The Mark of Genuine Faith—Changed Life

Checking in from Rochester, Minnesota. Yes, Barbara is back at Mayo Clinic. More concerns than we thought. She has a few nodules in her right lung. Most are nothing, but one is slowly growing. A biopsy shows it to be cancer, but different than the bile duct cancer she had in her liver. The surgeon is concerned about the looks of second nodule near this cancerous one. He is sure it too is cancer.

Tomorrow, Tuesday August 8, she goes into surgery to have both cancerous nodules removed. This is her third different type of cancer in four years: Breast cancer in 2014, bile duct cancer in 2016, and now lung cancer. The first two have been beaten. Pray that this lung cancer will also be beaten through successful surgery tomorrow.

Now to today's Bible Insight: “If a brother or sister is without clothing and in need of daily food, and one of you says to them, ‘Go in peace, be warmed and be filled,’ and yet you do not give them what is necessary for their body, what use is that?” (James 2:15-16). The mark of genuine faith is that you do what you can to meet the needs of people. If your faith is genuine, you are a doer of the Word and not a hearer only. You act upon your faith by helping others according to how God has gifted you.

A believer is in dire need in this passage. He has genuine needs—not wants. This may have been the actual situation that some were facing in their fellowship. “Without clothes” is literally “naked” (KJV). It is hyperbole. They are in need of clothing, which they cannot afford, and even “daily food.” “Do not give them what is necessary for their body” (v. 16b) literally means “does nothing about his physical needs” (NIV), whatever those needs may be.

The church can offer words that sound quite spiritual and kind: “Go, I wish you well” (NIV) is better translated “Go in peace” (NASB), which is a standard Hebrew farewell. Literally it means, “Get some warm clothes and eat your fill” (A.T. Robertson). A modern paraphrase might be: “Catch you later, pal. I hope things go well with you. Try not to worry. Keep warm. I hope you can scrounge up enough food.” The problem is there is no offer to help, no tangible assistance. Such a response reveals fake faith.

The final phrase of verse 16 in the Phillips translation says: “What on earth is the good of that?” Again, the answer is obvious. James does not call this “limited, or little, or immature.” Instead, in no uncertain terms, he makes it clear that this is faith that is good for nothing. It is a worthless facade.

“Even so faith, if it has no works, is dead, being by itself” (v. 17). Living faith goes hand in hand with good deeds. One who is truly saved, walks in the good works God has prepared for him. True, genuine faith is not indifferent to the needs of others, especially the needs of your brother in Christ. You get compassionately involved with your brother and provide clothing or food or whatever he needs. As God has given you the ability, help your brother financially, fix his plumbing, rebuild his front porch, or repair his car; whatever his “physical needs” are, take care of them.

“But someone may well say, ‘You have faith and I have works; show me your faith without the works, and I will show you my faith by my works’” (v. 18). James illustrates his point with an imaginary conversation between two people. “Show” means “to bring to light, display, or exhibit” (eagleflight.org). So genuine faith is made known only by what it does in terms of changes in one's behavior and values. We can't say, “Oh, my faith is private.” Genuine faith is visible, so it cannot be demonstrated apart from actions. Genuine faith is marked by a changed life that shows itself in how you live and what you do.

“You believe that God is one. You do well; the demons also believe, and shudder” (v. 19). This should surely shake you to the core! When the Jews saw the words “you believe that God is one,” they would immediately think of Moses' proclamation in Deuteronomy 6:4—“Hear O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is One.” That was foundational! James says, however, that mere acknowledgment of God's existence as a living God is not enough. It takes more than correct theology to prove genuine faith. Why? Listen to this!

Demons have their religious facts straight, and they even “shudder,” but they do not have genuine faith. A “shudder” is literally “a rough, uneven surface” (Ibid). Demons get goose bumps when they think of who God is! They believe in Him. They believe He exists! Their theology is impressive and they know more about truth than all of us combined. Yet even though they have correct beliefs, their demonic character is unchanged. They do not love the only God, whom they acknowledge. Their belief does not produce peace or friendship with God. It produces only fear.

Theirs is only head knowledge—mental assent to the truth—but it does not go to the heart. There is no real saving faith in them. Our belief is quite different. It goes to the heart and is true, genuine, saving faith. And such genuine faith always shows itself in a changed life that does good deeds for others.

If you have genuine faith, it will show itself through a changed life. Genuine, saving faith is known by its works, its good deeds, but it is also known by its transformation into Christ-likeness. A changed life, a life being transformed into the image of Christ, is the mark of genuine faith. Amen.