Faith that Functions
Lloyd T. Anderson
sis is entirely different. Paul deals with the commencement of the Christian's life in reporting on his standing before the Lord. James tells us of the continuation of the Christian's life and a believer's standing before men. It is the same Gospel and the same truth. James is rightly concerned about religious pretence and presump tion. There must be the demon stration of a living, vital, spiritual faith (Jas. 2:14-16). Genuine love will result in showing mercy and compassion to other people. This is because we do have faith in Cod. True faith will express itself in the doing of good works. One kind of faith is mere pretension; it is ab solutely false. The other kind is actually possessed; it is a genuine faith. This is what must accom pany our salvation. Page 39
The book of James has often been referred to as "The Epistle of Practical Christianity." The mighty lessons the Spirit of Cod inspired the Apostle to write give clear evi dence of the reason for this. Be ginning with 2:14 we find the sug gestion of how one can distinguish between a dead and a living faith. A genuine faith invariably results in good spiritual works. Such does not justify us before Cod but rath er before men. It shows that we truly have been born again. James is in no way conflicting with the teachings of Paul. There is only one way of salvation. Paul declares, "Faith without works is the way of salvation." James adds to it that once we have been saved our works will prove our faith. These men complement each oth er in their viewpoints. The empha
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