FAITH & WORKS

In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, Amen!

FAITH & WORKS

          The Gospel of Jesus Christ contains the eternal truth for mankind, because it is a revelation of God directed toward mankind for salvation. God fully revealed Himself in Jesus Christ our Lord, but the Gospel Reading which we hear each and every Sunday, without a doubt, contains a teaching concerning both, faith and works. These two concrete realities are related, and together they constitute a solid basis for our Christian belief. A true Orthodox Christian is someone who believes in the right things, and, accomplishes his faith by good works according to the teachings of the Gospel. The fruit of our faith, or for that matter the fruit of any faith, is evidenced in the works produced by that faith. Saint Paul teaches us that “in Christ Jesus, all that matters, is faith working through love” Galatians 5:6.

          The first Bishop of Jerusalem, Saint James, elaborates further on this point in his Universal Epistle. The Epistle of Saint James, unlike any other document in the New Testament, speaks plainly about true faith, and more importantly, it articulates the importance of good works as proof of the true faith. According to Saint James, faith and good works are inseparable, especially when he says, “For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also” James 2:26. According to our Lord’s teaching, God’s judgment will be based on the kind of works that we do. Our Lord clearly states that, “those who have done good will rise to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil will rise to the resurrection of condemnation” Saint John’s Gospel 5:29.

          What this boils down to is simple: The Lord desires for us that we should not be like the hypocrites which he condemned on several occasions. A hypocrite is someone who says or believes in one thing and does another. If we believe in love, and yet we exercise hate, that makes us hypocrites. One cannot say that God is love and yet acts in a hateful way toward others. If God is love, and we believe in God, we should act toward others in a loving way. As Saint John states in his First Epistle, “Let us not love in word or in tongue, but in works and in truth” First John 3:18. To say to a hungry man, “I love you,” and yet do nothing about it would make us liars. To say to an orphan, “I love you,” and yet fail to act with sympathy would make us hypocrites. To say to a poor man, “I love you” and yet fail to be generous toward him would bring God’s judgment upon us.

          Finally, in retrospect, what is often said in the secular world makes a lot of sense in here. You are all familiar with the saying, “Actions speak louder than words.” This saying applies to faith and works as well: Faith without works is dead, and works without faith are dead also. “Someone will say, ‘you have faith and I have works;” show me your faith without your works, and I will show you my faith by my works” Saint James 2:18.