the way

I heard a really good explanation of the verse in the book of James where he writes that faith without deeds is dead. This is the video: The Meaning of Faith Without Works, and How We're Saved: Looking at James 2:14-26. It's by Melissa Dougherty. 

That verse, and the epistle it's part of, has bothered a lot of people, including most famously, Martin Luther, because being saved or made right with God by our faith and God's grace was so central to his teaching. He actually said that the book of James shouldn't even be in the Bible, which is kind of presumptuous, but of course Luther was presumptuous....he directly challenged what was regarded as the true Christianity of his day. 

The problem Luther had, and the problem a lot of Christians have even today, with James's message, is that it seems to contradict other important teachings in the New Testament. Especially in the books of Romans and Ephesians, we're taught that it's all about faith. We're saved because we believe and trust and rely on what Jesus did. 

But, understood correctly, as the video explains, James's teaching doesn't contradict that. As Melissa points out in the video, James was arguing against a philosophical approach called antinomianism, which holds that, because we're saved by faith and not works, once we are saved, we can just do whatever we want - literally...there's no compunction at all. 

The book of James is very practical. A lot of it is about how we should speak and behave in our lives. When he says that faith without deeds is dead, I think what he's getting at is that, if you claim to have faith, but then you're always nasty and don't care about people and just do whatever you want even if it's immoral, there's something wrong - something is amiss. 

So, the way I understand that passage now is that....we're not judged by the standard of our works...what matters is our faith, and, as a simple matter of fact, if our faith is real, it will change the way we live...it will change our behaviour, conduct, relationships, etc. If there's no reflection in our actual life, that doesn't mean we're not doing enough and we need to do more - it's not about having sufficient deeds, it's about having faith. 

It reminds me of a quote that Harold Bloom gives from a Hebrew religious text called Pirkei Avot: 'You are not required to complete the work, but neither are you free to desist from it.'