So too, faith by itself, if it does not result in action, is dead.Even so faith, if it has no works, is dead in itself.Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone.Even so faith, if it have not works, is dead in itself.
4 sermons cite this verse
… saved me to yap. God saved me to work. And when he accepts Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior, Paul says in this passage, he says in so many words, James 2 17, faith without works is dead. Matthew chapter seven, verse number 16, he says to the church at Corinth, he says, while there's a lot of talking about what I am about what I'm not, he says, let's go fruit shopping. Let's let's let's inspect. Let's check out my tree. Matthew 7 16 says, and you will know a tree by the fruit it bears. And it's very interesting because Paul, he says, I'm going to talk like a fool. And he says in so many words, if you go up to verse number 16, he says, I'm talking like a fool. And instead of talking about his accomplishments, he talks about his scars. what's make what makes that interesting is he's saying to the church of corinth uh in so many words i got a resume with stuff that i could actually talk about can we take a second and roll through the apostle paul's resume i mean after he's knocked down on the road to damascus in acts chapter number nine he gets up and he gets right in the game because he's got purposeful faith the scripture says he spends years in arabia and damascus preparing himself for public ministry translation after he accepts jesus christ he starts attending fellowship bible academy he says i got to study to show myself approved under god a workman needed not being ashamed of the word of …
… you're all born separated from God but you need to be born again if you want to go into the kingdom of God and we're talking true biblical faith look at James 2 17 James 2 17 James says faith by itself if it does not have works is dead now you might say well wait a minute you just said a moment ago that Abraham could not be justified before God because of his works and I would say absolutely you'll say, well, wait a minute, but this says faith by itself, if it does not have works, it's the order. If you try to put works before faith and be justified before God by your works, you're off. But works come after faith. I'm born again. Now what follows is evidence. The Bible calls it fruit. You should be able to see fruit in my life. If you followed me around for a week, you would see, look, I'm going to be honest, you see me driving on the 91 freeway, you could see me get frustrated. But you won't see me ramming my truck into people. …
for we are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. Lastly, John chapter 9 and verse 4, Jesus is speaking and he says, I must work the works of him who sent me while it is day. The night is coming when no man can work. Let's go to work. Father, we thank you so much for your word. It is a lamp unto our feet. It is a light into our path. In the beginning was your word, and your word was with you, and your word was you. God, we recognize that we don't live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of your mouth. God, I thank you for the rich and radical love you have for your sons and daughters. God, those here present, those watching via live stream, those who will watch later. And I pray, God, that you would love your people through me, through the words that you give me to feed them. …
… If you're new to church, look at this scripture. Watch this, James chapter two, verse 17. In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead. Our faith coupled with our action is the lethal combination. It's not just that I believe in God, it's that I've got so much faith that it gets into my feet and affects how I live Monday through Saturday. So I'm gonna have great expectation, but I'm gonna have practical obedience to what God tells me to do. Anybody in the Bible, anybody in the Bible that had to see something great from God had to first obey God. If you ask Abraham, he'll tell you about his obedience. You talk to Elijah, he'd tell you about his obedience. If you interview David, he'd tell you about his obedience. Anybody in the Bible had to obey God. One of my favorite stories of obedience in the Bible is a guy named Naaman. He's a captain in the army. …