Since you are believers in the Lord Jesus, don't show favoritism to the rich. It is evil to judge this way. God has actually chosen those who are poor by worldly standards to be rich in faith and be given the kingdom promised to those who love him. You insult the poor, yet it's the rich who exploit you, drag you to court, and slander Jesus' name. It's right to love your neighbor as yourself, but a sin to show favoritism. If a person obeys the entire law, except for one small part, he's guilty of breaking all of it because he is a lawbreaker. Behave as a person who will be judged by freedom giving law. Mercy always wins over judgment.
Is there any benefit to a person saying he has faith if he can't show it by his deeds? Is it possible for such a faith to save him? If you see someone without clothes or food and simply wish him the best, but do nothing to help - is it of any use? In that way, faith without actions is dead. A person could say one person has faith, another deeds. Try to show your faith without deeds and I'll show you my faith by my deeds. Just as belief in one God is not sufficient for salvation (as proved by the demons), faith without deeds is pointless.
Foolish people! Would you like proof that faith without works is of no value? Look at Abraham. He is considered by us righteous because of his deed of offering Isaac on the alter. So his faith was made complete by his action. Abraham's belief was proved his action and so he was given righteousness because of his belief, and even called God's friend. Similarly, even Rahab was considered righteous for hiding the spies. Just as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead.
4 comments:
How's it going? I haven't blogged ya in a while. How's running? I signed up for the 5k race here...not sure how I'll do, but I'm glad to be a part of it!
love ya,
Michele
All is well here. It's been a busy day here at work, but I just finished up the project I've been on since 9:45. It's nice when the end of the day and the end of a project happen at the same time!
You'll have to let me know how you do on the 5K! I've had a little setback running the last month. I tried to break in a new pair of shoes and ended up with sore legs several times. I hate to hurt, so would then stop running until they felt better. Finally I looked online and found that I had bought cross trainers instead of running shoes. So, I switched back to my old shoes last week and am once again enjoying running. I really do need to get some new running shoes soon. . . Maybe next week! I just hate breaking them in since my feet always develop blisters with new shoes.
James is a great book and is under-rated by many. Keep quoting the book!!
James certainly is a good book. I'm listening to both James and 1 Peter this month as I drive to work. Both are very practical!
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