12 – 7 – 17 "Faith without works is dead." (4 minutes)

Matthew 7:24 - 26

"Everyone who listens to these words of mine and acts on them
will be like a wise man who built his house on rock.
The rain fell, the floods came,
and the winds blew and buffeted the house.
But it did not collapse; it had been set solidly on rock.
And everyone who listens to these words of mine
but does not act on them
will be like a fool who built his house on sand.
The rain fell, the floods came,
and the winds blew and buffeted the house.
And it collapsed and was completely ruined."

How can we tell if ours is the house built on rock or sand? Even if we have undergone seemingly serious trials they could only be precursors to the true tests that yet await us.

There is also an emphasis here not on just believing in Jesus’s preaching, but allowing his Word to change the way we live our lives. How could we really say we believed if it was not evident in our lives? What good is the praise we give God if it comes from lips that relish in gossip and ridicule? It is mere lip service, we are lying to ourselves, our neighbors, and God. Seldom do we deceive anyone but ourselves.

I am sure I am hyperbolizing, and I have written on it before, but there is this Protestant school of thought that all that matters are belief and one’s personal relationship with Jesus. They will often criticize Catholics and more conservative branches of the faith for trying to “earn” their way to Heaven. It’s often a fair criticism, I remember hearing my grandpa say he hoped he’d “done enough to get to Heaven” (which is plainly contradicting what the Church teaches).

But the question I see here is: what is your faith, your belief, worth if you don’t act on it? Indeed, how are you so sure of its quality and its depth without utilizing it, testing it? If I claimed to be the strongest man in the world but never stepped foot in a weight room you’d be justifiably suspicious of the claim. Why are we not suspicious of the same claim in the spiritual realm? If the light of Christ is really in someone, it should overflow and be evident in the way they live their life.

In a second way, examining that relationship, how valuable and close is your relationship with Jesus if you do not obey Him? Surely the way we show we love our parents is more so in our obedience to them and consideration of their wishes than by simply saying it. Why should it be any different with God?

And wouldn’t your relationship with God be an immensely strange one if you weren’t doing your absolute best to obey Him? Can you fathom what kind of conversations you’d be having? You’d be praising God as almighty, all-loving, and the source of all good. You’d be prostrating and pledging fealty and giving thanks. But then when He asks you to do something, do you ignore Him? I don’t even understand! How could you rationalize refusing the will of a being you are simultaneously praising as the type of God the Christian tradition posits?

I find any elevation of belief above action to be completely nonsensical. On the other hand there are multiple passages in scripture where Jesus and others bless those who have not heard the Word, who do not believe, but obey the law of God written in their hearts and live righteously. If the Bible is to be believed it is actually possible to get into Heaven without believing in God, while directly in this passage Jesus condemns those non-actors. It is consistent with much of the Gospel as there is little functional difference between these non-actors and hypocrites.

If either is more important than the other it would surely seem to be the kind of life we live. Our works and commitment to righteousness and love towards other people. I’m reaching this conclusion by the observation that one can get into Heaven by works alone, but not by faith (in the narrow definition of faith as a profession of a Christian creed) alone.

Another question that raises to me is whether a faith without works really deserves to be called a faith. I believe faith lends too much credit to this state of mind. Faith is a visceral and powerful experience that would compel one to action. This kind of state, of believing without action, could only be the result of some sort of intellectual acceptance of the theology of Christianity without any actual entry into that life. It is an academic appreciation, more like the way one would study engine efficiencies or astronomy than the way one would participate in a relationship or group.

James 2:14 - 26
¹⁴ What does it profit, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can faith save him? ¹⁵ If a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food, ¹⁶ and one of you says to them, “Depart in peace, be warmed and filled,” but you do not give them the things which are needed for the body, what does it profit? ¹⁷ Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.

¹⁸ But someone will say, “You have faith, and I have works.” Show me your faith without ^[a]your works, and I will show you my faith by ^[b]my works. ¹⁹ You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe—and tremble! ²⁰ But do you want to know, O foolish man, that faith without works is ^[c]dead? ²¹ Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered Isaac his son on the altar? ²² Do you see that faith was working together with his works, and by works faith was made ^[d]perfect? ²³ And the Scripture was fulfilled which says, “Abraham believed God, and it was ^[e]accounted to him for righteousness.” And he was called the friend of God. ²⁴ You see then that a man is justified by works, and not by faith only.

²⁵ Likewise, was not Rahab the harlot also justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out another way?

²⁶ For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.