Begin with 2 minutes of stillness and silence before God.
Before we begin our Daily Devo today, take a moment to read James 2:14-26. “For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so also faith apart from works is dead.” James 2:26
When reading James 2, it seems that this passage sits contrary to every other message about faith and works in the Bible. Throughout the rest of the scripture, it is made clear that salvation simply happens through faith alone for all who believe in Jesus Christ. James 5:24 says “Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life.” Similarly, Ephesians 2:8-9 says “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.” So what is the second half of James 2 telling us? Is it opposing the rest of God’s Word? How do we reconcile these words from James in light of the rest of scripture?
When we look at the context of this verse, we can see clearly that James isn’t saying something that opposes the rest of scripture or the message of the Gospel, but instead gives practical advice and clarity for living a life of faith. Just like we talked about yesterday, James was writing to the early believers, Christian Jews, scattered throughout the world. Many of these Jews, new to Christianity, were turning so far away from the religious and legalistic constraints of Judaism that they were misunderstanding newfound spiritual freedom to mean, “I can live however I want!” James is reminding them that true freedom in Christ means living in submission to Him, and just as a body with no spirit is known to be dead, faith with no evidence of life change is lifeless. The word “dead” in this sense means a faith that is useless and ineffective, not one that is “non-existent.” If we profess a faith in Christ, we have to also surrender to Him in obedience.
James isn’t saying that you have to do a certain number of good deeds or works to attain salvation. Instead, he is saying that works that glorify the Lord should be the fruit and overflow of a life of faithfulness! It’s not through works that we receive justification, but it’s our justification that spurs us on to good works that show evidence of Christ to those around us. True faith results in us doing something!
Take 2 minutes to reflect in silence.
Reflection:
Prayer: Lord, Thank You for Your Word that is as alive and relevant today as it was when it was first written. I know that it is through faith in You alone that I am saved, but help me to live out in a faith that is fully alive! Give me a faith that spurs me on to good works for Your Kingdom. Amen.
Family Devo: James 2
By: Lauren Strickland
When partnering with your family to know, love, and follow Jesus, we strive to create and share content filtered by the Head-Heart-Hands model.
Head: the knowledge of God and His Word | Heart: the personal connection from scripture | Hands: a missional mindset
Head (James 2:2-4)
James writes to tell Jesus Followers that our faith is best shown through our love. Imagine you have a friend who is lonely and hungry. You could say, “I will pray for you!” And that is good! Prayer is powerful! Now, what if you also gave your friend some food and spent time with them? Well, that’s even better! This is what James is saying; that our belief in God can be seen in the way we treat others.
He gives us a great example in verses 2-4. James says that people who know, love, and follow Jesus treat everyone with love. In Jesus’s eyes, every single person is important and loved. He treated every person he met with great kindness. He didn’t treat some better than others because of how they dressed or what they looked like. We want to see others the way Jesus does —with LOVE! We don’t want to play favorites — befriending some and ignoring others.
James says that saying, “I believe in God!” and not doing things that truly show it, isn’t much good. Our actions should match our faith!
Heart
Let’s think back to that race from our devotion on Monday. Imagine a pair of running shoes. Now, picture one of those shoes as your faith (your belief in God and all that He stands for). Picture the other shoe as your actions. You can’t go far in the race wearing just one of your race-day shoes! You need both to run the race well! The same is true with faith and actions —they go together! To know and love God is to follow him!
Hands
Talk about some practical, everyday ways we can show God’s love to:
- people who may not look like you or think like you?
Prayer: Dear God, Thank You for loving us always! Help us love others well. We want our words and our actions to show the world that you are trustworthy and full of love. Give us courage to love others even when it's hard! Put people in our path today whom we can show Your great love.