More Than Faith Required

By Reverend Michael Farias

If you are a younger leader, you are creating history.  If you are an older leader, you have already left some of your history.

What history are you creating and leaving?  

We can take a lesson from James.

What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? James 2:14   

Faith is the basis and foundation of our relationship with Jesus, and without it, we don’t have a relationship with him at all. Faith is extremely important, but faith alone is not enough, according to James.  

So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. James 2:17

In all my years of Christian leadership and service, I’ve never seen anyone accomplish anything for the Lord with faith alone. I’ve also never seen anyone accomplish anything for the Lord without it.  On the surface, this may seem confusing, but James gives us clarity and a principle to build by.  It’s really simple; you need more than faith, you need works.

What does James mean by works?  He means exactly what he says.  He means to work.  By my interpretation, that means I have to do something; there is a deed that needs doing, there is sweat that needs to be poured out.  I need to be busy doing an activity, and I need to make something happen.

 But someone will say, “You have faith and I have works.”James 2:18a.

This principle of faith with works cannot be accomplished through a buddy system.  You can’t partner with someone who has faith, but is not willing to work, any more than you can partner with someone who is willing to work, but has no faith.  It takes both faith and works.  In this case the two do not become one.  Don’t look around for someone to partner with you in order to complete the equation, because it takes more than faith and works.  It takes faith with works.

James says,  Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works. 2:18b.

James wants to see your faith, but you cannot see faith; or can you?

James challenges the reader by instructing that faith be shown apart from works.  In other words, he wants to see faith with nothing added to it.  And what is there to see?  Nothing!  There is nothing there, a big empty zero, just a lot of hope.  He goes on to say that you can see his faith through his works.  

Do you want to see faith?  Do you want your faith to be visible?  Making faith seen takes hard work.

God put Adam in the garden and required him to tend to it (Genesis 2:15).  Noah spent 120 years building the ark, and Moses led Israel out of Egypt.  These guys worked, built and led.  They were active participants, and are examples of faith and works fitting together.

They created history by building their resumes.

For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so also faith apart from works is dead. James 2:26  

Biblical leadership is not about God doing it for me, but God doing it with me.