![](https://burunche.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/faith-without-works-gears.jpg?w=371)
James 2:18 – 19 “But someone will say, “You have faith and I have deeds.” Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by my deeds. You believe that God is one. Good for you! Even the demons believe that—and shudder.”
It was a wonderful machine! Everybody said so! The gears were bright and shiny. The mechanisms appeared to mesh perfectly. The outer case was made of a gleaming material so bright that it dazzled the eyes of all who saw it. Everything appeared to be perfect; yet, when the machine was started, the wheels went round and round, the engine worked perfectly, but there was no output! Upon close examination, it was revealed that one shaft at the last part of the machine was mis-placed in such a way that it prevented the last two wheels from meshing properly. And the final lever that should have been connected to the axle of the last wheel was hanging useless. When the engineers who designed the machine asked the mechanic why he hadn’t completed the job, he said, “Well, it looked all right to me.” But it wasn’t all right at all! There was a disconnect that made the magnificent machine useless!
Faith and deeds are like the cogs in a fine machine; you can’t have one without the other. James reminds us that if you only talk about God being one, it’s no big deal. Even the demons do that much, shuddering as they do so. Faith without works is like that machine – it might look impressive, but it accomplishes nothing.
Eugene Peterson in The Message translates James 2:18 -20 as saying “Not so fast. You can no more show me your works apart from your faith than I can show you my faith apart from my works. Faith and works, works and faith, fit together hand in glove. Do I hear you professing to believe in the one and only God, but then observe you complacently sitting back as if you had done something wonderful? That’s just great. Demons do that, but what good does it do them? Use your heads! Do you suppose for a minute that you can cut faith and works in two and not end up with a corpse on your hands?”
Jesus warned his disciples about this problem when he spoke about fruit. “A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. So then, by their fruit you will recognize them.” Matthew 7: 18 – 20
The big question each of us must face is this: what kind of fruit are WE bearing? Today, there are many self – appointed fruit inspectors….as long as they are inspecting someone else’s fruit! Recently social media has exploded with vicious attacks that amount to condemnation of someone else’s fruit. But the problem is that we are not answerable for anybody’s fruit but our own. And what kind of fruit pleases God? We find the answer in Galatians 5:22 – 23 “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Against such things there is no law.”
Today, let’s not worry about someone else’s machine or someone else’s fruit. Let’s make sure that our faith and our deeds match and that our fruit is good and not rotten or sour.
PRAYER: Father God, help us to follow hard after you all the days of our lives! Help us to look to you and to watch for your leading, so that our faith will bring the results you want. Increase our faith, Lord, so that we can do even more to please you. And help us so that the fruits of your Holy Spirit will be evident in our lives. Let us live to serve you and to please you. In the matchless Name of King Jesus. Amen.