Christians: What exactly does it mean?

Question

What exactly does it mean in the Bible where it says "Faith without works is dead?"

How does someone put their faith into works? Can you give examples? Thanks and God bless :-)

Answer 1

Works done without faith are dead works. The Bible says, "All that is not of faith is sin" (Romans 14:23).

Faith by itself, without works, is dead 'faith' (James 2:17).

Those who have been saved by the grace of God are given faith to believe by God (Romans 7:17-25) so that it is all of God. We but have to ask for faith and God will give it! Once a person has God-given faith THEN they can procede to do the good works God ordained before creation for them to do. They do those works in faith, so God-given faith combines with God-ordained good works, and all the glory goes to God!

Answer 2

My interpretations of this, is exactly that, my personal interpretation ,of this quote.
Of course you will get many, many different views and the only thing you can do is decide which one feels good in your heart and your gut.

I feel that this states, unless you actually LIVE a life according to the TEACHINGS of Jesus, then just quoting the bible, or words without action, means nothing.

I am not a member of an organized religion, but I have studied many faiths and lived within a Christian Family whilst I was growing up.

I have found, especially on Answers R&S, that some will judge very easily, even though they feel they have "faith".
Also prejudice, hate, condemnation, fear is a no, no according to Jesus' teachings .Some "Christians" (not all)feel that "knowing" that they are right and everybody else is wrong, gives them leeway to do all the negative "works" judgement etc. because they have "faith".

I, for instance, call myself a Christian because I follow the teachings of Jesus, but I also follow the positive teachings (which is the basics of most religions) of Buddha etc. All religions believe that "faith without works is dead". All interpret it to their belief system.

The best I can do is go with how I feel. I try very hard not to judge, I am definitely not predjudiced towards anybody for any reason. I love my neighbour as myself, which to means that I give love out to everyone on this planet. I am trying, therefore, very hard, to have faith with "works", not because I want to be rewarded in any way, because it gives me a sense of peace and joy, within and without.

Answer 3

Are works really necessary if a person has faith?

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.”

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.

Answer 4

Rom 3:28 Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law.

The WORKS in question relate to observance of Yahweh's laws, judgments, statutes.

The passage you mention immediately reference Abraham just after it.

Gen 26:5 Because that Abraham obeyed my voice, and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws.

"BECAUSE",,,, this tells you why the covenant with Abraham in the first place. We should have the Faith of Abraham.

SO THEN, WHY this passage of Paul???
BEFORE Abraham acted in obedience HE HAD BEEN GIVEN FAITH TO BELIEVE.

Same with true believers today, but that does not mean we are to disobey the laws of Yahweh, but rather, WE ESTABLISH THEM!!

Rom 3:31 Do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid: yea, we establish the law.

Answer 5

It means and I don't support this that you must show your faith in charity be kind be caring love people you have no reason to love basically all that bull the bible preaches however I am not christian anymore but hey I am a nice person still so I will help you but however I will state no examples since I am against it.

Answer 6

Gal 5:6 what matters is FAITH that WORKS through LOVE.

faith AND works and not by faith alone (James 2:24)

God Bless
Robin

Answer 7

The example that James gave of Abraham is a very good one.

Abraham was willing to give up the son of promise because God had promised him a seed.

He knew that God would fulfill what he had promised and obeyed God in offering up Isaac, acting on his faith.

Our greatest works of faith are hidden within our hearts and are expressed through our everyday activities.

Answer 8

James is a minister of the Circumcision, which means he is addressing the Nation Israel and JEWS. Under their program of Law, faith without works IS dead. They were required to DO what God told them to DO in order to demonstrate their faith in Him.

Today, under the current gospel of the GRACE of God, we are told the opposite:

Romans 4:5 But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.
Ephesians 2:8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
Ephesians 2:9 Not of works, lest any man should boast.

Why? because God had a change in programs. Under the first program the Nation Israel was to lead all other nations to Christ. However, they did not believe themselves, and so God implemented something that He had KEPT SECRET so that the world could still be redeemed, even though Israel refused to cooperate. That program is called "the preaching of Jesus Christ ACCORDING to the REVELATION of the MYSTERY which was KEPT SECRET since the world began..."

God revealed the secret to PAUL for we who were to believe after him.

Works are excluded from salvation today. We are saved by GRACE alone thru faith alone in the finished work of Christ alone. AFTER we are saved we walk in those works which He prepared beforehand.

"Ephesians 2:10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.

For more information visit www.graceteacher.com

Answer 9

Doing the will of god in faith.

Answer 10

I think it just means let your fruits be shown. If you don't show your fruits to be a Christian yet claim to be Christian, you are a hypocrite. Jesus condemned the Pharisees for doing that exact thing.

In specific examples, one is the parable of the Good Samaritan. 2 religious leaders walked past a hurt man and they did not show their fruits. The Good Samaritan never knew the man, yet helped him, bandaged and fed him and even bought him a room. That is showing your fruit as a Christian.

Essentially said, "Faith without works is dead" means to show you are a Christian, not just say so.