Bible Study – Faith & Deeds

James 2:14-24 

Faith and Deeds

 14What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him? 15Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. 16If one of you says to him, “Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? 17In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.

[o1]  18But someone will say, “You have faith; I have deeds.”
      Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do.[o2] 

 19You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder. [o3] 

20You foolish man, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless^[a]? 21Was not our ancestor Abraham considered righteous for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? 22You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did. 23And the scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness,”^[[o4] ^b] and he was called God’s friend. 24You see that a person is justified by what he does and not by faith alone.

[o5] ________________________________________________________________________

 

 

 [o1]How does the absence of deeds nullify faith?

Can we really keep our faith “personal” – only something between God and us?

 [o2] Can you really “show” your faith without deeds?  How can what you do demonstrate your faith?

 [o3] Why did James make this comparison?  What point was he trying to make by saying even demons believe what we Christians believe?

 [o4] In addition to validating our faith by deeds, what is the more important end result here?

Which is it that you think God was most pleased by – Abraham’s “deed” or his “deed-justified faith” or his character?

 [o5] If we are saved by grace through faith, why then do we need to “justify” our faith by deeds? (see Ephesians 2:7-9)

 

See Passage Questions at the Bottom

 

Comment #1 – While our relationship with God is personal, our faith cannot be kept “personal” as only something between God and ourselves.

- we can’t say we love God and be unwilling to take care of those whom God loves

- in this case, just praying for them isn’t enough

- **link to comment # 5

 

Comment #2 – Jesus Himself found it necessary to not just claim that he is “humble and gentle” (Matthew 11:28-30), he took concrete action; he took the place of a servant and washed his disciples’ feet..

- Analogy: whenever we make a claim, we need to show that it is valid in some way

- e.g. a math genius feels lazy and doesn’t put down any answers on the exam paper and gets a zero; then he is as good as someone who knows nothing about math at all

- in the same way if we call ourselves Christ-followers and do not live as a sacrifice for others, then practically we are as good as nonbelievers

 

 

 

Comment # 3 – following from v. 18, it sounds like if you only know that there is one God, it’s as if you have faith without deeds… and according to v. 17, this kind of knowledge-faith by itself is as good as “dead”

- so if we know but do not act, we are as good as the demons who fear the existence of God, practically speaking

 

Comment # 4 – the more important end result to God is the transformation of our CHARACTER in the process (in this case righteousness)

- His purpose is to mold us into the person that would naturally be doing these things

- the fruit of our work and sacrifice is a byproduct of our obedience and submission to God’s will

- Even though in the end Abraham didn’t have to take Issac’s life, it goes to show that what matters most to God is our willingness to act on our faith and our love for Him, and not necessarily the “task” that we accomplish

- God is honoured, and He in turn honours Abraham by calling him “friend”

 

Comment# 5 –

- God didn’t need Issac, so if we believe that God is perfectly content without us, then He MUST have greater purpose for asking us to be “living sacrifices” (in this case Issac is a literal living sacrifice)

- because in essence God doesn’t need anything from us, He doesn’t even need us in the first place

- God’s greater purpose is to change us in the process of acting out our faith.  The schematic shows how this works.

- **linking back to the example of a brother in need – sure, God could provide for them if He wanted to, but yet God asks us to be the provider

 

Faith –> Action –> Character 

Take faith as our relationship with God – we have a relationship with Him because we believe in Him by faith

It is from the overflow of our relationship with God that we are able to pour out as Jesus poured out (Action)…. Yet when we pour out to others, we build character and in turn also strengthen our relationship with God ( ↑ Faith)

- and once our faith is “increased” we dare to do more for God and can push ourselves our of our comfort zone

- Abraham’s example – it’s safe to say that his faith became greater after he willingly gave God his son; if he is willing to sacrifice his own son, what else wouldn’t he do for God?

THUS…  why do we need to justify our faith? à It isn’t just about showing non Christians that we are real or that God is real, it also BUILDS our relationship with God, it grows us in the process

- we become what we do, our values sooner or later conform to our behaviour

            - like any relationship, we actively show our trust and love for the other person

- if we feel loved by God because of how much He has done for us, don’t you think God feels the same way towards us when we obey His word and love Him by serving others?

 

 

Summary/Emphasis of discussion:

- the majority of the passage (v 18-24) talks about why and how deeds justify faith

- for v. 14-17, it is interesting that James doesn’t tell us to demonstrate our faith by doing something “religious” e.g. jump off a bridge, or go walk in front of a running car and expect God to miraculously save us..but rather it involves someone else’s needs i.e. a hungry brother or sister

- although doing something for others isn’t the only way to show our faith, like Abraham sacrificing his son wasn’t benefiting anyone directly, it is certainly emphasized here

 

 

Application Questions

 

 

1.         If the Cross signifies Jesus’ sacrifice for us, what would “taking up the cross” mean in the context of this Bible study?

            - the Cross symbolizes Jesus’ identity as the Lamb, a living sacrifice

            - if He calls us to take up His Cross daily, it would mean that we are to take up the same role, to have a servant’s heart and put others’needs before our own

            - if we’re not at the stage where we can sincerely put other ppl’s needs first, then at least we can start to learn to be aware  of others needs, and to be sensitive to them

 

2.       Re-read James 2:14-17. In Romans 12:2, it says,

 

“Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.” 

 

How does putting your faith into action relate to renewing your minds and testing and approving God’s will?

 

-  we have transformed our mind the first half of the year – now it’s time to take action and “test and approve God’s will” through our experiences.

 

3.         In what ways can you offer your bodies as living sacrifices to others?  How can you concretely help someone in need?

  

4.  Were there any burning questions or observations that you’d like to share with your group?