Faith without Works

Ricky Ketchum

Jul 21, 2025

🎶 Ah ha ha ha stayin’ alive, stayin’ alive

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For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead.

James 2:26 (NET)

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Brains! Brrraaaiiinsss!

Erm… that’s the cry of zombies, the horror movie monsters that peaked in popularity about ten years ago.

I bring up this bizarre example because it sort of illustrates the point James is making here.

A zombie is an un-dead creature, walking around as if they are alive but all of their humanity is destroyed. In effect, they become the walking dead.

Too many Christians have walking dead faith.

Don’t read into that too literally because I don’t know the salvation situation of every person. What I do know is that there are a lot of people who profess Christ, talk the talk, but fail to walk the walk.

“Actions speak louder than words.”

That’s a proverb that I’m sure James would embrace, seeing as his letter to the Church was filled with encouragement for the believers to act out their faith.

These works are a result of salvation, not a pathway to salvation.

I also want to make that clear, because the saving work of God is done by God. Sure, we must accept the free gift of salvation, but it’s all because of the sacrificial work that Christ did on the cross and the regeneration of our spirit by the Holy Spirit that we can even have the opportunity to receive salvation.

But let’s not get bogged down in the weeds.

A faithful Christian demonstrates their faith by their works.

Simple as that.

My favorite demonstration? The fruit of the Spirit, but you probably guessed that already.

— Ricky Ketchum

Scripture quotations marked (ESV) are from the ESV®Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright© 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

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