James 2:14 KJV
[14] “What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works? can faith save him?”
We have all known people who claimed they believed, but their lives contradicted that claim; there seems to be no fruit of faith in their lives. We have all met this crowd and wondered, “Do they truly know the Savior?”
Just because someone claims to have faith does not mean that they do. James is not teaching us that works are an essential part of salvation. He is simply balancing the scale for us. He is reminding us that faith will produce works. A faith that saves is a faith that works!
I once knew a man who claimed to be a follower of Christ. I would talk with this man and invite him to come to church. He would always tell me that a person could be saved and not be a church member. He would say that you could have faith and not have to live up to a bunch of man-made rules.
I would remind him that what he said was true, but faith will put a desire in your heart to fellowship with other believers. Faith will give you a desire to worship publicly and put a hunger in your heart to hear the preaching of the Word of God. I never did convince the man to come to church, and I never saw one thing in his life that showed evidence of him having true faith. As far as I was concerned, this man was lost. I believe that he had been deceived because his faith profited him nothing. It never produced a desire to please God or do His will.
Dear reader, if you have genuine faith, it will profit you more than all of this world’s treasures. It will produce works that will glorify God and bring others to Christ. Works can never produce faith, but they will leave behind a good testimony of the work of faith in your own heart.