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Today’s Teaching

A Working Faith Is a Faith That Works

Erica Wiggenhorn

Day: 15 | Plan: James 2024

Start Here: James 2:21-24

Key Verse: James 2:23 (ESV) "and the Scripture was fulfilled that says, 'Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness' - and he was called a friend of God."

Major Moment: No one will be declared righteous without righteous works.

My family and I went on a tour on electric bikes, taking us across busy streets and necessitating sharp turns to miss oncoming traffic. Thankfully, the destination promised a gorgeous day on the beach, basking in the sun.

Electric bikes boost the energy created by the rider as they pedal. The electricity and the rider cooperate to propel the bike forward. And propel is exactly what I did … right off of the bike, face first onto the pavement, when I turned too sharply.

James shows us how faith and works cooperate as well. But unlike an electric bike rider, we actually don't create our own energy to do good works; God Himself empowers us (Philippians 2:13)! Still, the bike analogy offers some ideas that might help us understand James' teaching. Faith energizes and propels us toward obedience to God, yet without the work of intentional pedaling and steering, this faith-electricity would prove ineffectual. James says a working faith is a faith that works.

James invites us to look at Abraham as an example of effective cooperation between faith and works. God told Abraham to leave his country and promised to create a great nation through his offspring. Abraham believed God and went (Genesis 12:1-4). But then he waited 25 years for God to fulfill His promise to give Abraham a son. During this time, God recounted His promise: "Your very own son shall be your heir" (Genesis 15:4). And as James 2:23 tells us, "Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness."

After all that waiting, Abraham's son Isaac was born, yet God tested Abraham again: "Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you" (Genesis 22:2).

Again, Abraham obeyed, although it seemed to make no sense because it was through Isaac that God would fulfill His promise of a great nation. Abraham had faith that God had a greater plan he couldn't yet grasp. And ultimately, God spared Isaac and supplied the sacrifice Himself (Genesis 22:8-14).

Like all of us, Abraham was a sinner, but God's grace and his faith provided the impetus for him to cooperate with God's plan for his life. Abraham's "faith was active along with his works" as he willingly left his country because he believed God's promise. "Faith was completed by his works" as he demonstrated a willingness to sacrifice Isaac (James 2:22). And what was the result? Abraham "was called a friend of God" (James 2:23).

Jesus echoed this to His disciples when He said, "You are my friends if you do what I command you" (John 15:14). When our faith results in obedience, we enjoy a special intimacy with Jesus: "The servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you" (John 15:15).

As we follow Him, basking in the Son, we're sure to have the ride of our lives, even when things don't go our way or we face-plant on the pavement. We can get back up and keep going. After all, faith is meant to take us somewhere … or more specifically, to someone: Christ, who also sends us out to share His love with the world.

Prayer: Dear Jesus, help me to live out my faith through obedience to You. Show me any area of my life where You are inviting me into greater obedience and longing to show me Your plans and purposes for me. In Jesus' name, amen.