Faith Equals Action

James 2:17-22
In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead. But 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. You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that–and shudder. You foolish man, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless? Was not our ancestor Abraham considered righteous for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did.


This can be such a confusing portion of scripture, I know that I’ve meditated on it much over the past year or so. I pray that God will reveal to us the truth behind it all, as we attempt to dig deep with few words.

The problem, for most people, stems from the idea that faith is simply defined as "belief in something" – belief that it exists, that it is what it is, and nothing more. But let’s think about that. When we have "faith in someone," it means we trust them, and as a result of that trust, we act upon it – telling them our deepest secrets, allowing them access to our inmost thoughts, giving them approval to act on our behalf, to use our stuff, etc. When we truly have faith in someone, or something, that faith is naturally backed up with action.

That is all this passage is saying. It is not saying that we have faith by our actions and our deeds, but that our actions and our deeds reflect where our faith truly lies. If we believe that God has asked us to do something and that He can come through for us, we shouldn’t hesitate. Just as Abraham knew that Isaac was the one through whom God would build his family, he went forward with offering Isaac up as a sacrifice, because he knew that God would follow through with His promise.

So much of our faith being complete, however, lies not in ourselves, but in our knowing who God is – knowing His nature, knowing His promises, knowing Him deeply. We cannot trust One whom we do not know. So, we need to spend time with Him, in prayer, in study; we need to align ourselves with Him and let Him change us, let Him saturate us with all that He is. I think we will find that as the inside changes, our actions will begin to change as a result.

I think we should remember, however, that it can be a slow process. Abraham had been friends with God for many years, before he was asked to sacrifice his son in faith. So, let’s remember that it’s not an overnight change, for the most part. But that’s OK – we have our entire lives, and we should be ready to use each and every day. Let’s start today!