Even the Demons Shudder!
18 But someone will say, “You have faith; I have deeds.” Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by my deeds. 19 You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder.
Today James wants to make sure to teach that faith will always lead to deeds. This is not to be confused by the argument some were making that deeds equal faith. The argument would be, "you have faith with out deeds, I have deeds without faith, what's the difference?" Well the difference is deeds never equal faith. And, deeds never will save a person. After all if we could be saved by works, Jesus didn't need to die on the cross! And if deeds did save us, how many good deeds would one have to do to be saved. One. A hundred. A thousand. You can see how problematic this thinking is.
These people were arguing that there was one God so what did it matter? Meaning whether it is faith or deeds since it is all directed to God what is the problem? Notice this is the same argument used for today's philosophy that "all roads lead to God". All that matters is that we try hard to please God, and do noble things like work for world peace or end world hunger. Notice these are both problems that all Christians should be concerned about and be active in eradicating. Yet, this is not more important that faith in what God has done for us. This is often misunderstood and causes many problems.
Finally, James says something shocking! He says even demons believe there is one God. Demons even know there is a God, after all they are created spiritual beings who fell away from God. But they are actively working against those who believe in God. So what is this saying? Information doesn't lead to transformation. Head knowledge doesn't lead to heart knowledge. Meaning we can know facts about God but that doesn't mean we trust and rely in Him for everything, especially in the one gift he has given us for salvation, Jesus Christ.
I would argue that this is still one of the chief problems in the church today. Discipleship, as Jesus defined it, is about following. Following is about trust that leads to action. And often those actions result in good deeds. James' teaching is very relevant today as we think correctly about the Christian faith. Especially the order, that faith leads to deeds, not visa versa!
Today James wants to make sure to teach that faith will always lead to deeds. This is not to be confused by the argument some were making that deeds equal faith. The argument would be, "you have faith with out deeds, I have deeds without faith, what's the difference?" Well the difference is deeds never equal faith. And, deeds never will save a person. After all if we could be saved by works, Jesus didn't need to die on the cross! And if deeds did save us, how many good deeds would one have to do to be saved. One. A hundred. A thousand. You can see how problematic this thinking is.
These people were arguing that there was one God so what did it matter? Meaning whether it is faith or deeds since it is all directed to God what is the problem? Notice this is the same argument used for today's philosophy that "all roads lead to God". All that matters is that we try hard to please God, and do noble things like work for world peace or end world hunger. Notice these are both problems that all Christians should be concerned about and be active in eradicating. Yet, this is not more important that faith in what God has done for us. This is often misunderstood and causes many problems.
Finally, James says something shocking! He says even demons believe there is one God. Demons even know there is a God, after all they are created spiritual beings who fell away from God. But they are actively working against those who believe in God. So what is this saying? Information doesn't lead to transformation. Head knowledge doesn't lead to heart knowledge. Meaning we can know facts about God but that doesn't mean we trust and rely in Him for everything, especially in the one gift he has given us for salvation, Jesus Christ.
I would argue that this is still one of the chief problems in the church today. Discipleship, as Jesus defined it, is about following. Following is about trust that leads to action. And often those actions result in good deeds. James' teaching is very relevant today as we think correctly about the Christian faith. Especially the order, that faith leads to deeds, not visa versa!
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