bible with his head and confesses with his mouth, so he is known as a man of faith, but true faith does not come from his head, but from our heart. Deep down, knowing that you are a sinner who has no choice but to die, confess your sins, and come before him humbly, knowing that there is only one Lord Jesus Christ who can save you. In addition, he is the Lord of my life, and his Word is at the center of my life.
The reason why the Pharisees were so rebuked by the Lord was because they claimed to believe in God without true faith, and instead opposed the truth. He was looking at the hypocrisy that was full of things. In the text that comes, it is said that even the demons tremble when they know the existence of God toward the hypocrites who do not have true works. In other words, if you know that you have faith just by knowing the existence of God, you are on the same level as demons.
Then we introduce the two main characters of the living faith.
1. This is Abraham.
As a human being, Abraham also made an ethical mistake. He was twice greatly disgraced by the kings of the Gentiles by calling his wife a sister. Nevertheless, God recognized Abraham as righteous because of his obedience to his words. In Ur of the Chaldeans, when he was told to leave Haran, he obeyed without any objection, and when he was told to sacrifice his son Isaac, who was born at the age of 100, he went into action without any hesitation. In some ways, he seemed like a fanatic and a wrong person, but God was pleased with his faith and made him the father of faith.
2. This is Rahab.
Who else is Rahab? The Bible reveals that he was a man at the bottom of his life as a parasite in the city of Jericho. Nevertheless, how blessed are you to be proudly included in the ranks of the forefathers of faith? In a word, God does not look at his origins. He was able to rise to the ranks of the righteous by risking his life to protect the Israeli spies when they entered the city of Jericho. That is, he believed that the God whom the people of Israel serve is the true God, betrayed his country and religion, and was able to hide the Israeli spies. .
In this way, faith is a person who believes in the living God, transcending human morality, ethics, and religion, and regards His Word as life.