James 2:14–26 ¹⁴ What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him? ¹⁵ Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. ¹⁶ If one of you says to him, “Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? ¹⁷ In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead. ¹⁸ But someone will say, “You have faith; I have deeds.” Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do. ¹⁹ You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder. ²⁰ You foolish man, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless? ²¹ Was not our ancestor Abraham considered righteous for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? ²² You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did. ²³ And the scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness,” and he was called God’s friend. ²⁴ You see that a person is justified by what he does and not by faith alone. ²⁵ In the same way, was not even Rahab the prostitute considered righteous for what she did when she gave lodging to the spies and sent them off in a different direction? ²⁶ As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.

Faith is belief in something. Faith in Christ is trusting in what He did for you: living a perfect life, paying for the sins of the world, conquering death and the grave. Faith in Christ focuses on what He has done, not what we do. If we sinners look within ourselves for anything to contribute to our salvation, we die. Our constant gaze should be fixed upon Christ and His cross, where the sinless Son of God suffered and died in our place. We have to look outside of ourselves and to Christ who gives us life.

Christian faith is to be faith in Christ! And James tells us that our faith will be seen by others by the way we live, the things we do and the things we do not do. It is not faith that emphasizes what I have done, but rather faith in Christ alone. Faith does not earn or accomplish anything for our salvation. Faith receives the promise of the Word that Christ died to save sinners. Faith receives the blessings of Baptism, which are forgiveness of sins, life and salvation. Faith receives the blessings of Holy Communion, which again are forgiveness and the certainty of eternal life. Faith causes none of these things to happen. It simply receives and accepts them as God’s gifts to us.

Because of all we receive through faith, good works should be the result:  I WILL SHOWYOU MY FAITH BY WHAT I DO. What I do is not my faith. But what I do shows you that I have faith, that I have received the free gift of God. Everything that I do should be seen as the outgrowth of what Christ has already done for me through His perfect life, His complete sacrifice for sin, and His victory over death in His resurrection.