The Lifestyle of Faith
Taught by Anazao
the teaching closes out the second week of the new James series by finishing James chapter 2, and he gives the whole section a single theme: the lifestyle of faith. The just shall live by faith, he reminds the room, not just get what they want by faith, but actually live by it. There is an attitude of faith that is visible. From verse 17 he draws the line that will run through the entire session: faith by itself is not enough. He distinguishes the act of faith from the lifestyle of faith, and shows that James is not attacking belief, he is exposing belief that never moves. 'How can you show me your faith if it doesn't have good deeds?' becomes the night's recurring question. Faith, he says, has a heart and a hand, the heart of faith is invisible, the hand of faith is what others see, and the heart cannot prove itself without the hand. Even the demons believe and tremble; profession without action is useless. Then he walks through the two case studies James reaches for: Abraham, who was shown to be right with God by his actions when he offered Isaac on the altar, and Rahab, who was shown to be right with God when she hid the messengers and sent them safely away. the teaching traces the progression James is building, love (caring for the hungry and poor in verses 15–16) leads to sacrifice (Abraham) which leads to risk (Rahab). And he lands on verse 26: as the body is dead without breath, faith is dead without good works. Good works, he says, is the breath of faith. The faith that ends in the heart without finding expression in the hand is a troubled faith.
This is the Friday Berean Session of week two in the new James series, recorded May 15 at 8:00 PM West African time, the closing night of three on James chapter 2. the teaching frames the week as one chapter under three lenses: Wednesday's 'heaven evaluates differently' on James 2:1–5, Thursday's 'the scene of favoritism' on James 2:6–16, and tonight's 'the lifestyle of faith' on James 2:17–26, completing the chapter. The Berean Sessions run Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday at 8:00 PM WAT as an online discipleship class, designed, he reminds the room, to be one of the last things you hear before bed. Next week he turns the corner into James chapter 3.
Summary
the teaching closes out the second week of the new James series by finishing James chapter 2, and he gives the whole section a single theme: the lifestyle of faith. The just shall live by faith, he reminds the room, not just get what they want by faith, but actually live by it. There is an attitude of faith that is visible. From verse 17 he draws the line that will run through the entire session: faith by itself is not enough. He distinguishes the act of faith from the lifestyle of faith, and shows that James is not attacking belief, he is exposing belief that never moves. 'How can you show me your faith if it doesn't have good deeds?' becomes the night's recurring question. Faith, he says, has a heart and a hand, the heart of faith is invisible, the hand of faith is what others see, and the heart cannot prove itself without the hand. Even the demons believe and tremble; profession without action is useless. Then he walks through the two case studies James reaches for: Abraham, who was shown to be right with God by his actions when he offered Isaac on the altar, and Rahab, who was shown to be right with God when she hid the messengers and sent them safely away. the teaching traces the progression James is building, love (caring for the hungry and poor in verses 15–16) leads to sacrifice (Abraham) which leads to risk (Rahab). And he lands on verse 26: as the body is dead without breath, faith is dead without good works. Good works, he says, is the breath of faith. The faith that ends in the heart without finding expression in the hand is a troubled faith.
Key Points
The theme of James 2:17–26 is the lifestyle of faith. The just shall live by faith, not merely get what they want by faith. There is an attitude of faith that is visible.
Verse 17: faith by itself is not enough. the teaching distinguishes between the act of faith and the lifestyle of faith, the act of faith goes with the lifestyle of faith, and one without the other is incomplete.
Verse 18: 'How can you show me your faith if it doesn't have good deeds?' Faith can be seen. The world around you can tell if you have faith.
The heart of faith and the hand of faith. The heart of faith, as important as it is, doesn't show until there is a hand of faith. You cannot prove your heart of faith without the hand of faith.
Verse 19: even the demons believe there is one God, and they tremble. Belief alone places you in the same category as demons. Our profession is useless without our action; what gives value to our profession is our action.
Verses 21–23: Abraham was shown to be right with God by his actions when he offered Isaac. His faith and his actions worked together, his actions made his faith complete. Faith is incomplete without love; faith is unstable without love.
Verse 24: 'We are shown to be right with God by what we do, not by faith alone.' This is not earning righteousness, it is faith finding expression in your day-to-day life as a banker, an IT consultant, an entrepreneur. There is an aura around a man or woman of faith: they love, they genuinely care, they want to be a blessing.
Verse 25: Rahab the prostitute was shown to be right with God by her actions when she hid the messengers and sent them safely away. Our actions matter to God. He is a God of justice by whom actions are weighed.
The progression James is building: love (verses 15–16, caring for the hungry and poor) leads to sacrifice (Abraham offering Isaac), and sacrifice leads to risk (Rahab hiding the spies). Love, sacrifice, risk, that is the lifestyle of faith.
Verse 26: as the body is dead without breath, faith is dead without good works. Good works is the breath of faith. As small as a single breath feels in the whole composition of the body, that is exactly how much works matter, they give life to faith.