The truth about deeds.

The most frustrating thing I see among Christians is that they think they can buy God’s grace. Somehow, there is a misconception in the Book of James that our faith is a result of our deeds (actions). You won’t find proof of this idea anywhere in Scripture.

James 2:17-19 – 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.

Now, I think it is somewhat easy to think that our deeds determine that we have faith. But let’s look at the next few verses (which most people fail to do) to get James’ whole point.

James 2:20-22 – 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.

In Genesis 22, Abraham was told by God to place his son on an altar and kill him as a sacrifice. Abraham laid his son on the altar and was about to stab him when God stopped him and told him that He knew Abraham’s faith because of what he was willing to do. This was God’s way of testing Abraham’s faith. Abraham was willing to kill his son and this in no way caused Abraham to have faith; he did it because he had faith and it was shown through his deed.

Remember this:

We serve and love God and people not so that we will be Christians, we do it because we are Christians.

God doesn’t want our obedience because we are trying to impress Him; He wants our obedience because we love Him. Once you truly become a follower and disciple of Christ, your deeds will reflect that. Paul mentions that we are to have a transformed mind and heart that is like Christ’s, and Jesus says that your heart  flows out of you through your actions.

God’s grace is an absolute gift, and we cannot do anything to deserve the blood that was shed on the cross. We cannot earn it. That said, if you have truly received the salvation that comes with your faith in Him then obedience and service is something that should be a no brainer. If it isn’t, then you should seriously reevaluate yourself.

So, instead of trying to prove to God what a great servant you are by giving more money at church or not watching R-rated movies, how about we separate ourselves from sin and give more of our time and money because we genuinely want to reflect our Savior’s love and because we want to glorify God in all we do.