Today's encouragement
Focused!
Scripture regarding Opportunity
Galatians 6:10 The Message (MSG)
9-10 So let’s not allow ourselves to get fatigued doing good. At the right time we will harvest a good crop if we don’t give up, or quit. Right now, therefore, every time we get the chance, let us work for the benefit of all, starting with the people closest to us in the community of faith.
God's words: James 2:14-26
Keeping it Moving: Shoulder, Biceps, Triceps, Abs
Sunday School Lesson
Faith without Works Is Dead - James 2:14-26
James 2:14-26 AMP (Amplified)
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James 2:14-26 MSG
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James 2:14-26 Amplified Bible (AMP)
Faith and Works
14 What is the benefit, my fellow believers, if someone claims to
have faith but has no [good] works [as evidence]? Can that [kind of] faith
save him? [No, a mere claim of faith is not sufficient—genuine faith produces
good works.] 15 If a brother or sister is without [adequate] clothing and
lacks [enough] food for each day, 16 and one of you says to them, “Go in
peace [with my blessing], [keep] warm and feed yourselves,” but he does not
give them the necessities for the body, what good does that do? 17 So too,
faith, if it does not have works [to back it up], is by itself dead
[inoperative and ineffective].
18 But someone may say, “You [claim to] have faith and I have [good]
works; show me your [alleged] faith without the works [if you can], and I
will show you my faith by my works [that is, by what I do].” 19 You believe
that [a]God is one; you do well [to believe that]. The demons also believe
[that], and shudder and bristle [in awe-filled terror—they have seen His
wrath]! 20 But are you willing to recognize, you foolish [spiritually
shallow] person, that faith without [good] works is useless? 21 Was our
father Abraham not [shown to be] justified by works [of obedience which
expressed his faith] when he offered Isaac his son on the altar [as a
sacrifice to God]? 22 You see that [his] faith was working together with his
works, and as a result of the works, his faith was completed [reaching its
maturity when he expressed his faith through obedience]. 23 And the Scripture
was fulfilled which says, “Abraham believed God, and this [faith] was
credited to him [by God] as righteousness and as conformity to His will,” and
he was called the friend of God. 24 You see that a man (believer) is justified
by works and not by faith alone [that is, by acts of obedience a born-again
believer reveals his faith]. 25 In the same way, was Rahab the prostitute not
justified by works too, when she received the [Hebrew] [b]spies as guests and
protected them, and sent them away [to escape] by a different route? 26 For
just as the [human] body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works
[of obedience] is also dead.
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James 2:14-26 The Message (MSG)
Faith in Action
14-17 Dear friends, do you think you’ll get anywhere in this if you
learn all the right words but never do anything? Does merely talking about
faith indicate that a person really has it? For instance, you come upon an
old friend dressed in rags and half-starved and say, “Good morning, friend!
Be clothed in Christ! Be filled with the Holy Spirit!” and walk off without
providing so much as a coat or a cup of soup—where does that get you? Isn’t
it obvious that God-talk without God-acts is outrageous nonsense?
18 I can already hear one of you agreeing by saying, “Sounds good.
You take care of the faith department, I’ll handle the works department.”
Not so fast. You can no more show me your works apart from your faith
than I can show you my faith apart from my works. Faith and works, works and
faith, fit together hand in glove.
19-20 Do I hear you professing to believe in the one and only God,
but then observe you complacently sitting back as if you had done something
wonderful? That’s just great. Demons do that, but what good does it do them?
Use your heads! Do you suppose for a minute that you can cut faith and works
in two and not end up with a corpse on your hands?
21-24 Wasn’t our ancestor Abraham “made right with God by works” when
he placed his son Isaac on the sacrificial altar? Isn’t it obvious that faith
and works are yoked partners, that faith expresses itself in works? That the
works are “works of faith”? The full meaning of “believe” in the Scripture
sentence, “Abraham believed God and was set right with God,” includes his
action. It’s that mesh of believing and acting that got Abraham named “God’s
friend.” Is it not evident that a person is made right with God not by a
barren faith but by faith fruitful in works?
25-26 The same with Rahab, the Jericho harlot. Wasn’t her action in
hiding God’s spies and helping them escape—that seamless unity of believing
and doing—what counted with God? The very moment you separate body and
spirit, you end up with a corpse. Separate faith and works and you get the same
thing: a corpse
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II. Comparisons with Faith James 2:17-20
III. Illustrations of Faith James 2:21-26
ADR Observation:
1. Genuine faith is proved by good works.
2. Salvation is by faith alone. What is Salvation? The saving of the soul from sin and its consequences which is going to hell.
3. What do you need to do to be saved? Accept, Believe and Confess the gospel of Jesus Christ - What is the gospel of Jesus Christ? The death, the burial and the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Romans 10:9-10
4. Our faith is in Jesus Christ, which should result in works. What is works? Kindness toward others. i.e. someone is hungry, feed them..don't just say, I'll pray for you and keep it moving :( . If someone is sick, go and visit them.
5. Faith and works go hand and hand.
6. Faith brings a person to salvation, and works bring that person to faithfulness.
7. Faith is the cause, works are the effect.
Supporting scriptures:
Romans 10:9-10 King James Version (KJV)
9 That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.
10 For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
When the Philippian jailer asked Paul, “What must I do to be saved?” Paul responded, “Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved” (Acts 16:30-31).
Faith in Jesus Christ as the Savior is the only “step” to salvation. The message of the Bible is abundantly clear. We have all sinned against God (Romans 3:23). Because of our sin, we deserve to be eternally separated from God (Romans 6:23). Because of His love for us (John 3:16), God took on human form and died in our place, taking the punishment that we deserve (Romans 5:8; 2 Corinthians 5:21). God promises forgiveness of sins and eternal life in heaven to all who receive, by grace through faith, Jesus Christ as Savior (John 1:12; 3:16; 5:24; Acts 16:31).
God requires one step of us—receiving Jesus Christ as Savior and fully trusting in Him alone as the way of salvation. That is what distinguishes the Christian faith from all other world religions, each of which has a list of steps that must be followed in order for salvation to be received. The Christian faith recognizes that God has already completed the steps and simply calls on us to receive Him in faith.
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