What good is it, my brothers, if someone claims to have faith, but has no deeds? Can such faith save him?
Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food.
If one of you tells him, “Go in peace; stay warm and well fed,” but does not provide for his physical needs, what good is that?
So too, faith by itself, if it does not result in action, is dead.
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.
. . .
Whatever you do, work at it with your whole being, for the Lord and not for men,
because you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as your reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.
My brothers, as you hold out your faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ, do not show favoritism.
Suppose a man comes into your meeting wearing a gold ring and fine clothes, and a poor man in shabby clothes also comes in.
If you lavish attention on the man in fine clothes and say, “Here is a seat of honor,” but say to the poor man, “You must stand” or “Sit at my feet,”
have you not discriminated among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts?
Listen, my beloved brothers: Has not God chosen the poor of this world to be rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom He promised those who love Him?
. . .
Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly.
We all stumble in many ways. If anyone is never at fault in what he says, he is a perfect man, able to control his whole body.
When we put bits into the mouths of horses to make them obey us, we can guide the whole animal.
Consider ships as well. Although they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are steered by a very small rudder wherever the pilot is inclined.
In the same way, the tongue is a small part of the body, but it boasts of great things. Consider how small a spark sets a great forest ablaze.
. . .
When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, He will sit on His glorious throne.
All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate the people one from another, as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.
He will place the sheep on His right and the goats on His left.
Then the King will say to those on His right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.
For I was hungry and you gave Me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave Me something to drink, I was a stranger and you took Me in,
. . .
By this we know what love is: Jesus laid down His life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers.
If anyone with earthly possessions sees his brother in need, but withholds his compassion from him, how can the love of God abide in him?
Little children, let us love not in word and speech, but in action and truth.
James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, To the twelve tribes of the Dispersion: Greetings.
Consider it pure joy, my brothers, when you encounter trials of many kinds,
because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance.
Allow perseverance to finish its work, so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.
Now if any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him.
. . .
So too, faith by itself, if it does not result in action, is dead.
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.
By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as an expert builder, and someone else is building on it. But each one must be careful how he builds.
For no one can lay a foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ.
If anyone builds on this foundation using gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, or straw,
his workmanship will be evident, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will prove the quality of each man’s work.
If what he has built survives, he will receive a reward.
. . .
The Lord is not slow in keeping His promise as some understand slowness, but is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish but everyone to come to repentance.
For it is by grace you have been saved through faith, and this not from yourselves; it is the gift of God,
not by works, so that no one can boast.
For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance as our way of life.
I have been crucified with Christ, and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.
Afterward, the people of Israel will return and seek the LORD their God and David their king. They will come trembling to the LORD and to His goodness in the last days.
that if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.
For with your heart you believe and are justified, and with your mouth you confess and are saved.
If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
If we say we have not sinned, we make Him out to be a liar, and His word is not in us.
First to those in Damascus and Jerusalem, then to everyone in the region of Judea, and then to the Gentiles, I declared that they should repent and turn to God, performing deeds worthy of their repentance.
Abram continued, “Behold, You have given me no offspring, so a servant in my household will be my heir.”
Then the word of the LORD came to Abram, saying, “This one will not be your heir, but one who comes from your own body will be your heir.”
And the LORD took him outside and said, “Now look to the heavens and count the stars, if you are able.” Then He told him, “So shall your offspring be.”
Abram believed the LORD, and it was credited to him as righteousness.
If we deliberately go on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no further sacrifice for sins remains,
but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume all adversaries.
Anyone who rejected the law of Moses died without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses.
How much more severely do you think one deserves to be punished who has trampled on the Son of God, profaned the blood of the covenant that sanctified him, and insulted the Spirit of grace?
For we know Him who said, “Vengeance is Mine; I will repay,” and again, “The Lord will judge His people.”
. . .
And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who approaches Him must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who earnestly seek Him.
