Hi One, concerning James 2:14-26. A real Christian,
"will have works", but they do not save you. The guy in James with "
No Works and a dead faith, "was not saved." Also you need to interpret James 2:14-26, with the entirety of the "
whole bible." We are saved "unto good works" , we are not saved,
"by our good works"
You are trying to add you "good works" to "your salvation", as if saying Jesus dying on the cross for your sins wasn't good enough. Stop mixing your works with what Jesus did for you and you'll be just fine, not difficult to do....
You all are MISINTERPRETING James!
GOD is *IN* us and HE "PRODUCES THE ACTION" from us.
FIRST Abraham "HEARD" A WORD FROM GOD as we "HEAR" from GOD when HE tells us to "Give to that needy man" although it's not YOUR policy to give to a wine O but Something keeps telling you to "GIVE!" When that THOUGHT is so CONVICTING, you "GIVE" or get up and go like Abraham did. Your WORKS were then PRODUCED BY THE HOLY SPIRIT!
See? You then have "FAITH" that THAT VOICE was from the Holy Spirit so you "WORK" by "Giving to that needy man!"
Abraham "HEARD" from GOD then HE had "FAITH" that "GOD WOULD PROVIDE." He remembered GOD told him that his seed would be like the grains of sand and without ISSAC that wouldn't happen. So he BELIEVED GOD when HE SAID "his seed would be like the grains of sand" and had FAITH that GOD DIDN'T LIE and took Issac (HIS WORKS WERE PRODUCED BY THE HOLY SPIRIT) to offer him as a sacrifice but had so much FAITH that he told Sarah, "We'll be back!"
Now that's the way we are SUPPOSED to have "FAITH!" We "HEAR" from GOD [and that PRODUCES THE ACTION or "WORKS"] then we REMEMBER what the WORD OF GOD SAYS (Romans 10:17) like Abraham REMEMBERED what GOD SAID and we BELIEVE THE WORD so INTENSELY and DO WHAT the HOLY SPIRIT TOLD US TO DO; (making our ACTIONS or WORKS HOLY SPIRIT PRODUCED) that it's manifested like the "ram in the bush" was manifested for Abraham and he didn't have kill Issac!
In other words, we have to "HEAR" from GOD FIRST so the ACTIONS or "WORKS" are "HOLY SPIRIT PRODUCED!"
It's EASY when you "HEAR FROM GOD" to take ACTION or "WORK" because your mind is like Christ's; it ALWAYS "remembers what JESUS SAID" (Romans 10:17) and CONVICTS you if you DISOBEY! You THINK you have a "GUILTY CONSCIENCE" without having the EVIDENCE that GOD is in you, wait until HE is REALLY in you, you'll feel like "A DOG" for not OBEYING! That's the TRUTH! lol
"What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man SAY he hath FAITH, and have not works?"
If one just SAYS he has FAITH and GOD doesn't "CONVICT" you after "HEARING" HIS WORD or from "HEARING" from HIM and you've DISOBEYED or didn't "WORK" after the Holy Spirit told you to do something but don't have a guilty; you don't have FAITH in GOD but self.
"...can [that kind of] faith save him?"
With the mind of Christ, the next two verses are AUTOMATIC or GOD will CONVICT you with that worse than "guilty conscience!"
"If a brother or sister be naked, and destitute of daily food, And one of you say unto them, Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled; notwithstanding ye give them not those thing which are needful to the body; what doth it profit?"
THIS ISN'T GOING TO HAPPEN UNLESS YOU DON'T WANT TO SLEEP ALL NIGHT!
"Even so FAITH, if it has not WORKS, is DEAD, being alone."
"Faith" that wasn't PRODUCED BY THE HOLY SPIRIT [Which is a "Spiritual gift" AFTER being "baptized into that One Spirit; I Corinthians 12:9; 13; READ IT!) doesn't have "WORKS PRODUCED BY THE HOLY SPIRIT" and is therefore "DEAD" because "There is NOTHING done in the flesh that pleases GOD" (Romans 8:8)!
"Yea, a man may SAY, *I* have faith, and *I* have works: [but] show me your faith without your works [that were NOT PRODUCED BY THE HOLY SPIRIT] and I will show you my faith by my works" [that were NOT PRODUCED BY THE HOLY SPIRIT also].
"Thou believest that there is ONE GOD, thou doest well: the devils believeth also, and tremble."
When YOU "DO" it's self "working" and NOT the "WORKS" that have been PRODUCED BY THE HOLY SPIRIT although you say "I BELIEVE THERE IS ONE GOD, and you do well, but the devils do too and tremble. In other words, you're just giving "LIP SERVICE" if your "WORKS" were NOT HOLY SPIRIT PRODUCED!
"But wilt thou know, O "VAIN" man [DOING GOOD TO GET GOOD with YOUR actions rather than WORKS that are PRODUCED by the Holy Spirit] that FAITH without "WORKS" [PRODUCED BY THE HOLY SPIRIT] is DEAD" because "There is NOTHING that a man can DO in the flesh [WITHOUT BEING PRODUCED BY THE HOLY SPIRIT] can please GOD" (Romans 8:8).
"Was not Abraham our father justified by WORKS [AFTER HE "HEARD FROM GOD" (aka HOLY SPIRIT; WHO PRODUCED HIS ACTIONS or WORKS by COMMANDING him to offer Issac) when he had offered Issac upon the altar."
"Seest thou how faith wrought his works, and by works was faith made perfect?"
After "HEARING A WORD FROM GOD" the HOLY SPIRIT PRODUCED Abraham's "WORKS" and because HE OBEYED and "WORKED" or did what GOD told him to do, AFTER THE HOLY SPIRIT COMMANDED him; his "FAITH was made perfect."
THE NEXT VERSE (v23) IS "SELF EXPLANATORY"
"Ye see then how that by WORKS [THAT ARE PRODUCED BY THE HOLY SPIRIT *AFTER* WE HEAR A WORD FROM GOD] a man is JUSTIFIED [AFTER OBEYING WHAT YOU'VE HEARD FROM GOD] and not by faith only" [WHEN YOU HAVEN'T "HEARD A WORD FROM GOD"].
"Likewise also was not Rahab the harlot JUSTIFIED by WORKS [She HEARD A WORD FROM GOD and OBEYED], when she received the messengers, and had sent them out another way?"
"For as the body without "THE SPIRIT" (I Corinthians 15:44) is DEAD, so FAITH without WORKS [PRODUCED BY THE HOLY SPIRIT] IS DEAD ALSO."
THIS IS LOOKING AT SCRIPTURE "IN THE SPIRIT" as GOD utters (I Corinthians 2:10-16)!
Blessings