"Faith" without works is a faith without Christ
The surviving remnant
of the house of Judah will...
take root downward
and bear fruit upward...
The zeal of the LORD
will do this.
~ II Kings 19:31
Faith is the root,
good works are the fruits;
and we must see to it
that we have both.
~ Matthew Henry
Faith
by itself,
if it does not have
works,
is dead...
You believe that God is One;
you do well.
Even the demons believe —
and shudder!
But can't you see,
O vain man,
that faith without works
is dead?...
For as the body
without the spirit
is dead,
so faith
without works
is dead also.
~ James 2:17,19-20,26
Matthew Henry notes a cautionary warning in his commentary upon these holy scriptures in James:
"Those are wrong
who put a mere notional belief
of the gospel
for the whole of evangelical religion,
as many now do."
synonyms:
hypothetical, theoretical, speculative, conjectural, suppositional,
putative, conceptual; imaginary, fanciful, unreal, illusory
Henry continues;
"No doubt,
true faith alone,
whereby men have part
in Christ's
righteousness,
atonement,
and grace,
saves their souls;
but it produces holy fruits,
and is shown to be REAL
by its effect
on their WORKS;
while mere assent to any form of doctrine,
or mere historical belief of any facts,
wholly differs from this saving faith.
A bare profession
may gain the good opinion
of pious people;
and it may procure,
in some cases,
worldly good things;
but what profit will it be,
for any to gain the whole world,
and to lose their souls?
Can this faith save him?
All things should be accounted profitable
or unprofitable
to us,
as they tend to forward
or hinder
the salvation of our souls.
This place of Scripture plainly shows
that an opinion,
or assent to the gospel,
without works,
is not faith.
There is no way to show
we really believe in Christ,
but by being diligent
in good works,
from gospel motives,
and for gospel purposes...
Faith is the root,
good works are the fruits;
and we must see to it
that we have both."
by itself,
if it does not have
works,
is dead...
You believe that God is One;
you do well.
Even the demons believe —
and shudder!
But can't you see,
O vain man,
that faith without works
is dead?...
For as the body
without the spirit
is dead,
so faith
without works
is dead also.
~ James 2:17,19-20,26
Matthew Henry notes a cautionary warning in his commentary upon these holy scriptures in James:
"Those are wrong
who put a mere notional belief
of the gospel
for the whole of evangelical religion,
as many now do."
notional
adjective
1. existing only in theory or as a suggestion or idea.
hypothetical, theoretical, speculative, conjectural, suppositional,
putative, conceptual; imaginary, fanciful, unreal, illusory
Henry continues;
"No doubt,
true faith alone,
whereby men have part
in Christ's
righteousness,
atonement,
and grace,
saves their souls;
but it produces holy fruits,
and is shown to be REAL
by its effect
on their WORKS;
while mere assent to any form of doctrine,
or mere historical belief of any facts,
wholly differs from this saving faith.
A bare profession
may gain the good opinion
of pious people;
and it may procure,
in some cases,
worldly good things;
but what profit will it be,
for any to gain the whole world,
and to lose their souls?
Can this faith save him?
All things should be accounted profitable
or unprofitable
to us,
as they tend to forward
or hinder
the salvation of our souls.
This place of Scripture plainly shows
that an opinion,
or assent to the gospel,
without works,
is not faith.
There is no way to show
we really believe in Christ,
but by being diligent
in good works,
from gospel motives,
and for gospel purposes...
Faith is the root,
good works are the fruits;
and we must see to it
that we have both."
Faith,
if it hath not works,
is dead,
being alone.
It is like a lifeless carcass,
a body
without a soul.
~ John Gill
For in Christ Jesus
neither circumcision
nor uncircumcision
counts for anything,
but only
faith
working
through
love.
~ Galatians 5:6
Let us consider
how we may spur one another on
toward
love and good works.
~ Hebrews 10:24
Beloved Christian,
Even if no one else but God
sees the good works that you do,
do them heartily, as unto the Lord.
No comments:
Post a Comment