James 2:17-26

17In the same way, faith by itself is dead if it doesn’t cause you to do any good things.

18Another person might say, “You have faith, but I do good things.” Show me your faith apart from the good things you do. I will show you my faith by the good things I do.

19You believe that there is one God. That’s fine! The demons also believe that, and they tremble with fear.

20You fool! Do you have to be shown that faith which does nothing is useless?

21Didn’t our ancestor Abraham receive God’s approval as a result of what he did when he offered his son Isaac as a sacrifice on the altar?

22You see that Abraham’s faith and what he did worked together. His faith was shown to be genuine by what he did.

23The Scripture passage came true. It says, “Abraham believed God, and that faith was regarded as the basis of Abraham’s approval by God.” So Abraham was called God’s friend.

24You see that a person receives God’s approval because of what he does, not only because of what he believes.

25The same is true of the prostitute Rahab who welcomed the spies and sent them away on another road. She received God’s approval because of what she did.

26A body that doesn’t breathe  is dead. In the same way faith that does nothing is dead.