Three times, James states, 'Faith without works is dead!' Here's how James' teaching agrees with and complements the teaching of Paul on justification.
Many think works and faith are incompatible, but the Bible tells us to do works of faith. What are they? These are things we must do during the salvation process.
God's spiritual law, encapsulated in the Ten Commandments and demonstrated in the life of Jesus Christ, reveals His way of life, which we must emulate.
How do we obey this call to test ourselves, to know whether we are in the faith? A good place to start is to see how God measures faith, beginning with Abraham.
What is faith? Is it something we work up or does God give it to us? Do we have the faith to be saved? Do we really trust God?
King Jehoshaphat, by totally surrendering to God, achieved a miraculous victory over three armies by standing still, waiting patiently for His intervention.
At times we exhibit some faithlessness, perhaps because we have viewed faith just in terms of what we do rather than what God does through His gifting to us.
We need to be working on increasing our faith and ridding our lives of attitudes that block faith. Then we can begin to be profitable servants.
Peter describes the linear process with which the faith of Christ, given as a gift, influences the heart, leading eventually to an inheritance in His Kingdom.
Millions who say they believe in Jesus Christ have no salvation at all because they trust in the wrong kind of faith. Saving faith is largely misunderstood.
The Scriptures place a paramount importance on sacrifice. Abraham's 'sacrifice' of Isaac confirmed him to the position of father of the faithful.
The 'no works' doctrine says that all one has to do is believe in Jesus and accept His grace, and one's sins will be forgiven. This has disastrous effects.
Works cannot earn us salvation. However, they play many vital roles in our Christian walk toward the Kingdom of God, especially in developing holiness.
The Bible makes it plain that salvation is by grace, but it is also clear that we are 'created in Christ Jesus for good works.' Grace and works fit together.
The only tangible measures of faith is faithfulness, trust, and loyalty to God. We don't need to ask God for more faith, but rather work on being faithful.
Those reveling in the 'new freedoms' of apostasy cannot be persuaded to return to former beliefs because they no longer believe in the sanctified Word of God.
Both spiritual and physical healing require us to work intensely, asking for God's merciful intervention while working toward a solution, exercising wisdom.
Using assumptions, some have concocted some nine conflicting calendars. The preservation of the oracles has not been entrusted to the church but to the Jews.
Works are necessary for a Christian, and have not been neutralized by grace. Good works serve as the evidence of faith; faith without works is dead.
While the carnal mindset is hostile to everything in God's word, we have been provided a gift to enable us to overcome: the faith from being born of God.
Because we are all sinners, we have earned only death; justification is not earned, but must come through faith and believing God as did our father Abraham.
As we attempt to overcome the world, we soon realize that we battle against invisible principalities, requiring us to form a close relationship with Christ.
We will not have faith tomorrow simply because we had it yesterday; we must renew faith daily by deliberately remembering God's prior interventions.
All of God's people should be watchmen like Habakkuk, living continually by faith, discerning, listening to, and responding to God's instructions.
The Bible abounds in metaphors of warfare, indicating that the Christian's walk will be characterized by stress, sacrifice, and deprivation in building faith.
God is pleased to save those who humble themselves, allowing Him to perform a mighty work through them, and putting everyone in debt to Him.
The letters in Revelation 2 and 3 are for the end times, shortly before Christ's return. Each emphasizes repentance, overcoming, and judgment according to works.
How do we get the faith we need to endure this present age? Living faith requires that we match hearing with productive works.
God works all the time. In fact, it is the first thing we see God doing in His Book. We must follow His example to become skilled in living as He does.
Both the 'eternal security' and 'no works' doctrines are destroyed by the remarkable example of Noah, who performed extraordinary works based upon faith.
Salvation is not a one time event, but a continuous process—not just immunity from death, but a total transformation of our nature into a new creation.
God requires His people to put their faith in action, giving evidence of their hope, demonstrating godly behavior rather than abrasive carnal behavior.
