(By: Nicholas Kennicott)

I just recently finished preaching through the book of James on Wednesday nights at Ephesus Church. It was a rewarding adventure through the black and white world of the half-brother of the Lord Jesus. As I preach through a book, I like to determine what a good, overall summary statement might be to wrap it all together. For James, the clearest, most concise statement is that we are to be doers of the Word, and not hearers only, living out our faith in deeds and not just talk in everyday life, especially in the face of trials and persecution, to demonstrate our salvation in Christ and our justification before God.

Preaching through James made me even more acutely aware of the frivolous attempts that many professing Christians make at living a biblically sound and faithful life. At first glance, it may seem as though the Apostle is exhorting one to earn something or to do something in order to gain salvation or reconciliation with God, yet he is writing quite the contrary. As is the theme with all of the New Testament writers, James is arguing that a life of faith will necessarily cause one to do good works – to be doers of the Word (James 1:22). How is it that so many would believe that Jesus died to release them from the bondage of sin and the wrath of God, and yet does not do the necessary work to change their heart and affections and inclinations to do the good works of the faith? Nonsense! The one who is saved by grace will serve with mercy and love. Truly, if one has saving faith, works will be a natural byproduct.

I am concerned that many of us in reformed circles are often too guarded in discussing and encouraging good works from the saints of God. While we must certainly be clear that one is justified by grace, through faith, apart from works of the law (Galatians 2:16), we must be equally as clear that a Christian life is evidenced by its fruit (good works). This is an inseparable both/and equation that I am convinced the Apostle James sought to present as clearly as possible to make known that a life without works is a life without faith. In other words, a man is justified by grace, through faith apart from works of the law, but if that man has no good works, he is not a justified man. Justification is given with a new heart and new affections, causing good works. Therefore, the concern ought not to be that we over-emphasize the doing of good works, but rather that we simply get the order right. We are not justified by our works, but rather we do our works because we are justified; that is a crucial understanding.

I imagine James in a boat with two oars. The oar on the left side of the boat is faith, and the oar on the right is works. If they are not being paddled in conjunction with one another, the boat will simply turn in circles, leading nowhere. Indeed, I would argue that faith without works may be more dangerous than being an unbeliever because of the depths of deception at hand. James calls it dead faith (2:17), devil faith (2:19), and useless faith (2:20), but not saving faith. What tragedy.

How do faith and works complement one another in your life?

(By: John Miller)


As children of God, we are those who have been given new eyes. In God’s sovereign love and mercy He has given us spiritual eyes to discern that which is beyond the merely temporal and tangible. We have been given eyes to see the unseen, that which is true and eternal. In other words, we have received the gift of faith. As the writer of Hebrews states, “Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen” (Hebrews 11:1).


Yet at times in our pilgrimage on this earth, our spiritual vision becomes clouded. Our present trials and circumstances fill our view, causing our view of the glorious eternal realities that are ours through Jesus Christ to become dim. The “stuff of earth” seems to overwhelm us. All that we can see is the difficulty of our circumstances and the pain of our trials, forgetting to see the God who is in all of our circumstances and trials. The temptation is to become discontent, dissatisfied, and discouraged. What should we do during these times? What will you do when these difficulties come?

First, remember that you are not alone. It is not as though you are some strange and unique case, the only child of God who has ever wrestled with maintaining a clear spiritual vision in the midst of this fallen world. The pages of Scripture are filled with countless examples of the children of God whose faith has been tried and tested. Men of God like Abraham (Genesis 17:17), Asaph (Psalm 73:2-3), and Paul (2 Corinthians 1:8) wrestled with seeing their present tangible circumstances in the light of eternal truth. But even more than these, you are not alone because you have a great High Priest, the Lord Jesus Christ, who also had to walk this earth by faith and not by sight. He was despised and rejected by His own brethren, even though He was the King over All. Our Savior is one who “in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin,” and is therefore able to “sympathize with our weaknesses” (Hebrews 4:15). And it is this Savior who has promised never to leave you or forsake you (Hebrews 13:5). You are not alone.

Second, learn from those who have gone before you and, like them, seek to be much in communion with God. It is as you come to Him, looking to Jesus and hearing His Word, that you regain a true spiritual perspective. This was the experience of Asaph, who was perplexed when he saw with his physical eyes the “prosperity of the wicked” (Psalm 73:3). Looking at the world around him became a “wearisome task” (Psalm 73:16). But this changed when he entered into “the sanctuary of God” (Psalm 73:17). It was there in God’s presence that Asaph regained a true view of reality. It was then that he remembered the end of the wicked, that the “heavens and earth that now exist are stored up for fire, being kept until the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly” (2 Peter 3:7). He came to see that the present form of this world, with all of its injustice, sin, and death, is passing away (1 Corinthians 7:31), and that the “things that are seen are transient” (2 Corinthians 4:18). It was in the presence of God that Asaph remembered that there is one thing that is lasting, one portion that is forever (Psalm 73:23-26): God Himself who is “making all things new” (Revelation 21:5). He has given to us “a kingdom that cannot be shaken” (Hebrews 12:28).

May God grant to you and me this day and everyday, “a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe” (Ephesians 1:17-19).