James 2:26
[26] “For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.”
In this verse, James talks about a dead body and a dead belief. They both lack spirit and therefore cannot respond because they are dead. The body lacks the spirit of man, and his faith lacks the Spirit of God. All we have of the man in this verse is dead clay.
When someone dies, we make provisions for the best possible burial. We buy a nice casket, clothe them in fine apparel, prepare the body, and make them as presentable as possible. However, there is nothing we can do to change the fact that they are dead. Their spirit is gone, and their body is decaying. The sooner we bury the body, the better.
A man can do a lot to dress himself up spiritually by going to church, singing in the choir, giving in the offering, and serving as needed, yet he will be as dead in sin as he was before he got involved. How many today are holding on to what they are doing instead of what Christ did on the cross? Friend, they lack the Spirit of God, and they are just as dead as a corpse in the funeral home.
When God formed Adam from the ground, he was nothing more than dead clay. He had clay lungs, a clay heart, clay eyes, and clay feet. His entire body was just a body of clay. He had no breath in him because he had no life in him. What made Adam the wonder of God’s creation was when God breathed into his body the breath of life! Our physical life came from our Creator. For a man to be born again, he has to have spiritual life. The spiritual life we enjoy came from our Redeemer! This life produces more than a body of clay; it is a faith that works and is alive!