SCRIPTURE
James 2: 20-26
"You foolish person, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless? Was not our father Abraham considered righteous for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did. And the scripture was fulfilled that says, 'Abraham believed God, and was credited to his righteousness,' and he was called God's friend. You see that person is considered righteous by what they do and not by faith alone."
James, the author of this book, was Jesus's brother who of course born after him. He was not a believer when his brother Jesus was alive. In fact, he thought Jesus was kind of nutty. But after the resurrection he became a believer.
Background is needed for Abraham. He was considered the father of the Jewish nation because he had intense faith in one God. Everyone else at that time believed in many gods. God promised Abraham would be the father of many nations, but in order to be this he would have to have a son. He married Sarah, who was childless until a very old age of 89.
Their son's name was Isaac and he was the only son of Abraham and Sarah so you can imagine how beloved Isaac was to them. Abraham showed his faith in God in many ways. First way was when God asked him to leave his home country and move to a country far away from that and he did. Then there's this story of God asking Abraham to sacrifice his son. Eek!!This is a powerful story of how Abraham lived by his faith. So Abraham set off with Isaac, some wood on a donkey, and went far away from their home up a high mountain, and he even placed Isaac on an altar to sacrifice! He was actually going to do it! Thank God, He provided a ram in the bushes to sacrifice instead. This was God's test to see if Abraham would follow through on his faith and do this!
MESSAGE
There are many scriptures about believing in God; you must have faith in Jesus for eternal life. (Like John 3:16) James said these words not to bring condemnation to us, but to make us look at ourselves. All we need to do is be humble and say, "I repent Lord, have your way with me in my life. Show me your path. I will be your hands and feet on this earth."
I really like this final saying which I have used many times, "Live so others see Jesus in you." There's a hymn that goes ,"They will know we are Christian by our love." Spread the love through your deeds, words and actions.💕