James 2:14-26
14 What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them? 15 Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. 16 If one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about their 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 my deeds. 19 You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder.
20 You foolish person, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless? 21 Was not our father 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 considered righteous by what they do 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.
1 Corinthians 15:3-8
James Saw Jesus After His Death
3 For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, 5 and that he appeared to Cephas, and then to the Twelve. 6 After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers and sisters at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep. 7 Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, 8 and last of all he appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born.
Jesus did many good deeds while He was on earth...And He was the Greatest Traveling Teacher ever to live...His followers were taught many great things...Jesus would have lived His life in such a way that if someone needed clothing, He would have given them His...If someone needed food, He would have given them what He had to eat that day...That was and is how He is...The good news and gospel Jesus taught, was actually how He lived His life on earth...Jesus lived His teachings...And His true followers do their best to follow Him and His example...
James was a brother of Jesus...If anyone would have know about Jesus' private life and how He acted, James and his family would know...Jesus while growing up would have been watched by His family...And wouldn't that have been so interesting to have Jesus as your Brother?...Watching Him grow up and how He acted would have been a Divine Sight...Watching this Particular Brother do things day in and day out, would have been so interesting...How could it not be?...No other boy or young man is like Him...Seeing such an example of a Man, the Perfect Man, and what He did each and everyday would be lessons never forgotten...I do believe a lesson was learned by Jesus' brothers and sisters each and everyday...And I am sure the whole family would have seen their Brother and Son praying very, very regularly to His Father in heaven...The family of Jesus would have learned great lessons in prayer...
James and his other brothers and sisters, as well as their mother Mary would have learned so much from their Brother Jesus growing up...After all the years James watched His Brother how could he not write about faith and deeds being so closely related...To Jesus His faith and deeds were perfectly linked...James would have seen this...After Jesus resurrected He met with James...Because of this many things James would have seen in His Brother's life would now make sense...I bet James' faith became much stronger after the death of Jesus...
Jesus true gospel comes from two parts...One is what He said in His Teachings....The second is how He lives...He true gospel was shown by the way He lived His life...It is what Jesus wants us to do...And as followers of Jesus we are hard pressed to follow His example...We lose other potential followers and believers because of how He lived and how we lived...We cannot keep up with Him and His deeds and faith and actions...We try to be perfect, but we cannot be perfect...Jesus was the Perfect Man...I wonder if James in His younger days would have struggled with this?...I know I do...Following the Perfect Man is a struggle for me...Jesus teaches us about faith in living...His teachings show us how faith is to be in our lives...