True Faith or Dead Faith?

In the book of James, the Bible talks about two kinds of faith: dead faith and true faith. Here is what the Bible says: "Faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead" (James 2:17). So we define dead faith as a passive faith that is not accompanied by action.

In the following verses, the Bible underscores the faith and accompanying works of Abraham and Rahab to demonstrate that "faith without deeds is useless" (verse 20), and to conclude the following: "You see that a person is justified by what he does and not by faith alone" (verse 24). So we define true faith as a living faith, which is accompanied by action.

This is a very important teaching of the Bible because it has serious implications on the validity of many peoples' claim to be true believers in God and His Son Jesus Christ. According to the verses above, a person cannot be justified simply by saying he believes in God and he believes in what Christ did on the cross, but his faith must be accompanied by works that attest to his faith.

True faith in God is self-affirming. When it exists, you don't have to tell anybody you believe in God. They can see that you do by your commitment to Him and to the things that are important to the Lord. On the other hand, "As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead" (verse 26).

Alas, dead faith is alive and well in our churches today. I have had the opportunity of serving as the pastor of a couple of churches. I have witnessed members of the congregation who come to worship nearly every Sunday and who talk about how much they love the Lord, but that's the extent of it. Ironically, sometimes, these people are the loudest in the church doing worship and praising God. But there are virtually no deeds to attest to their profession. Their faith is all talk and no action.

It's important that I emphasize that the works James is talking about in his discourse on dead faith and true faith are not the works of the Law. None of us can become justified by keeping all the commandments and rules found in the Bible. Rather, the works James is talking about are the product of one's faith in God. When you think about it, this is really no mystery. Whatever we strongly believe in, we will manifest that conviction by accompanying actions.

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