Tag Archives: faith without works

Joyce Meyer

Joyce Meyer – Express Your Faith

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Because if you acknowledge and confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord and in your heart believe (adhere to, trust in, and rely on the truth) that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart a person believes (adheres to, trusts in, and relies on Christ) and so is justified (declared righteous, acceptable to God), and with the mouth he confesses (declares openly and speaks out freely his faith) and confirms [his] salvation. —ROMANS 10:9,10

This is a very important principle that we are in danger of missing. We are saved by faith, but James said that faith without works is dead. I can believe in my heart that God is worthy of worship; but if I don’t take action to worship Him, it doesn’t do much good. I can say I believe in tithing; but if I don’t tithe, it won’t help me financially. Be bold—take some action and be expressive in your praise and worship. A lot of people even refuse to talk about God. They say, “Religion is a private thing.” I cannot find anyone in the Bible who met Jesus and kept it private.

When we are excited about praising and worshipping Him, it is difficult to have no outward expression. When He fills our hearts, the good news about Him comes out of our mouths.

Greg Laurie

Greg Laurie – Best-Dressed

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“Let us be glad and rejoice, and let us give honor to him. For the time has come for the wedding feast of the Lamb, and his bride has prepared herself. She has been given the finest of pure white linen to wear.” For the fine linen represents the good deeds of God’s holy people. —Revelation 19:7–8

Everyone wants to look their best on their wedding day. It is not the day for the groom to wear his comfortable T-shirt with holes in it. Nor will a bride stop by Taco Bell on the way to the ceremony and wolf down a burrito in her beautiful, immaculate wedding gown.

In the book of Ephesians, the apostle Paul wrote about a wedding ceremony in which the church will be presented to Christ as His bride, who is “without a spot or wrinkle or any other blemish . . .” (Ephesians 5: 27). We want to be wearing our Sunday best, if you will, when we are presented to Christ.

Revelation 19:8 describes the church as His bride, saying, ” ‘She has been given the finest of pure white linen to wear.’ For the fine linen represents the good deeds of God’s holy people.”

When we become Christians, we are forgiven of all our sins, and the righteousness of Christ is placed into our spiritual bank account, so to speak. This is called justification. We are made righteous positionally.

Revelation 19:8, however, is talking about practical righteousness, or the righteousness that comes as a result of positional righteousness. We are not saved by works; we are saved by grace: “God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God” (Ephesians 2:8). However, once you are saved, there should be works in your life. Works don’t save a person, but they are good evidence that a person is saved.

It comes down to this: You can have works without faith, but you cannot have real faith without works. Is there spiritual fruit in your life? Is there any evidence that you are a follower of Jesus?

John MacArthur

John MacArthur – Dead Faith Versus Demonic Faith

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“Someone may well say, ‘You have faith, and I have works; show me your faith without the works, and I will show you my faith by my works.’ You believe that God is one. You do well; the demons also believe, and shudder. But are you willing to recognize, you foolish fellow, that faith without works is useless?” (James 2:18- 20).

In recent years there has been an alarming rise in the number of professing Christians who believe that there’s no necessary relationship between what they believe and what they do. They say you can’t judge a person’s spiritual condition by what he or she does because salvation is a matter of faith alone–as if requiring works violates the principle of faith.

It was that kind of reasoning that prompted James to issue this challenge: “You have faith, and I have works; show me your faith without the works, and I will show you my faith by my works” (James 2:18). The Greek word translated “show” means “to exhibit,” “demonstrate,” or “put on display.” His point is simple: it’s impossible to verify true faith apart from holy living because doctrine and deed are inseparable.

Can you know if someone is a Christian by watching his behavior? According to James, that’s the only way to know! In verse 19 he says, “You believe that God is one. You do well; the demons also believe, and shudder.” In other words, affirming orthodox doctrine isn’t necessarily proof of saving faith. Demons believe in the oneness of God, and its implications fill them with fear, but they aren’t saved. The phrase “you do well” is intentionally sarcastic. The implication is that demonic faith is better than non- responsive faith because at least the demons shudder, which is better than no response at all.

You can’t be a Christian in creed only–you must be one in conduct as well! James makes that very clear. Don’t be confused or deceived by those who teach otherwise. Continually aim your life at bringing glory to God through obedient application of biblical truth.

Suggestions for Prayer:

Reaffirm to the Lord your commitment to abide by His Word.

For Further Study:

Read John 8:12-47. Make a list of doctrines and deeds that characterize dead faith and a corresponding list of those that characterize true faith.

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Campus Crusade for Christ; Bill Bright – Real Freedom

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“If the Son therefore shall make you free, you shall be free indeed” (John 8:36, KJV).

A dedicated, but defeated, young missionary returned from the field devastated because of his failure; first, to live the Christian life; and second, to introduce others to the Savior. He came to my office for counsel.

I explained to him that the Christian life is simply a matter of surrendering our lives to the risen Christ and appropriating the fullness of God’s Holy Spirit by faith. “Relax,” I said. “Let the Lord Jesus Christ live and love through you. Let Him seek and save the lost through your life.”

He became very impatient with me. “You dilute and distort the gospel,” he insisted. “It really costs to serve Jesus. I have made great sacrifices on the mission field. I have worked day and night. I struggled. It has cost me my health – though I am prepared to die for Christ – but you make it too easy, and I cannot accept what your are saying.” He left my office in anger.

Later he called for another appointment, saying, “I don’t agree with you, but there’s a quality in your life that I want for myself, and I’d like to talk further.”

Again I explained, “The just shall live by faith. All the supernatural resources of God are available to us by faith, not by our sacrifice and good works – though good works must follow faith, for faith without works is dead.”

As we talked, his attitude began to change. Then some days later I received a letter filled with praise, worship and adoration to God as he described the miracle that had taken place in his life. He had discovered the liberating truth of the principle that God’s grace is available to us by faith. The Christian life is supernatural. No individual is capable of living it apart from the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus explains it in John 15:4,5: “As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine, no more can ye, except ye abide in Me. I am the vine, ye are the branches…without Me ye can do nothing.”

It is His supernatural life, in all of its resurrection power, released through the ministry of the Holy Spirit, that enables us to live supernatural lives for the glory of God. Only then can we be free, for the Son alone can liberate us.

Bible Reading: Romans 8:1-6

TODAY’S ACTION POINT: By faith, I shall act upon my rights as a child of God and claim the supernatural power of the Son of God. Knowing that He has already set me free, through His death and resurrection, I am confident that He will enable me to experience that freedom, moment by moment, so that I may live the supernatural life to which I have been called.