Just as a dead person does no works, so a faith that does not include works is also dead. A person in whom living, saving faith exists will produce works.
God requires us to work and not deliberately seek welfare or food stamps, but He also does not want us to obsess on acquiring riches.
Jesus' message is certainly encouraging, but the adjective 'good has its roots in the word 'god,' suggesting that Jesus' message also possesses a moral quality.
Desmond Doss was the first conscientious objector to receive the Medal of Honor. This Sabbath-keeping medic exemplifies total conviction.
Jesus and Abraham rose above their emotional pulls by exercising living faith—a faith built on acts of obedience. Faith can never be separated from works.
The book of James applies to us after the sanctification process has begun. The most effective way of eliminating sin is to do righteousness.
Jesus said, 'Believe in Me,' and hundreds of millions have said, 'I believe.' But true belief is impossible until a person has been appointed to eternal life.
A summary of the Covenants, Grace, and Law series, reiterating the differences in the Covenants and the respective places of grace and law in God's purpose.
We should be willing to give up anything for the Kingdom, controlling our speech, thoughts, behaviors, and lives. We cannot grow in grace without works.
The seven 'I will' promises Got made to Abraham were truly foundational promises, impacting the lives of multiple billions of people up to the present day.
While we must express some of our own faith as we come to salvation, most of saving faith is a gift of God. Abel and Enoch illustrate the pattern of faith.
In Galatians, Paul took issue with the Halakhah, not God's word. Halakhah was a massive collection of human opinion that placed a yoke on its followers.
The faithful life and work of Noah illustrates that after justification, walking by faith with God is a practical responsibility.
We can sum up the epistle of James with one verse: 'Pure and undefiled religion...is this: to visit orphans and widows..., and to keep oneself unspotted...."
Some in the church of God have succumbed to the lie that we do not need to be overly concerned about sinning because we are under God's grace.
Commitment to a course of action is essential for physical or spiritual success. Faith motivates and sustains right action, protecting us from the yo-yo like fits of starting and stopping. Shallow or incomplete faith is contrasted with complete or mature faith. Our simple faith must transform into mature or enduring faith, which en
A harvest depicts the reward of diligent management of time and resources. We have to be careful what we sow, proving our faith by concrete deeds.
The yoke of bondage Paul refers to in Galatians was a combination of the code of regulations added by the Pharisees and Gnostic ritualism, not God's Law.
Christ will empower us, but will not live our lives for us. The marching orders for our pilgrimage derive from God's Word, containing His holy law.
When people allow fear to rule them, they lose their mind. Fear of God, however, is not mind killing, but inspires a reverential awe of the Creator.
Our conviction reveals itself in living by faith. Moses is a stunning example of how a convicted Christian should live — with loyalty and faithfulness to God.
All the New Testament writers warned about false prophets trying to sever the symbiotic relationship between law and grace, law and faith, law and works.
With all the military metaphors in the Bible, there can be no doubt that God likens the Christian life to a war against the evils and temptations we face.
The epistle of James stresses both faith and works, emphasizing those factors necessary for growth, enabling us to produce a bountiful harvest of fruit.
One of the deadliest afflictions we can develop is a self-righteous, vindictive 'Phineas' complex, seizing the sword of the Lord to correct a fellow member.
The frightful conditions during the 1st century are typical of the times ahead. To weather these circumstances, we need the encouragement of Hebrews.
Having experienced the turmoil of the Catholic—Protestant clash, the framers of our Constitution did not want any sect dictating religious doctrines or practices.
Becoming equipped for leadership requires that we discipline ourselves in following God's way of life, allowing the mind of Jesus Christ to be in us in.
A spiritual Israelite undergoes a metamorphosis in which his own self-centered will is broken so that God's creative work can be completed within him.
Abraham, the father of the faithful, did not have a blind faith; it was based upon observation of God's proven track record of faithfulness.
Are we 'once-saved, always-saved'? Once God grants us His grace, are we assured eternal life? The fallacies of the doctrine of 'eternal security' are exposed.