Jas 2:14  "What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him?"


Faith that isn't exhibited in the way I act is a falsehood a deception. It has no power in me for salvation because I demonstrate that it is meaningless to me.
That kind of faith is the same as saying one thing and doing the opposite. It is an empty thought or word that anyone seeing or hearing you would be disappointed and possibly disgusted. Don't you think God sees right through that?


Jas 2:15, 16  "If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, and one of you says to them, "Go in peace, be warmed and filled," without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that?"


In the same way that faith is dead and brings death. You only believe that lie yourself for a short while, then you are weary of playing the part, it is not really you. That part of you dies out.


Jas 2:17  "So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead."


So someone will decide, "OK I'll just 'will' to show love to others". "I don't need God or some crutch of religion to love others". You, then, need to show me what you believe in and why. You need to show me the motivation for your loving actions or is it only love of recognition and applause. You really aren't acting out of a love that flows from within, from God.
The contest would be no contest if belief in the mercy, grace and absolute love of God were driving me and you were just trying to work up some kind of disinterested response. So love is more than a verb. It is a verb, it involves action, but it is more. It is A to Z, Alpha and Omega. It is a noun also, for God is love. He is the Absolute Love.


Jas 2:18  "But someone will say, "You have faith and I have works." Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works."


So works alone don't cut it, and faith that is belief alone without works won't cut it! The demons and Satan Himself have more of that kind of faith than you do! Their belief only makes them shudder in fear and slink into the darkness to hide. That kind of faith is not manifested in love, but hatred and anger.


Jas 2:19  "You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe--and shudder!"


If you want an example of faith that is motivated by the love of God look at Abraham, his friendship with God was so intimate and deep that He was willing to sacrifice his only son, believing Isaac would be raised back to life, because of God's promise. Remember how Abraham pleaded for mercy toward Sodom. Abraham really understood the mercy, grace and love of God. It was a sacrifice of faith born out of the friendship he enjoyed with God. 


Jas 2:20-23  "Do you want to be shown, you foolish person, that faith apart from works is useless?  Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered up his son Isaac on the altar? You see that faith was active along with his works, and faith was completed by his works; and the Scripture was fulfilled that says, "Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness"--and he was called a friend of God."


So even when loving becomes difficult and contrary to human logic, faith that is anchored in the grace of God's love acts in obedience. So justification comes from the faith that leads to obedience. 


Jas 2:24  "You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone."



Rom 4:16-25  "That is why it depends on faith, in order that the promise may rest on grace and be guaranteed to all his offspring--not only to the adherent of the law but also to the one who shares the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all, as it is written, "I have made you the father of many nations"--in the presence of the God in whom he believed, who gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist. In hope he believed against hope, that he should become the father of many nations, as he had been told, "So shall your offspring be."  He did not weaken in faith when he considered his own body, which was as good as dead (since he was about a hundred years old), or when he considered the barrenness of Sarah's womb.  No distrust made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God,  fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised. That is why his faith was "counted to him as righteousness."  But the words "it was counted to him" were not written for his sake alone,  but for ours also. It will be counted to us who believe in him who raised from the dead Jesus our Lord,  who was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification."


You also know that Rahab was not like the other people inside the walls at Jericho. All the others believed that God was with Joshua and the band of refugees who were led out of Egypt. They had heard of the reports of God helping them to triumph for the last forty years, they barricaded  the walls and sat trembling inside. 
Rahab had faith that acts in obedience, giving help to God's people and believing in the mercy, grace and love of God. Therefore she could show love at her own peril. 



Jas 2:25  "And in the same way was not also Rahab the prostitute justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out by another way?"


The bottom line is faith can't stand alone, it must be driven by the Spirit of Love to loving actions. It's just like a body, the spirit within is what cause movement. God is Love. He is Absolute Love.  


Jas 2:26  "For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so also faith apart from works is dead."



Jas 1:16-18  "Do not be deceived, my beloved brothers. Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change. Of his own will he brought us forth by the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures." 


All work, all glory for our obedience is ultimately His to claim. He is worthy of our worship!