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James 2:14-26 (MSG)

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¹⁴ Dear friends, do you think you'll get anywhere in this if you learn all the right words but never do anything? Does merely talking about faith indicate that a person really has it? ¹⁵ For instance, you come upon an old friend dressed in rags and half-starved ¹⁶ and say, "Good morning, friend! Be clothed in Christ! Be filled with the Holy Spirit!" and walk off without providing so much as a coat or a cup of soup--where does that get you? ¹⁷ Isn't it obvious that God-talk without God-acts is outrageous nonsense? ¹⁸ I can already hear one of you agreeing by saying, "Sounds good. You take care of the faith department, I'll handle the works department." Not so fast. You can no more show me your works apart from your faith than I can show you my faith apart from my wor ¹⁹ Do I hear you professing to believe in the one and only God, but then observe you complacently sitting back as if you had done something wonderful? That's just great. Demons do that, but what good does it do them? ²⁰ Use your heads! Do you suppose for a minute that you can cut faith and works in two and not end up with a corpse on your hands? ²¹ Wasn't our ancestor Abraham "made right with God by works" when he placed his son Isaac on the sacrificial altar? ²² Isn't it obvious that faith and works are yoked partners, that faith expresses itself in works? That the works are "works of faith"? ²³ The full meaning of "believe" in the Scripture sentence, "Abraham believed God and was set right with God," includes his action. It's that mesh of believing and acting that got Abraham named "God's friend." ²⁴ Is it not evident that a person is made right with God not by a barren faith but by faith fruitful in works? ²⁵ The same with Rahab, the Jericho harlot. Wasn't her action in hiding God's spies and helping them escape--that seamless unity of believing and doing--what counted with God? ²⁶ The very moment you separate body and spirit, you end up with a corpse. Separate faith and works and you get the same thing: a corpse.


This passage relates to the following topic(s):
(v. 17) Faith / Doubt / Worry - Faith by itself is dead
(v. 21) Righteousness - Abraham - considered righteous because offered his son on the alter
(v. 24) False Teachings - Not only faith
(v. 26) Faith / Doubt / Worry - Faith is dead without good works

This passage relates to the following question(s):
(v. 25) Is lying forbidden or approved?

This passage is referenced in the following quiet time(s):
(v. 14) Life to the Full - Dead or Alive? (part 5) (2010-04-05)
(v. 14) Mission - All Nations (2010-11-27)
(v. 15) Life to the Full - Dead or Alive? (part 5) (2010-04-05)
(v. 15) Mission - All Nations (2010-11-27)
(v. 16) Life to the Full - Dead or Alive? (part 5) (2010-04-05)
(v. 16) Mission - All Nations (2010-11-27)
(v. 17) Life to the Full - Dead or Alive? (part 5) (2010-04-05)
(v. 18) Trusting God - Samuel (2010-11-29)
(v. 18) Life to the Full - Dead or Alive? (part 5) (2010-04-05)
(v. 19) Trusting God - Samuel (2010-11-29)
(v. 20) Trusting God - Samuel (2010-11-29)
(v. 21) Trusting God - Samuel (2010-11-29)
(v. 22) Trusting God - Samuel (2010-11-29)
(v. 23) Names of the Believers (part VI) (2011-05-06)
(v. 23) Trusting God - Samuel (2010-11-29)
(v. 23) Prayer of the Righeous - Intimate Prayer (2013-03-22)
(v. 24) Trusting God - Samuel (2010-11-29)
(v. 24) Life to the Full - Dead or Alive? (part 6) (2010-04-06)

This passage is referenced in the following study note(s):
(v. 14) Devotional: Faith, Good Works and Grace - The Balance (2008-12-12)
(v. 14) Devotional: Loving God (2008-12-12)
(v. 15) Devotional: Faith, Good Works and Grace - The Balance (2008-12-12)
(v. 16) Devotional: Faith, Good Works and Grace - The Balance (2008-12-12)
(v. 17) Devotional: Faith, Good Works and Grace - The Balance (2008-12-12)
(v. 18) Devotional: Faith, Good Works and Grace - The Balance (2008-12-12)
(v. 19) Devotional: Faith, Good Works and Grace - The Balance (2008-12-12)
(v. 20) Devotional: Faith, Good Works and Grace - The Balance (2008-12-12)
(v. 21) Devotional: Faith, Good Works and Grace - The Balance (2008-12-12)
(v. 22) Devotional: Faith, Good Works and Grace - The Balance (2008-12-12)
(v. 23) Devotional: Faith, Good Works and Grace - The Balance (2008-12-12)
(v. 24) Devotional: Faith, Good Works and Grace - The Balance (2008-12-12)
(v. 25) Devotional: Faith, Good Works and Grace - The Balance (2008-12-12)
(v. 26) Devotional: Faith, Good Works and Grace - The Balance (2008-12-12)

Definition(s):
Abraham (Ab-ra-ham): father of a great multitude
Abraham (Ehb-ra-ham): father of a great multitude
Isaac (Eye-zakk): laughter
Jericho (Jer-ih-koh): his moon; his month; his sweet smell