Living a Dead Faith

James 2:17

Near the middle of the second chapter of James' letter, he writes, "So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead." (ESV)

When you read that, I pray that this verse shakes some people. This verse is very short and can be broken down easily, so we'll get into it. In this chapter James was talking about doing good works, and then he throws this verse in the mix. Looking at the overall verse, James is pretty much saying that if you talk the talk but don't walk the walk, then your faith is worthless. And that's true! What kind of Savior would Jesus be if all He did was walk around and say He's the Son of God without performing miracles or traveling or allowing Himself to be crucified? He wouldn't be a Savior! The main goal for believers is to go out and share the Gospel to the ends of the earth, you can't do that if you're sitting on your couch all day and not doing anything to benefit the Kingdom. That is our goal: building up the Kingdom and sharing what God has to say.

So what is James ultimately saying here? If you are living a faith without works, you are a hypocrite, you're lukewarm, you are not building up the Kingdom of God, and Jesus will ultimately spit you out of His MOUTH! By sitting down playing XBOX all day or gossiping and partying every night (No judgement intended at all), you are not glorifying God, you are being idle. James says your faith is dead. If you are doing nothing physically to go out and live your life dedicated to Jesus, your faith may as well be dead, and a dead faith is a faith that God won't accept. This verse is simple and hard to the punch, but has the most truest of words. If you talk the talk then you better walk the walk, because Jesus won't have a lukewarm attendee in His Kingdom.