Study Desk

^(C1)What is the benefit, ^(C2)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.

^(C1)If a brother or sister is without adequate clothing and lacks enough food for each day,

and one of you says to them, "^(C1)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?

So too, ^(C1)faith, if it does not have works to back it up, is by itself dead inoperative and ineffective.

^(C1)But someone may say, "You claim to have faith and I have good works; show me your alleged ^(C2)faith without the works if you can, and I will ^(C3)show you my faith ^(C4)by my works that is, by what I do."

You believe that ^(F1)(C1)God is one; ^(C2)you do well to believe that. ^(C3)The demons also believe that, and shudder and bristle in awe-filled terror—they have seen His wrath! ^(VR1)

But are you willing to recognize, ^(C1)you foolish spiritually shallow person, that ^(C2)faith without good works is useless?

^(C1)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? ^(VR1)

You see that his ^(C1)faith was working together with his works, and as a result of the ^(C2)works, his faith was ^(C2)completed reaching its maturity when he expressed his faith through obedience.

And the Scripture was fulfilled which says, "^(C1)ABRAHAM BELIEVED GOD, AND THIS faith WAS CREDITED TO HIM by God AS RIGHTEOUSNESS and AS CONFORMITY TO HIS WILL," and he was called ^(C2)the friend of God. ^(VR1)

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.

In the same way, was ^(C1)Rahab the prostitute not justified by works too, ^(C2)when she received the Hebrew ^(F1)spies as guests and protected them, and sent them away to escape by a different route? ^(VR1)

For just as the human body without the spirit is dead, so ^(C1)faith without works of obedience is also dead.