Are works really necessary if a person has faith?

Question

Jas. 2:17, 18, 21, 22, 26: “Faith, if it does not have works, is dead in itself. Nevertheless, a certain one will say: ‘You have faith, and I have works. Show me your faith apart from the works, and I shall show you my faith by my works.’ Was not Abraham our father declared righteous by works after he had offered up Isaac his son upon the altar? You behold that his faith worked along with his works and by his works his faith was perfected. Indeed, as the body without spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead.”

Illustration: A young man may court a young lady, telling her that he loves her. But if he never asks her to marry him, is he really demonstrating that his love is thorough? Likewise, works are a means of demonstrating the genuineness of our faith and our love. If we do not obey God we do not really love him or have faith in the rightness of his ways. (1 John 5:3, 4) But we cannot earn salvation no matter what works we do. Eternal life is a gift from God through Jesus Christ, not payment for our works.—Eph. 2:8, 9.

The reason why i posted this is because i know certain christians think works are unneccessary. i want their opinions on this.

Answer 1

Jesus is "the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey Him"!
(Hebrews 5:9)

"Without faith it is impossible to please Him..."
(Hebrews 11:6)

Faith and works of obedience go together. One is incomplete without the other.

Faith is believing and trusting God enough to do what He says to do, in the way he has said to do it! If we will not obey, therefore, we cannot be saved because there is something wrong with our faith. Works of obedience makes our faith alive and able to save.

If we will not obey, or if we delay in obeying, then we are putting something else before God.

Answer 2

The question of faith alone or faith plus works is made difficult by some hard-to-reconcile Bible passages. Compare Romans 3:28, 5:1 and Galatians 3:24 with James 2:24. Some see a difference between Paul (salvation is by faith alone) and James (salvation is by faith plus works). In reality, Paul and James did not disagree at all. The only point of disagreement some people claim is over the relationship between faith and works. Paul dogmatically says that justification is by faith alone (Ephesians 2:8-9) while James appears to be saying that justification is by faith plus works. This apparent problem is answered by examining what exactly James is talking about. James is refuting the belief that a person can have faith without producing any good works (James 2:17-18). James is emphasizing the point that genuine faith in Christ will produce a changed life and good works (James 2:20-26). James is not saying that justification is by faith plus works, but rather that a person who is truly justified by faith will have good works in his life. If a person claims to be a believer, but has no good works in his life – then he likely does not have genuine faith in Christ (James 2:14, 17, 20, 26).

Answer 3

To continue with your demonstration...if the young man truly loves the young lady, he will ask her to marry him, and he will take great joy in making her happy.
Love is like that. It isn't as if he thinks "I have to do this for her, even though I don't really want to"...the love in him for her just bubbles up out of him, and they are both happy.
It is the same with faith and works. If you truly have faith, works will follow naturally...in the way that a healthy vine produces fruit. The vine doesn't agonize over the decision about whether or not it is necessary for it to bloom...it just does, because it is natural for it to do so.
"Love" is a verb...it is an action word.
It really is that simple.

Answer 4

I don't know a for sure answer, but you kind of hit around it. If you love someone, you want to make them happy. You want to do their will, in this case the will of the Father. If the Father says to obey is better then sacrifice, then obeying His commands would make Him happy. On the other hand, we are no longer bound by the law.

I believe that if you love the father, works will come as a result of wanting to please Him. I don't know that they are necessary, but I know that the works come with faith. The stronger your faith, the more the works out of a desire to please the Father not to work your way to heaven.

Answer 5

I think sometimes we forget that getting Born Again is a totally different experience. The rebirth Spiritually is what gets you to Heaven, the Baptism of the Holy Spirit, there is no work you can do to deserve that. Its all about Grace and Mercy. We are all sinners, before Salvation and After. Jesus died once to pay for it all. Praise the Lord!!

Answer 6

James does say that faith without works is dead. But we do not 'get to heaven' by doing good works. We get to heaven by confessing our sin, receiving Jesus as Lord and Savior and repenting, which means turning from our old life not pleasing to God to one that follows Jesus. When we accept Jesus, we should want to do good works We may get to heaven but we will be judged and asked , "What did you do with what I gave you?" (Read the parable of the talents in the Gospel)

Answer 7

Your works are very necessary......

Rev 20:13 And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man ACCORDING TO THEIR WORKS!

2 Thessalonians 3:10

New American Standard Bible (©1995)
For even when we were with you, we used to give you this order: if anyone is NOT WILLING TO WORK, then he is not to eat, either.

If you will not work, you'll probably not be seated at the marriage supper of the Lamb either.

BEHOLD I KNOW YOUR WORKS! Rev 3:8

Answer 8

While it is true that GOOD WORKS will not get your ticket punched for Heaven they are a result of your Faith.
Thus, Faith without Works is dead.

Answer 9

Faith without works is dead.

Answer 10

Faith will lead to good works. Faith will lead to a changed life. Faith will cause you to be a kinder better person...Faith in Christ that is.