James 2:26 – Dead Faith

 "For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so also faith apart from works is dead."

James 2:26 (ESV)


Accepting salvation is simple, but if we have no desire to grow in our faith, we might need to reevaluate whether we've really accepted it.

I want to be careful with this one. Not just because it's taken out of context from people trying to undermine the authority of Scripture, but because I don't want to be hypocritical. So let me make it clear that the passage in James 2 that this comes from is not claiming that our salvation can come through works. We know that we're saved by grace alone, which reassures us that we're not capable of voiding our salvation either (Eph 2:8-9, and like everywhere else in the NT). I also want to make it clear that while this one has to be harsh, I'm not condemning anyone who's gotten stale in their faith. Regardless of whether my faith is alive or dead, sin gives me no right to pass unrighteous judgement on anyone. That's not the point of this – just to serve as a straightforward warning. Since ironically, the people that really need to read this, probably won't see it when they need to most.

Working in ministry in college gave me a unique distaste for people that taught false Christianity. "Street preachers" made witnessing so much more complicated, because most people thought they'd already heard whatever I had to say from false evangelists with hidden personal agendas. Those people aren't who I'm referring to though. While those people are misguided, and hurt the genuine Christian image, I can at least admit that they have some kind of conviction. At the very least, they discipline themselves, even though it ends up doing more bad than good.

What most people aren't willing to admit, though, is that the bulk of Christians lack the conviction that even those hateful people have. Working in college ministry gave me a unique frustration with those people too. When teenagers are forced to learn how to be adults, some decide to grow up, and some decide just to chase what feels right in the moment. I've seen so many Christians do the same thing, to the point where no one would be able to tell that they ever had any faith if they didn't wear a cross necklace have Philippians 4:13 in their Instagram bio. Some never made an effort to develop their faith in the first place – ignorance is our flesh's best friend. 

Truth be told, there's a little bit of that person in all of us – that's just sin. We all lack a discipline that's consistent and strong enough to be just like Jesus was. Since perfection is the bar, we all fall short of it. Still, I think what defines someone with a true heart for the Lord, is how they acknowledge their brokenness, how they take real steps – small or not – towards growth. No one is better than anyone, but being content with sin is the only way you can truly fail. Perfection is not required, but the blatant acceptance of sin is never okay, and willful ignorance is just as wicked. Neither one is something we can ignore as fellow believers. Gentle – yet firm – conviction is necessary sometimes.

A big reason that so many people take this verse out of context is because they fail to understand the difference between salvation that's attained through works, and a salvation that's evident through works. In other words, our faith isn't defined by our works (duh), but our works are evidence of a true faith. In other words, a "faith" that you can't see based on the way you live might as well not exist at all. It's dead. Think Matthew 5:13-14 – the passage on salt and light. Salt without flavor is worthless. Just as light that's covered up is worthless. Our faith is – in the same way – essentially worthless, if we don't have the desire to grow in it. You could even argue that the lack of that desire could indicate that a true faith doesn't exist at all.

I understand that a lot of what I'm saying sounds super obvious, but I think we take the simplicity of salvation for granted a lot, to the point where some people think they're saved when they're actually not. I'm not saying that anyone that you could call "lukewarm" is 100% not saved – I don't know what's going on in someone else's heart any more than they do. But I've seen plenty of people get so stagnant in their faith, that they almost seem to forget that they ever had it in the first place – if they ever had it in the first place. 

As far as I'm concerned, the only real internal difference between those people and the street preachers is that one of the two has conviction.

"Draw my attention to the areas of my faith that have become lifeless. Convict me to discipline myself to grow in those areas."

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