Works Do Not Lead To Salvation, But Validates It To Others While Fulfilling Jesus’ Will

Word-of-the-Day: ‘(14) What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them? (15) Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. (16) If one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about their 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 my deeds.’ (James 2:14-18)

The world always seems to be in conflict; if it is not full-scale wars being fought, it is skirmishes between factions, or criminals committing trespasses against their victims.  If its not conflicts, it’s natural disasters, plagues, famines, and diseases that strike at us on a continual basis.  If we are blessed at avoiding those, we still must battle financial issues, and those small-scale personal catastrophes that strike us, like the car having a flat tire or a dead battery right when you need to go to an appointment. 

It was that great theologian Jim Morrison of the Doors (well, he may not have been that great of a theologian) who once stated, “No one here gets out alive”, and there will always be something that will cause one’s demise, either quickly or lingering, a ‘death of a thousand cuts’, or the constant stress of the little battles we have daily accumulating into one giant chronic pain that we feel is unescapable, a bad cloud that continually seems to float over us.

For the Faithful Believer, we often turn to Jesus for His help in lifting those burdens off our shoulders, and to provide for others help in lifting theirs.  Some unfortunately do an action that I call, ‘pray and forget’.  We pray for the Lord’s assistance, and then absolve ourselves of either taking any action to help ourselves or to help others.  The mindset is ‘Jesus got this; I no longer have to do <X, Y, and/or Z> because He’s going to find someone else to do these things for me/others.’

And, the truth is, sometimes we must have that mindset and the Faith that Jesus will take care of those situations that we cannot physically assist in.  A church member who is having serious health issues should not expect me, a medical novice, in treating their malady (my expertise is limited to using rubbing alcohol, band-aids, WD-40, or duct tape); they need the Lord to provide them the appropriate resource.  If not His healing touch, then His direction and discernment to provide a medical specialist who can treat their illness or injury with their knowledge and skills.  We do need Jesus to ‘quarterback’ and lead us in these times, and the Faith He will provide what is needed.

But James, the half-brother of Jesus who wrote this Epistle, understood that in many cases we must step out in our Faith to help ourselves and help others.  It follows the teachings of his sibling Jesus, who teaches us in the Beatitudes and the overall Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5 through 7) to help those in need and to be ones to seek common ground with our enemies in order to win them over to Him.  Later, in Matthew 22:34-40, Jesus provides the Greatest Commandments, love God and love others as you love yourself.  Acting in this way sets us up to obey the Great Commission, to go share the Gospel of Christ to those who do not yet believe and have Faith in Him (Matthew 28:16-20, Acts 1:8).

This means we will take action on behalf of Jesus, in prayer and in stepping out in Faith that the actions we take follow what He would do.  Jesus enlists the church, His Believers, as His ‘force on the ground’ to accomplish that which is necessary to do.  While supernatural interventions do occur, it is often Jesus using His people to accomplish what needs to be done.

It is important to understand what we are blessed with, in time, treasures, and talents, all come from Him.  They are given for our own needs (helping ourselves), as well as for the needs of others.  James provides that Faith is a response to Jesus’ gift of Salvation, that we will want to serve Him in the capacity that he provides for us, to accomplish His Great Commission and to unite the Fellowship of Believers by caring for their needs.

I must stress we do not have a works-based Salvation; Jesus freely gives Salvation to all who come to Him in repentance of their sins, and in acceptance of Him as their Lord.  There is nothing we can do that will ‘earn’ or ‘buy’ His Salvation as, bluntly, Jesus needs nothing that we could offer Him as it all from Him anyway.  But with our Faith should come a Spiritual desire to worship Him and obey His edicts, especially in sharing the Gospel message with others.

The desire to worship Him should be a desire to study and learn Biblical doctrines and Godly principles, to be in Fellowship with other Believers, and to pray continually to seek His counsel through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.  It is not always simply throwing money at a worthy cause (though it can be part of the equation).  It is also taking the time from our lives to do those things that promote the Gospel; like serving in areas that physically help others in need, caring for the needs of the church, or providing for the Spiritual needs of others through counsel, visitations, and prayers (and even being long-winded in a blogpost).

These deeds are often not a burden but a blessing; the work we do for the cause of Christ often give us a satisfaction that we often would not have if it was done for payment or the approval of others.  These actions are often not burdensome as with others they are often light, and part of other activities. 

Being alone or in fellowship with other believers in public, doing something of a personal, non-Biblical nature – like a walk through the local mall to get your steps in – may lead to opportunities to witness to those you meet in the course of your activities.

Or, you may come across an opportunity to help another in need, such as someone in the grocery line who realizes at the checkout that the total of their food purchase exceeds the amount they have in their wallet.  If you have the means to cover the amount they owe, that is blessing them and opening the opportunity to share the Gospel with them.

Sometimes we can’t help someone monetarily, or we may not have the time or ability to intervene and help.  In those cases, we can pray for the Lord to provide what is needed for another.  Sometimes it can be a ‘heavy lift’ on our part, and in other situations it may simply be that we say an encouraging word where we plant a seed of Faith in their ear.  Living for Jesus is not simply something we do for ourselves, but something we do for needs of others through the Lord’s provisions and capabilities He gives us. 

Ask not just what your Jesus and your church can do for you, but ask what you can do for your church and your Jesus…