Faith Not Acted Upon Is Worthless.

Jesus’ brother told his 1^st century audience, and by implication you and I, that “faith by itself [meaning mere mental assent to ‘orthodox doctrine’ {like the ‘oneness’ of God: 2:19}, the intellectual acknowledgment that ‘this sounds true enough’], if it’s not accompanied by action, is dead”— nekros = ‘lifeless, destitute of force, destitute of power, useless’ {Jms. 2:17b}.  James closes his brilliant argument in 2:26 with this statement of finality: “As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.”

You think the apostle Paul would agree with James’ statement?  I think he would.  It was Paul who said, “For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value.  The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love” {Gal. 5:6}.  “For we are God’s workmanship, God’s masterpiece,” he wrote in Ephesians 2:10, “created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”  And to the Thessalonians, “We continually remember before our God and Father your work produced by faith, your labor prompted by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ,” {1 Thes. 1:3}.

In Paul’s letter to Titus, his like-minded troubleshooter, there are twin themes running throughout its three chs., two ideals Paul comes back to over and over again.  One is “sound doctrine,” the other is “good deeds”— the actions which come forth from living with an unceasing attitude of faith in Abba.  The ideas of “good deeds” done in the name of our God and “doing what is good” under the authority of His Kingdom are mentioned six times in three chs. {1:16; 2:7 and 14; 3:1, 8 and 14}.  Titus sets an example for the young men entrusted to him “by doing what is good” {2:7}.  In 2:14 the Apostle speaks of Jesus as the One “who gave Himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for Himself a People who are His very own, eager to do what is good.”  “Remind the people,” Paul says at the beginning of ch. 3, “to be subject to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready to do whatever is good,” v. 1.  After laying down how we’re justified by the glorious grace of God and are Heirs of Abba “having the Hope of Eternal Life,” he writes “I want you to stress these things, so that those who have trusted in God may be careful to devote themselves to doing what is good,” 3:8b.  He closes by telling Titus, “Our people must learn to devote themselves to doing what is good...,” 3:14.

“Our People,” the Brotherhood of Believers, the Family of Faith, the Community of Christ-Followers, i.e., you and I in the here and now!  As my ‘sheeps’ have heard me say on numerous occasions, “Better now than never!”  This is the time, our time, and there is no moment like the present to live out the fullness of the Faith we claim.  And we are the men and women of gentleness and grace, the Lords and Ladies of fierce tenderness and relentless Truth who have been called to love a world broken, bruised and bleeding, selflessly and sacrificially, in intimate imitation of the Lord who gave us Life.  You and I are responsible to the people in our periphery... to live free and love well.  To live generously and love graciously!  And maybe, just maybe, stoop down close enough and stay there long enough to lift another to their feet once again.  “Your words have supported those who stumbled; you have strengthened faltering knees”— Eliphaz the Temanite to Job {Job 4:4}.  You’ve kept men and women on their feet ...and so shall we.

HJC	Ric Webb  |  Shepherd Heart’s Journey Community 9621 Tall Timber Blvd. |  Little Rock, AR 72204 t +1.501.455.0296
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Heart’s Journey – Live Generously and Love Graciously