But someone will say, “You have faith; I have deeds.” Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by my deeds. You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder. You foolish person, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless? James 2:18-20
“To drive this point home, James stops using the plural pronoun and changes to the singular, as if he were talking to only one person. This type of change is not unusual in the Old Testament, especially in Psalms and Proverbs. As we have said, James’ letter could well be a book of wisdom. The author contrasts faith characterized by nice words with the faith that produces works that can be observed. He emphasizes that such works are the result of faith. Faith that is not demonstrated by works is dead in that it is simply a nominal belief, like that of the demons, who also believe in God but do not obey him. The author has good reason to say that the person who advocates such dead faith is a poor man! He is worth very little in spiritual terms.”
Solomon Andria (Madagascar) in “James” in Africa Bible Commentary, Tokunboh Adeyemo, General Editor (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2006).
Do you exhibit nominal belief?
It’s a strong statement as James equates such people with demons who believe in God but do not obey Him. Think about it. James, the half-brother of Jesus, groups nominal believers with demons. I often say, please, don’t count yourself as a follower of Jesus if you choose a path of foolishness.
What is nominal belief, anyway?
It would be a person who says, I follow Jesus (words) and then does not do what He says (works). The reason such people get numbered among the demons is clear: such faith cannot save them. Notice that teaching people about radical obedience and generosity is really saving them for eternity.
Obedience is not incidental but integral to saving faith.
The work in Cameroon has far exceeded expectations. Today we fly to Ethiopia then drop down to Uganda for another week of program work. Thanks for your prayers