“21 Therefore lay aside all filthiness and overflow of wickedness, and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.
22 But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. 23 For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror; 24 for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was. 25 But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does.”

Good works

I have met people who use this as a theology of justification by good works, (chapter 2 talks at length about good works), who say that mere faith in Christ is not enough, and we need to do good works to secure our salvation.
But that says Christ’s sacrifice on the cross was not sufficient to save me, that my works are needed too, as if almighty God needs help from me.
The question I asked one person was, “How do you tell that kind of gospel to a terminal patient in a hospital bed who will never rise from that bed. What good works do you expect from them?”
When I received the reply “That person would have already done good works if they were going to be saved”, I stopped conversing. Intellectual acrobatics don’t help our understanding.

Head faith

But I have also met people who treat Christian belief simply as an intellectual acceptance of a concept or philosophy, an act that has no effect on their lives. I find that exasperating, and James is the book for them.
In Matthew 25:41-42, Jesus explains this clearly, “Then He will also say to those on the left hand, “Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 42 For I was hungry and you gave me no food; I was thirsty and you gave Me no drink.”

Heart Faith

True faith is life-changing. We are changed from within as Christ lives in us through his Spirit, and replaces our heart of stone with one of flesh that longs to do his will.

Galations 2:20 “I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.”

Something that I find very encouraging, is not the good deeds Christians are noted for, but who they are — people who can’t help but reflect God’s goodness in what they think, say, and do (even with many imperfections). That was what struck me during my university years when I explored various outlooks, religions, and philosophies — secular philosophies were intellectually stimulating, but I didn’t want to be like their practitioners, I wanted to be like the Christians I knew.

The wonderful change with those Christians with heart faith is they don’t focus on self, and on how many good works they need to do in their own strength and resources to earn salvation.
Instead, they have a focus on Jesus, and are too busy following all that He guides them to do, as he equips them through his Spirit.
His path may have spectacular works of note, but more likely it will have humble activities that may not even receive recognition as good works, as in Matthew 6:3, not even “the left hand will know what the right hand is doing.”

With that terminally ill patient, the question is not what good deeds they can or can’t do, but how God’s glory can be shown even as they prepare to face the final hurdle in this earthly life. As they accept Jesus, God can do marvellous things.