Wednesday after the Thirteenth Sunday after Trinity Sunday
Posted on September 6, 2023 by under
Scripture: James 2:14-26 (NKJV)
2:14 What does it profit, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can faith save him? 15 If a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food, 16 and one of you says to them, “Depart in peace, be warmed and filled,” but you do not give them the things which are needed for the body, what does it profit? 17 Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.
18 But someone will say, “You have faith, and I have works.” Show me your faith without your works, and I will show you my faith by my works. 19 You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe—and tremble! 20 But do you want to know, O foolish man, that faith without works is dead? 21 Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered Isaac his son on the altar? 22 Do you see that faith was working together with his works, and by works faith was made perfect? 23 And the Scripture was fulfilled which says, “Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.” And he was called the friend of God. 24 You see then that a man is justified by works, and not by faith only.
25 Likewise, was not Rahab the harlot also justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out another way?
26 For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.
Devotion
This passage is often considered one of the hardest passages of Scripture, but it does not need to be. We believe, teach, and confess that we are saved by grace alone, through faith, not through works. St. Paul says this very clearly in Romans 4:1-3: “What then shall we say that Abraham our father has found according to the flesh? For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. For what does the Scripture say? ‘Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.’”
Is James here denying that we are saved by grace alone, through faith alone? By no means! He is simply saying that saving faith expresses itself in love for God and for our neighbor. It is hypocrisy for those of us who claim to believe to then turn around and refuse to help those in need. James also uses the example of Abraham, but he shows how Abraham’s works demonstrated his faith, because Abraham trusted that God could raise him from the dead. What James is speaking against, as he says, is someone who claims to have faith, but refuses to show generosity by giving to those in need. Abraham believed, and it showed through in what he did; we believe, and it shows in what we do. It is only God’s grace and Christ’s merit that save us.
Collect: Almighty and Everlasting God, give unto us the increase of faith, hope, and charity; and that we may obtain that which Thou dost promise, make us to love that which Thou dost command; through Jesus Christ, Thy Son, our Lord, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, ever One God, world without end. Amen.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
