“You only really believe that which activates you.” – Don Hillis, former missionary

I first heard these words when I attended a summer church camp and a missionary representative spoke about real faith in God. They were such powerful words presented in such a powerful way that I have never forgotten them. (By the way, that camp was held almost 40 years ago.)

I know that many of you are familiar with the process for obtaining a credit card. Applying for and receiving the card are just steps in the process. To make the card usable you must activate it. Without this step the card, though issued to you and in your possession, is worthless and unusable. What good is a credit card that hasn’t been activated? James asks a similar question about faith. In James 2:14 he asks about the worth of a faith that does not cause us to act, that doesn’t make a difference in us. What good is it? What good is it to say we love you but we won’t help you. What good is it to say we believe in Jesus, only to deny Him when we are challenged to follow Him? What good is it to say we believe in helping people and follow a Savior who never turned away a person in need, only to turn away from people in need? What good is it to say we believe in a God who forgives and encourages us to forgive only to refuse forgiveness to others? What good is it to…? You get the drift of thought here. You know where it’s headed. There are many things we say we believe, only to deny those very beliefs in our daily lives. True faith activates us to act on what we believe.

When we were children, we would hear our friends or acquaintances make bold claims. I can jump from my roof and land on my feet, I can do fifty push-ups, I can blow bubbles from my nose. There are many more that we could list, but that last one on the list would lead us into familiar, but better avoided territory. As we moved from naiveté to experience, we would not automatically assume that their claims were valid. We would want proof. “Okay, show me!” Only if they were willing to back up their claim were we willing to believe them. Sometimes they were able to show the validity of their claims and sometimes they were shown to be prevaricators (liars, but I just like using big words). James issues a challenge to those who claim to have real faith. He says simply, “Show me!” Can you show real faith without works that come from a faith that is actively energizing your thoughts, words and deeds? Can you? Can you? Really? Do it! Show me faith without works! Show me a faith that doesn’t make a difference in your life! Come on, put your money where your mouth is! (I apologize for the immature digression, but you get the point, I’m sure!) Faith that doesn’t produce works, faith that makes claims not backed up with evidence, is useless. It is not true faith, just a bunch of empty words.

James uses two examples to make his point: Abraham and Rahab. In so many ways these two were very different. One a man, the other a woman. One revered as the father of a nation, the other a former prostitute. He turned from his idolatry at the call of God, who made promises to him and a covenant with him. She turned from her idolatry after hearing testimonies of the mighty acts of the Hebrew God. They were both liars. He did so in an act of faithless self-preservation, she in an act of faithful preservation of the Hebrew spies who came to her for help. But they both exhibited real faith. How do we know? Abraham, in a bold act of faith in a God who can raise the dead, was willing to offer his son, Isaac, as a sacrifice the way God instructed him. Rahab went against the loyalty to her city and kindred, facing the possibility of death for treason, and protected enemy spies from Israel. Both were said to possess faith and both could produce evidence of that faith. They acted on the belief they possessed in God.

So, we are back to this: “You only really believe that which activates you.” So what do you believe? Show me! Come on! I dare you!

James 2:14-26 LEB What is the benefit, my brothers, if someone says that he has faith but does not have works? That faith is not able to save him, is it? If a brother or a sister is poorly clothed and lacking food for the day, and one of you should say to them, “Go in peace, keep warm and eat well,” but does not give them what is necessary for the body, what is the benefit? Thus also faith, if it does not have works, is dead by itself. But someone will say, “You have faith and I have works.” Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works. You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe, and shudder! But do you want to know, O foolish person, that faith apart from works is useless? Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered up his son Isaac on the altar? You see that faith was working together with his works, and by the works the faith was perfected. And the scripture was fulfilled that says, “And Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him for righteousness,” and he was called God’s friend. You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone. And likewise was not Rahab the prostitute also justified by works when she welcomed the messengers and sent them out by a different route? For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead.