What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works? can faith save him?

Question

If a brother or sister be naked, and destitute of daily food, And one of you say unto them, Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled; notwithstanding ye give them not those things which are needful to the body; what doth it profit? Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone. 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. Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble.But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead? Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar? Seest thou how faith wrought with his works, and by works was faith made perfect? And the scripture was fulfilled which saith, Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness: and he was called the Friend of God. For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.

James, I'm very sorry, there was not enough room to quote the entire bible. I'm also sorry the portion I quoted somehow offends you. For all of those who claim to be Christian and condemn the witness of another Christian which happens to be scripture and not my own words, it is my sincere prayer you will someday begin to support and encourage one another and cease to display animosity, thus, making yourself a stumblingblock. God bless all of you and you will be in my thoughts and prayers.

correction Jim B, not James

Answer 1

That's a great section of Scripture. "faith, if it hath not works, is dead." Faith isn't just knowing that Christ died and was raised and is coming back soon. Its not true faith unless you are so sure you DO something about it. Also, true faith is in the truth. There is only one gospel, only one truth. True faith can only be had when one is convinced through the truth of the Scriptures. Then one can ACT with certainty.

I John 2:3-6
And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments. He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But whoso keepeth his word, in him verily is the love of God perfected: hereby know we that we are in him. He that saith he abideth in him ought himself also so to walk, even as he walked.

We must walk the talk. Its about keeping his commandments. When we have faith, we must walk as Christ walked, denying ourselves daily.

Great question; thanks!

Answer 2

The Bible tells us that good works alone DO NOT save us. We can be saved by faith alone. That doesn't mean don't do good works. God wants us to help others, it pleases Him. But they will not get us to Heaven. If a rich man and a poor man, both with good hearts come across a beggar. The poor man may give a nickel, be it all he has. The rich man will give a meal and an extra $20 to use. Does that make the gift of the poor man any less significant in God's eyes? No. "We have very little, but we offer all we have". That is a worthy attitude.

Answer 3

I'm not sure she has a question, just quoting James chapter 2, starting with verse 14 from the King James Version. (I'm familiar with the passage and went to www.blueletterbible.com to look it up, via copying and pasting.)

The the questioner: If you're trying to preach, I don't think this is the venue in which to do so. Also, I would think one would be less successful by using the King James Version. Not only does the average person not speak like that anymore, but it can be quite difficult to understand. While I consider my reading level high (I've been reading voaciously since I was four or three) and my vocabulary extensive, and my composition and comprehension skills to be quite good, I do think of the audience whom I'm addressing. Random preaching with archaic language may not be the way to go. It never had any effect of me. The more in your face, down my throat preaching I receive, the more I'm apt to ignore and regurgitate it.

What is your point in posting this?

Martin Luther preached that it is because of the joy of what God has done for us, of what we did not have to do, that we want to express it physically, i.e. "works". Yeah, faith alone might get one into heaven, but that would be boring. Because of what God and Jesus have done, one would want to happily express it through word and action.

Answer 4

"shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works." I, like James can't see your heart. The only way your faith in known to me is by your works. God can see your heart so before Him our faith saves through His grace. I can quote scripture as well as you can.. Because the Book of James isn't the whole of the Word we need to understand it as part of the whole. Therefore like James said saving faith will always be accompanied by good works but as Paul taught those works aren't our own but God doing them through us. We have no right to boost about how good we are because of them. Many unsaved people do good works all the time yet hold no faith, WORKS can't save.. If you could do enough good works to deserve salvation then Christ would have died in vain. Salvation MUST come only though faith.. Jim

Answer 5

Many will say Lord, Lord, only to hear, "I never knew you." Talking the talk is not enough. The walk's gotta get walked.

Faith without works is dead.

Answer 6

Good quote out of James, but do you have a question?

Answer 7

Man is not saved by works alone. Readath your Bibleath.

Answer 8

do you have a speech problem?

Answer 9

And your question is...............................