{"id":1786,"date":"2023-03-10T15:28:59","date_gmt":"2023-03-10T21:28:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thebiblicalfoundation.com\/?p=1786"},"modified":"2023-09-14T14:10:59","modified_gmt":"2023-09-14T19:10:59","slug":"can-you-have-faith-without-works-explained","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thebiblicalfoundation.com\/can-you-have-faith-without-works-explained\/","title":{"rendered":"Can You Have Faith Without Works? (Explained)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

It is impossible to have true, biblical faith without works. Faith will always produce action. This is why the Bible says that faith without works is dead<\/strong>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We see this explained in James 2:14-26. <\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In these 12 verses, the apostle James mentions three times that faith without works is dead. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead<\/strong>.” (James 2:17)<\/a> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

“But do you want to know, O foolish man, that faith without works is dead<\/strong>?” (James 2:20)<\/a> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

“For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also<\/strong>.” (James 2:26)<\/a> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now think about this for a moment, James mentioned three times in just 12 verses that if our faith is not coupled with action it is not true faith. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

He even went so far as to say that just as our body is dead without our spirit so also is our faith without action. <\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n

And the truth is this really is not that hard for us to understand and agree with because we act on things all the time that we believe. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

For example, if you saw on your weather app or on the news that it would be snowing all day, you would dress accordingly. Or if you were standing in the middle of the road, and someone told you that a truck was coming, you would get out of the road. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

You wouldn’t call these things faith and works but that is what they are. You are hearing something, believing it, and then acting on it. Not much different than what we are to do with the Word of God. [Related article: How to Act on Your Faith (Step-by-Step)<\/a> and How to Activate Your Faith (Step-by-Step)<\/a>].<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now it may be a little different because we’ve all seen a truck and we’ve all seen snow, so it may be a human faith and not a supernatural faith but the point is still the same; when we truly believe something that we’ve heard, we act on it. Every. Single. Time. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is actually what the apostle James continues to explain in James chapter 2. He uses the example of Abraham who “believed God and it was accounted to him as righteousness” (Genesis 15:6)<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

James makes the point that Abraham didn’t just have faith and then sit around but that he actually did something. He offered up Isaac, his son, on the altar when God asked him to and then took his son off the altar when God revealed to him that it was just a test. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Not only did Abraham do this one thing but he also moved to a land his family had never been before, he changed his name from Abram to Abraham (which means “father of many nations”) before he even had a single child, he circumcised all of his servants and himself simply because God told him to. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The list can go on and on but Abraham certainly was not passive in his faith. He acted on everything that God spoke to Him, and the reason is that he believed in Him. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Even if you look at Hebrews chapter 11, which is the chapter of faith. You will find a huge list of examples of men and women who acted on faith. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In fact, once the writer gives the definition of faith in verse 1, he immediately gives examples of men and women of God in the Old Testament who had faith and acted on it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

“By faith Abel offered <\/strong>to God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain” (v. 4)<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

“By faith Noah,<\/strong> being divinely warned of things not yet seen, moved with godly fear, prepared an ark<\/strong>” (v. 7)<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

“By faith Abraham obeyed<\/strong> when he was called to go out to the place which he would receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going<\/strong>.” (v. 8)<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now, these are just three examples out of 15+ examples that the writer of Hebrews used but hopefully you get the point. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Every time the writer mentions these heroes of the faith, he says, “by faith they did X” which proves that faith is never passive but that it always involves action. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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