Faith is the substance of our life with God. By faith, we are made right with God. By faith, we live lives to honor God. By faith, we hold onto Him when times are tough and by faith, we celebrate Him when times are good. By faith, we live an authentic faith in every season.
James 2 is one of the most controversial passages in Scripture. Some read it and say it doesn't matter what we do after we believe in Jesus because we are saved by grace through faith. Others read it and say it absolutely does matter because if your deeds don't match what you say that you believe then you might not be a believer at all. Both of these readings are wrong. James 2 isn't written to give license to sin and James 2 isn't written to bring doubt to God's children. Instead, James 2 is written to help believers deal with the hypocrisy that comes so easily when we don't live our lives by faith.
With that, now for some things that I wish I said....
- If Christians actions must always be perfect, then we don't need a Savior. We are the savior. (Very lousy saviors, by the way.)
- If Christians actions don't line up with their faith, they will be like practical atheists. Believing one things, but living something all together different.
- God doesn't want us to act like Christians, but for our actions to show that we are Christians.
- Can hypocrites be Christians? Yes, but we should fight our hypocritical tendencies, not embrace them.
- Spiritual maturity requires that I grow in integrity between what I believe and what I do.
- Infants in the faith need to throw off their old selves and learn who they are in Christ.
- Teenagers in the faith look forward to and enjoy the hypocrisy.
- Adults in the faith are heartbroken over their hypocrisy and die to themselves to honor Him all the more.
- Grandparents in the faith are consistent and have integrity because they have learned that life by faith is the only way to live.
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