Faith is dead without action

James 2:17 (NIV)

Faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead. 

There are many examples in life where this key principle of Scripture is applied.  It is a principle that proves your salvation.  You believe that you are saved in Christ.  You tell others that that you believe in Jesus.  You say that you are a Christian.  But, do your actions back up your words?  There’s the old saying “I hear what you are saying, now I will be watching”.  Do you act like a believer, a disciple of Christ?  If not, your faith is dead, your claims are false, and you are deceiving yourself and others. 

You have a crisis in your life that you are praying about---needing a job, paying bills, selling a house, facing an illness, dealing with a family crisis, needing to make a critical decision, or any other challenge in your life that is causing you to pray.  The praying is the faith part of this dynamic.  Yet, you need to do more than pray.  That is the action part.  You need to pray and be doing all you can to find a job.  You need to pray how and re-evaluate how you spend your money.  You need to pray and seek medical help.  You need to pray and take action to resolve a family crisis.  You need to pray and work to find resources to help you make that critical decision wisely.  You see the balance?  Pray (faith) and action, not pray or action. 

The same dynamic applies in helping others.  You can pray for them, but if you only pray and not do anything to help another, what good are you doing?  Nothing.  Read James 2:15-16 to be convinced that prayers and words are not enough to help another who needs food and clothing.  Indeed praying and words without actions mean nothing.  It’s showing a dead faith.  Faith must lead to actions that help to meet others’ needs.  Ignoring the needs of others and still claiming to be a Christian is unthinkable.        

What good is faith without actions?  Nothing.  Can faith without actions save you?  No.  Can faith without actions help you with your own crises or help you help others?  No.  Actions do not mean that they are in addition to faith.  Genuine faith includes actions.  Faith is expressed through actions.  Faith without actions, if you study James 2:14-26 is no good, does not save, and is dead.

Do you remember a few years ago that there was a criminally unethical pharmacist in the Kansas City area who was diluting cancer medication prescriptions to make more money?  People taking the medication were in fact taking nothing more than a placebo?  People died because the medication was basically fake.  It was worthless to treat their cancer even though they thought it was legitimate medicine.  The same is true of a dead faith.  Faith without works is a fake faith, it is a useless faith and it will lead to death.  Faith expressed with works is a faith that bears fruit, helps others, even to the point of healing them of their afflictions.  Don’t deceive yourself, evaluate carefully how valid is your faith.  May your faith be expressed through actions you take daily to love God and to love your neighbor as yourself.