James 2:14-26
Some people claim that there is a contradiction between the teaching of James and that of Paul (for example in Romans 4:1-25). In reality each of them presents a different aspect of the truth. Paul demonstrates that faith is sufficient to make a person righteous before God. James explains that to be justified in the eyes of men requires works (v. 24; 1 John 3:10). It is not the root, but the fruit which proves the quality of a tree (Luke 6:43-44). Faith in the heart cannot show itself to others except by works. Electricity cannot be seen, but the working of a bulb or a motor confirms the presence of the current in the wire. Faith is an active principle (v. 22), an inner energy which sets the cogs of the heart in motion. Paul and James illustrate their teaching by the same example: that of Abraham, to which Rahab’s example is added here. By human morality the former was a criminal father, the latter a woman of ill repute, who betrayed her people. Their actions showed all the more clearly the result of their faith which led them to make the greatest of sacrifices for God.
Friend, you may once have said you had faith. Have you also shown it?