Is Faith without works enough?

Faith by itself, if it has no works , is dead.  James 2: 17

You can be committed to preserving the gospel of being saved by “faith alone” in a way that you separate the roles of Christ.  We do this when the Christ we confess only comes to sinners as Saviour and makes no claims of his Lordship.  Yet Christians believe in Jesus Christ as  Saviour AND Lord!

The problem with separating the roles of Christ is that it encourages people to claim Jesus as Saviour by simple intellectual affirmation:  by saying yes in our mind to a plan of salvation, and never surrender to the claims of Christ, the Lord, to transform our lives.   This leads to the false teaching that our behaviour has no relationship with our salvation.  If this was true, there would be nothing different in the behaviour of a Christian and a non-Christian. Their lifestyles would be the same.  And the Bible never says that.  Never!

Being a Christian is to receive Christ as Saviour, in faith:  a faith that is agreeing to Christ being our Lord! A faith that brings us to surrender to Christ as being in charge of our entire lives, including our morals and our ethics!

James is not asking whether works without faith can save us. But rather, whether a dead faith, one that produces no change and no transformation, can save us, and he answers no.

Christians faithfully submit to the lordship of Jesus Christ and become his disciples.

Our response to God’s saving grace is to be more than sound formulation of belief. It is to be a faith that calls us to action.

We are called Christians when our faith is alive:   when my faith is confirmed by my works for the Lord!