"What does it profit, my brothers, if a man says he has faith, and he has no deeds? Can faith save him? If a brother or sister is naked, and destitute of daily food, And one of you says to them, Leave in peace, May God send you warmth and food, but you do not give them those things that are needed by the body, what help is that? Even so, faith, if it has no deeds, is dead, in itself.
Yes, and a man may say, You have faith, and I have deeds, show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by my deeds. Do you believe that there is one God? You do well. The demons also believe, and tremble. Will you understand, Oh, you vain man, that faith without deeds is dead? Was not our father Abraham justified through works, when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? You see how faith worked with his deeds, and through the deeds, the faith was made perfect? And the scripture was fulfilled which said, Abraham believed God, and it was imputed to him as righteousness, and he was called the friend of God.
You see then how that by deeds a man is justified, and not only by faith. In also the same way, was not Rahab the harlot justified through works when she received the messengers, and sent them out another way? For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead."
James 2:14-26 in the Tyndale21 Version of the Gospels, from Abbott ePublishing
(read the full General Letter of James online HERE)
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