SCRIPTURE: James 2
OBSERVATION/APPLICATION:
What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them? Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead. [James 2:14-17]
Faith without action is dead.
True faith acts, real faith produces results.
Confidence in God and faith in Jesus is not just a password into heaven.
It is acceptance of all that God is and does, and commitment to be and do the same.
Faith is not just mental agreement to certain facts, it is wholehearted engagement with God and His will, a connecting of our heart with His.
You can tell a true Jesus-follower by how they express love for God and others.

If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples. [John 15:6-8]
Jesus describes faith as more than affirming certain beliefs, it is to ‘remain in’ (or ‘abide in’) Him, to cling to Him and His words (teaching).
Living faith produces results (or fruit), and fruitless faith is dead, good only for the fire.
You can tell a true Jesus-follower by how they express love for God and others.

Too often in the history of the church, faith has lost its meaning.
It became more about right doctrines than about righteous living.
One reason was the fear that people would mistakenly think that their good deeds made them acceptable to God.
But no amount of good deeds makes God love us, because He already loves us.
We love BECAUSE He loves us, we do good BECAUSE of His goodness to us.
Our good deeds are to be the overflow of our love for Him Who first loved us.

But the lesson that we need to seriously consider today is this – are we truly in Christ?
The way we can tell is whether we are actively loving people around us.
To be in Christ is to be transformed, to become someone new – committed to giving love more than being loved.
For those who are in Christ, there is a gradual shift from selfish to selfless living.
This is the fruit that brings glory to God, this is the evidence of true faith.
The devil (says James) believes in God, but He does not love God and people, therefore His ‘faith’ is not living but dead.
Is my faith living or dead, selfless or selfish, active or fruitless?

PRAYER:
Lord, I see evidence of both selfishness and selflessness in my heart. Help me to take the necessary steps to remain in You, that I may have an active, living faith.