Works – Obligation or Justification

This week we are going to talk about Works.  We see everyday the person(s) who get up and go to work for God, some are joyous in their approach and some are lets say, NOT.  It is so amazing to be around those that serve God effortlessly, it is innate, it is 1st nature, it is why they get up everyday and they definitely wouldn’t wish to be somewhere else sipping margaritas on a beach or something.  Then there are those who serve and while they are doing it, you can tell they wished they were somewhere else.  Their participation is spotty and the passion is lacking.

• How do you think God views these two different servants?
• What really separates them from each other?

I love how the Book of James opens, the very first sentence says it all,

“This letter is from James, a slave of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ.”

You can almost hear him joyfully express this, he is a slave of God and Jesus Christ!!!  As I read this Book there are several verses that get me asking myself some tough questions about my faith and my way of expressing it.

James 1:22-25;

“But don’t just listen to God’s word. You must do what it says. Otherwise, you are only fooling yourselves. ²³ For if you listen to the word and don’t obey, it is like glancing at your face in a mirror. ²⁴ You see yourself, walk away, and forget what you look like. ²⁵ But if you look carefully into the perfect law that sets you free, and if you do what it says and don’t forget what you heard, then God will bless you for doing it.”

James 2:14-26;

“¹⁴ What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? ¹⁵ If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, ¹⁶ and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that? ¹⁷ So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.

¹⁸ But someone will say, “You have faith and I have works.” Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works. ¹⁹ You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder! ²⁰ Do you want to be shown, you foolish person, that faith apart from works is useless? ²¹ Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered up his son Isaac on the altar? ²² You see that faith was active along with his works, and faith was completed by his works; ²³ and the Scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness”—and he was called a friend of God. ²⁴ You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone. ²⁵ And in the same way was not also Rahab the prostitute justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out by another way? ²⁶ For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so also faith apart from works is dead.”

Think about those verses and what it says.  If you just listen and sit idly by and do nothing, then are you fooling yourself in thinking you have really accepted what it means to be a fully devoted follower of Christ?

I think it is important to look at the heart when talking about this, without a doubt God wants us to act, God wants a decision, God wants all of our lives not just the part we are willing to give, but he mostly wants us to want to give of ourselves as Christ gave of himself.

As Christ teaches in the Gospels,  “Love God more than anything and Love others as you love yourself.”  So if we are to fulfill this then it would be evident in how we live.  As James is pointing out, God could care less about hearing how we love him but is more interested in seeing how we love him in the decisions we make and what we are doing with our lives.  We’ve probably heard it a thousand times, “Actions speak louder than words.”

To get a clearer picture of this go and read about the Good Samaritan in Luke 10:25-37.

• What does it mean to be justified by your works and not faith alone?