But do you want to know, O foolish man, that faith without works is dead?

There are two things that stood out to me in this verse from James 2:20 this morning. The first is that this is a question! I had never seen this before, even though I had read the passage many, many times. So seeing this, I needed to ask myself the same question “Do I want to know?” Well why wouldn’t I? The only reason would be that I either want to do something I shouldn’t do, or I don’t want to do something that I should. It also reminded me, that independent of what is true, a good deal of what we know is what we choose to know!

The Scripture talks about the deceitfulness of sin, and that the heart is deceitful above all and desperately wicked. So this question is reminding me of these things this morning, and as a consequence reminding me that I need to ask God to search my heart, least I too be deceived.

The second thing that stood out to me was the phrase “O foolish man.” I looked up word translated here as “foolish” in Thayer’s Greek lexicon. It gave me “destitute of spiritual wealth, of one who boasts of his faith as a transcendent possession, yet is without the fruits of faith.” It also pointed me to this very verse in James.

So to me, this answers very clearly those who advocate what is being called “cheap grace.” This teaching comes about as an attempt to avoid the error of seeking to earn our salvation, a clear impossibility according to the Scriptures. But in doing so it takes the equal and opposite error of presumptuous grace. This essentially says that we can do what we like, we don’t need to change we don’t even need to repent, it’s all covered by the blood. This is false faith, it exists only in a heart that is deceived, and is foolish, vain and empty, or as James puts it “dead!”

Father, I am aware of how easily I can be deceived. So I ask You again this morning, to search my heart to see if there be any wicked way within me. Please lead me in the everlasting way, and make it my goal to please You, so that on that day I may here the words “Well done good and faithful servant, enter into the joy of the Lord.” In Jesus Name Amen