James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad, greeting. James 1:1
The great protestant reformer Martin Luther did not like the book of James. Luther actually called it a straw epistle. Luther was saved when he made his great discovery that justification is by faith alone and not by works. So he objected to the strong emphasis that James in his epistle places on the role of works in the life of believers. Luther objected to the much of the wording in chapter two, including the following: Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone. Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works. Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble. But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead? James 2:17-20. Martin Luther was right. So was James.
James never said that works is essential to save our souls. But he did say that works is essential for proof of salvation. James declares that there is no reason to believe that a person is even saved if there are no works to accompany such a claim. Ephesians 2:9 makes it plain that works do not save: Not of works, lest any man should boast. And James did not dispute that. But he did make it plain that a believer’s life will be marked by good works.
What are the good works that we are to do as Christians? We will know if we read the Scriptures. We will read that we are to obey our Lord and honour Him in worship. We will read of our need to maintain a good testimony before others, of our need to not forsake the assembling of ourselves together, of our need to love and care for our fellow believers, of our need to love the souls of the lost and to show that love in prayer and in support of the Gospel. And there is plenty more – just read and do.
The epistle of James calls on us to good works. How are we doing with that? -Jim MacIntosh
Here is the link to the video of this message: https://youtu.be/Nc9PeM3NyOc