Jas 2:18
Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works.
*James 2:18 Thus, in a practical sense, your actions are a manifestation of your heart. If God has given you eyes to see and ears to hear, then it will be evident in your actions, because “1, *hearing” and “2, *obedience” come from the same Hebrew word, *shema. If God has truly given you ears to hear, then it will be reflected in your obedience to His voice. If God has called you to be an overcomer, then act like one. An overcomer is NOT one who merely professes to be one, but a person whose actions reflect his words James 2:18.
The Lord pronounces a blessing on all those who “1,* hear” and “*heed” (2, *obey) the word. This is a Hebrew idiom. In the Hebrew language, the word shemameans both to hear and to obey. Deuteron6.4 says,
4 Hear [*shema], O Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord is one!
If a person does not obey what is said, then how can it be said that he heard the word? In Hebrew idiom, no one truly hears unless one also obeys. This concept is also the foundation of James’ teaching. He says in *James 1.22
*22 But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves.
Since faith comes by hearing, and hearing is proven by doing what God has said,
*James tells us in 2:18, “*I will show you my faith by my works,” that is, by being obedient to whatever God tells him to do.
*There has been a controversy in the Church regarding Paul and James. Paul uses the example of Abraham to show that we are justified by faith, rather than by works
*Rom.4.1-4 . James uses the same example of Abraham to show that our faith is proven by our works . *James 2.21-24 Some Christians pick sides, as if to say that Paul and James contradict one another. Others say that James was writing to the Jews, who are somehow justified by works, while Paul was writing to non Jews, who are justified by faith alone.*tells us that faith is proven by our works, and this is a good example of this. Without obedience, there is no hearing, and without hearing, there is no genuine faith. Paul says in *Rom.14.23“whatever is not from faith is sin.”