James 2:14-26 presentation; Faith and Deeds

The passage I chose to speak on was James 2: 14-26, which is given the title “Faith and Deeds.”

“Faith and Deeds

14 What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them? 15 Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. 16 If one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it? 17 In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.

18 But someone will say, “You have faith; I have deeds.”

Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by my deeds. 19 You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder.

20 You foolish person, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless^[a^]? 21 Was not our father Abraham considered righteous for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? 22 You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did. 23 And the scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness,”^[b^] and he was called God’s friend. 24 You see that a person is considered righteous by what they do and not by faith alone.

25 In the same way, was not even Rahab the prostitute considered righteous for what she did when she gave lodging to the spies and sent them off in a different direction? 26 As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.”

While I was trying to think up what I was going to put in my speech, I was desperately hoping that my pastor would, coincidentally, preach on the same passage I was doing. Sadly, he didn’t but I did get my inspiration for this speech during church. I don’t really know what the pastor was preaching on because, well, I wasn’t really paying attention. What I was paying attention to was the two sisters that were sitting right in front of me who looked like they were about 12 and 10. They were just sitting next to each other, whispering and when one was cold, they would curl up next to the other. It was sweet. They were just so kind to each other, it looked like it came straight out of a Disney movie. In a nice way! But, that’s not really the point. The point is that the real lesson I learned that day in church was that the way a Christian acts is what a true Christian should be focusing on.

Now, the way I worded that is kind of confusing, so maybe giving you the background of James and why it was written would help. James was written by, guess who? That’s right, James, Jesus’ half-brother. He wrote this letter to poor and oppressed people. James was writing to them reminding them on how to act and for them to stay strong even when times were hard. It is during those times that it is important not to turn away from God. During the good, easy times, it is easy to praise God but during the hard times that is when you will want to turn away from him.

Ya, that kind of helped and if it didn’t I still have about eight or nine minutes to explain! So, to help elaborate, I will use one of my favorite quotes; “Action’s speak louder than words.” The way a person acts, especially a Christian is so important. We must reflect Christ in out attitude so that others can see Him in us. It’s like that song that we used to sing when we were kids, talking about letting our light shine and not putting it under a basket.

Even though we were trained from a young age to act in a way that reflect the Lord, honestly, how often do we really? I know that once I am out of those church doors, I don’t always think about my actions and about how they are reflecting God. We are like God’s mirror. What we do is a reflection of Him. We don’t want to be a tainted mirror that is broken and cracked. We want to be smooth and have a shine that is a perfect reflection of God. Now obviously, this isn’t possible because we are fallen creatures but I think that we, as Christians, tend to use that as an excuse. “Oh we are imperfect and are sinners so it is normal (do I even dare to say) okay for us to sin.” We have gotten used to it. It is a daily routine, like brushing our teeth. But we shouldn’t accept it so easily. Yes, God will forgive us and yes we are fallen creatures and yes it is an impossible task for us to be perfect but that doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t try. “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” It can be tedious and long and boring but God loves us. Our Father loves us and imagine His pride at us just simply trying! Even if we fail, our Father will still be proud. Trying is an action in itself.

In this passage it is clearly, and many times, stated that faith without actions is dead. Usually Bible passages say something bad but have some hope at the end, a light at the end of a dark tunnel, but this one lays down an ultimatum. The last verse states “ As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.” Basically, the comparison between body without spirit is dead and faith without deeds is dead is a subtle way of saying that if you don’t have actions with your faith, you are going to die. But, take notice of how I say WITH your faith. You need your faith and you need your actions. It’s not an either/or situation. One must go with the other. Faith and Deeds. Peanut butter and Jelly. One cannot go without the other.

Another verse that really hit me was the verse that said; “You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder.” James is making another comparison by saying that if you simply believe in God, you are the same as a demon. Do you think that demons deny that God exists? No! They know that He is there. People that simply acknowledge God’s existence are compared to demons. Now, I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to be compared to demons. This passage, and especially this verse, stings. James might as well have put my name in the passage. “Shannon, you have the faith of demons.” But just because our faith may be like that now, doesn’t mean we can’t change it. It doesn’t mean to go and move to Africa tomorrow and help children there. Just saying hi to someone in the hall, or giving someone a hug who might not have had such a great day. Little things are what stick with people the longest.

Now, even though I try and lighten up the mood with some not-so-clever jokes, this is a serious matter. To put it simply, if our faith is not accompanied with actions, our faith is not true faith and we are going to die and go to Hell. This passage is not sugar coated. It is a straight forward ultimatum. DO or DIE. Quite literally.

Bible Translation Comparison

Shannon Smith 3-28-11

RSA SR9 Bible

The NIV and the King James are similar translations but the NIV is a more “relaxed” version on the KJV. In James 2:14-25 throughout the entire passage, the NIV uses the word “deeds” while the KJV uses the word “works”. In verses 14-15 there are no significant differences besides some slight word variations but the different variations still get the same message across. In verse 16 the NIV uses the word “well fed” while the KJV uses the word “filled”. In verse 17 the NIV uses the word “action” in contrast the the KJV’s use of “works” and it adds on the words “being alone” to the end of the verse. Verse 18 does not have any important differences but in verse 19 the KJV uses the words “the devils” and the NIV says “demons”. Verse 20 in the NIV uses “You foolish person” while the KJV uses “O vain man”. In 21 NIV calls Abraham “righteous” and the KJV calls him “Justified by his works”. In verse 22 the NIV says “actions” and the KJV says “works”. Also in 22 the KJV says that his faith was made “perfect” and in the NIV says “complete”. In verse 23 the NIV uses the word “credited” instead of the word “imputed” that the KJV uses. Verse 24 did not have any important differences. In the NIV, verse 25 the translation calls Rahab is called a prostitute while in the KJV she is called a harlot. Also, in 25 they say that she is “justified” and in the NIV they say she is “considered righteous”. Those are the difference that seemed to have the most significance.

The difference that stood out to me the most was the NIV using the word “demons” while the KJV says “the devils”. I think that this difference is important and that the meanings are different. Also, another major difference that stood out to me was the words “deeds” and “works” and how they were used in the NIV and the KJV. The words can mean different things and I personally think the the word “deeds” is more appropriate for this particular passage. Another add on that the KJV uses was the add on of “being alone” and I thought that the add on was very important. And, the final major significance, is how the NIV says that Rahab was “considered righteous” versus the KJV saying that she was “justified”. I think that these difference need to be kept in mind.