real faith

Faith and Deeds

14 What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him?15 Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food.16 If one of you says to him, “Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about his 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 what I do.

19 You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that–and shudder.
20 You foolish man, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless?21 Was not our ancestor 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,” and he was called God's friend.

24 You see that a person is justified by what he does 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.

James 2

faith alone saves us. "For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God (salvation), not of works, lest anyone should boast." Ephesians 2:8-9 but not any faith. a faith that is so overwhelming, so great, that it compels us to do deeds. it's not that we're saved through deeds, but by a faith that makes us want to do things for Jesus! i think a lot of people read these passages and get confused and think that it's contradictory to paul's previous teachings. but if anything, it pushes paul's original message of a faith that saves us, a real faith. not a faith that compels us to do nothing, but a faith that compels us to act out what we believe! let's strive to have real faith in the One who saves us! let's have a faith that moves us into action, to love, to care, to share, to step outside of our comfort zones. let's have real faith.