James 2:19

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Wednesday, June 2
James 2:19 You say you have faith, for you believe that there is one God. Good for you! Even the demons believe this, and they tremble in terror. How foolish! Can’t you see that faith without good deeds is useless?

I know this verse very well. I've heard it many times adding fuel to the inquisition fires (small and large). Today I want to shy away from using this as a faith-tester verse. I want to look at it as an applicable verse - a life changing verse. This is not a license to gossip and judge, this is an internally searching verse.

If you love cars, do spend all your time sailing? If you love art, do you spend all your time studying equations? If you love Jesus, do you spend all your time sinning?

I'm not saying we should all ascribe to a list of rules so that we don't sin. The rules, though good, are not what we need to follow. We need to follow Jesus. Why? Because when you look at the rules He's asking us to obey you see that He really loves us.

I have to ask myself, "if we follow Jesus Christ, who died to save us, why is Gandhi the modern standard for 'good deeds'?" I'm not asking for Christians to have that kind of fame, but I am asking why we are not on the front lines of global activism. Jesus came to save the lost and stood against the establishment. Why? Because they forgot who they were supposed to be ruling. Jesus came as the answer to economic stability, environmental sustainability, political calm, etc. His Love will conquer all.

His love is the answer, and if we believe that shouldn't we be acting on it? The way you act will be different to the way I act; but inactivity is not an answer. As Paul said, "Christ's love compels us, (2 Corinthians 5:14 NIV)" therefore we go and do good things.