James 2:25-26
Faith and Deeds
25In 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? 26As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.
James, brother of Jesus, is a man of action...He believes actions speak louder than words...He believes that our faith and our actions are linked...If we just have faith and never show it through the way we talk, or live was not enough for James...If one reads and studies the Bible all day and does this day after day, this wasn't enough for James...We just can't read, study, and listen to the word...Our related deeds and actions to what we have learned are just as important...
James throughout his book dwells on action...In chapter four he talks about boasting...But in the the last verse (James 4:17) he teaches us that any of us who know the good we ought to do and don't do it, then we have sinned...James wants us to act...When we have a generous or good idea, we are to act on it...Whether one believer or a group of believers, when you have faith and you have an idea or an idea is presented to you that is generous, good, and a teaching of Jesus, James wants us to act (on that idea)...
Rahab was a prostitute in the Old Testament who helped Joshua and his spies (Joshua 2)...Rahab had heard about the power of the God of Israel and believed...Rahab acted in faith and God blessed her for helping the spies...This is what James is talking about, Rahab "acted in faith"...
James teaches us to live by faith...He teaches us, we do not live alone or alone in our faith...We are surrounded by people and the environment we live in... We see and have issues everyday...There are issues of the poor, we read about issues of racism of people and countries we see that are against our beliefs...There are political issues we disagree...But in all these issues James wants us to show our faith in Jesus through how we react, think and do something on issues...James teaches us to study these issues and act on them in our faith...How we live out our lives and the faith we have are inseparably connected...