It is impossible for those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, who have shared in the Holy Spirit,
who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the coming age—
and then have fallen away—to be restored to repentance, because they themselves are crucifying the Son of God all over again and subjecting Him to open shame.
so also Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many; and He will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who eagerly await Him.
Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food.
If one of you tells him, “Go in peace; stay warm and well fed,” but does not provide for his physical needs, what good is that?
Was not our father Abraham justified by what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar?
You see that his faith was working with his actions, and his faith was perfected by what he did.
And the Scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness,” and he was called a friend of God.
As you can see, a man is justified by his deeds and not by faith alone.
Then Joshua son of Nun secretly sent two spies from Shittim, saying, “Go, inspect the land, especially Jericho.” So they went and entered the house of a prostitute named Rahab and stayed there.
And it was reported to the king of Jericho: “Behold, some men of Israel have come here tonight to spy out the land.”
So the king of Jericho sent to Rahab and said, “Bring out the men who came to you and entered your house, for they have come to spy out the whole land.”
But the woman had taken the two men and hidden them. So she said, “Yes, the men did come to me, but I did not know where they had come from.
At dusk, when the gate was about to close, the men went out, and I do not know which way they went. Pursue them quickly, and you may catch them!”
. . .
That servant who knows his master’s will but does not get ready or follow his instructions will be beaten with many blows.
But the one who unknowingly does things worthy of punishment will be beaten with few blows. From everyone who has been given much, much will be required; and from him who has been entrusted with much, even more will be demanded.
Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of My Father in heaven.
Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?’
Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you workers of lawlessness!’
Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven with the key to the Abyss, holding in his hand a great chain.
He seized the dragon, that ancient serpent who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years.
And he threw him into the Abyss, shut it, and sealed it over him, so that he could not deceive the nations until the thousand years were complete. After that, he must be released for a brief period of time.
Then I saw the thrones, and those seated on them had been given authority to judge. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their testimony of Jesus and for the word of God, and those who had not worshiped the beast or its image, and had not received its mark on their foreheads or hands. And they came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years.
The rest of the dead did not come back to life until the thousand years were complete. This is the first resurrection.
. . .
Then I saw a great white throne and the One seated on it. Earth and heaven fled from His presence, and no place was found for them.
And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne. And there were open books, and one of them was the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their deeds, as recorded in the books.
The sea gave up its dead, and Death and Hades gave up their dead, and each one was judged according to his deeds.
Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death—the lake of fire.
And if anyone was found whose name was not written in the Book of Life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.
And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne. And there were open books, and one of them was the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their deeds, as recorded in the books.
But to the cowardly and unbelieving and abominable and murderers and sexually immoral and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars, their place will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur. This is the second death.”
After this I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding back its four winds so that no wind would blow on land or sea or on any tree.
And I saw another angel ascending from the east, with the seal of the living God. And he called out in a loud voice to the four angels who had been given power to harm the land and the sea:
“Do not harm the land or sea or trees until we have sealed the foreheads of the servants of our God.”
And I heard the number of those who were sealed, 144,000 from all the tribes of Israel:
From the tribe of Judah 12,000 were sealed, from the tribe of Reuben 12,000, from the tribe of Gad 12,000,
. . .
How then can they call on the One in whom they have not believed? And how can they believe in the One of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone to preach?
And how can they preach unless they are sent? As it is written: “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!”
Therefore I urge you, brothers, on account of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God, which is your spiritual service of worship.
And do this, understanding the occasion. The hour has come for you to wake up from your slumber, for our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed.
What then shall we say that Abraham, our forefather, has discovered?
If Abraham was indeed justified by works, he had something to boast about, but not before God.
For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.”
Now the wages of the worker are not credited as a gift, but as an obligation.
However, to the one who does not work, but believes in Him who justifies the wicked, his faith is credited as righteousness.
. . .
Now the wages of the worker are not credited as a gift, but as an obligation.
However, to the one who does not work, but believes in Him who justifies the wicked, his faith is credited as righteousness.