Jesus wants our light to shine before people so they can see our good works for the glory of the Father in heaven. Jesus uses bright terms to describe our good deeds. We often say that Christians are the light of the world. But we also say that those who believe in Jesus are justified by faith and good works are not important. We think that as long as we claim to believe in Jesus, we will be saved even if our lives are worse than those of the world. Isn't this reasoning contrary to the teachings of Jesus? Jesus did not say that people of the world would see your faith and glorify our Heavenly Father. He said that your good deeds are light and when people see the wonderful work of God in your life, they will glorify God.
Let's read James 2:18 together. Have you ever noticed the similarity between what James said and Jesus said? Every Christian will claim to believe in God but how can others see your faith? - Of course through your actions. We don't need to keep saying that we are people who believe in Jesus. This kind of proclamation will not prove anything if our actions do not show our faith in God.
Let me give one example: many Christian people believe in the kingdom of God, in eternal life. They will tell others that the greatest blessing in life is trust in Jesus. However, the thing you can see in their lives is that they are always busy pursuing worldly things. They attach importance to money, position and education - things that the world people are concerned about and pursued. All their lives and energy are devoted to pursuing worldly interests. However, at the same time, they tell others if they believe that Jesus will come again, that they will get eternal life, that everything that is earthly is mortal and will soon pass.
Do you think other people will believe this kind of nonsense? Even in the eyes of observant Christians, such statements are laughable. But in everyday reality, we continue to indulge in this baseless nonsense. Do you really think that this is the kind of faith that God asks of us? Is this a saving faith?
I know a widow who has 3 children. One day, he called me and said that he was very happy because his youngest child had decided to serve God. He felt that God was very generous to him because his three children, one by one, had entered into service. This sister did not know how to convey the great truth, but I could see that in her life it was seen that she was a person who had faith. He sincerely believes that the opportunity to serve God is the greatest blessing in life. Therefore, he strongly encourages and supports the decisions of his children. He never cared about how to fulfill his needs. He never worried whether later no one would take care of him at an advanced age to the point that he had to forbid his children from leaving him to serve God. From this it can be seen that he depends on God he trusts. His faith in God is seen through his life.
You see, when you meet someone who is truly a believer, you don't have to wait until he talks about high truth. You can know that he is a believer from his way of life. You can come to an understanding of true faith from such people. This is why the apostle James said in verse 2:21 that faith without works dies. This is absolute truth. We cannot deceive others and ourselves by boasting that we have faith without the support of appropriate actions. This kind of faith is interpreted as darkness in the teachings of Jesus in the Gospel of Matthew - such faith dies.
The Apostle James takes an example from everyday life in James 2:15-16. He said, "If a brother or sister has no clothes and lacks daily food, and one of you says: 'Goodbye, wear a hot cloth and eat until full!', But he did not give him what was needed for his body , what's the use of that?"
What did the apostle James want to say from this example? What he wants to say is: do you dare to say that you have faith but you don't do what you know to do, when you know exactly that it is God's will but you don't do it? The faith that you are proud of is actually faith that dies in the eyes of God! That is not saving faith!
Jesus commands those who believe in Him to love their neighbor as themselves. Can we claim to have faith even though we are still looking forward, privileging one and treating others badly? Can we still claim to be believers in Jesus Christ?
