James 2:14-17

I was recently reminded of one of the powerful principles addressed in James’ general epistle.

Beginning in chapter two verse 14: “What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works? can faith save him? If a brother or sister be naked, and destitute of daily food, and one of you say unto them, ‘Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled;’ notwithstanding ye give them not those things which are needful to the body; what doth it profit? Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone” (James 2:14-17).

So, faith without works is dead. But this scripture has so much more to offer. The laws of geometry teach us that if A=B and B=C then A must equal C, the transitive property.

In applying similar mathematical logic to this principle, we learn that if faith without works is dead, then so must works without faith also share a similar fate.

Captain Mormon experienced such dead works, “Behold, I had led them, notwithstanding their wickedness I had led them many times to battle, and had loved them, according to the love of God which was in me, with all my heart; and my soul had been poured out in prayer unto my God all the day long for them; nevertheless, it was without faith, because of the hardness of their hearts” (Morm. 3:12 emphasis added).

Mormon had the works. He loved; he led; he cared. But because of the people’s iniquities, he could not believe. The Nephites were not worthy of delivering, and Mormon knew it. This knowledge ate at his faith until eventually it was no more and he lost hope. As a result, no amount of loving, leading, or caring could spare the Nephites from what was about to occur.

James taught that the outcome of our actions is a product of both our faith and our works. The results we seek can only reach as high as our lowest variable.

Speaking in numbers, if I have 100 works, but my faith only reaches level 50, my results will be 50. The other 50 works will be “dead.” They will not contribute to the results.

Although many people understand the natural relationship between faith and works, I fear that too few fully comprehend the importance of acting in faith. It really is not just enough to do something.

Paul taught the same principle to the Romans, “Hast thou faith? …for whatsoever is not of faith is sin” (Rom. 14:22-23).

I’ve noticed an interesting and repeating phenomenon in my life as I try to match my level of faith and works. My level of works controls the level of my faith, and an increase in faith somehow allows for an increase of works. As I am diligent and obedient, my faith is fortified and I am able to fulfill my goals. The best part of this fortified faith is not the achieving of goals, but an increased capacity of faith which allows me to achieve even greater results in the future. As the process repeats itself, I find myself able to forever be better today than I was yesterday.

Just as the Savior uses this principle to aid us upward in our progression, so does Satan use it to destroy us. By lowering our faith, our works swiftly follow, and thus Satan effectively lowers the results we see. In turn, we often believe the answer is more work (forgetting about our faith). As we pour more and more hours in to our causes but leave our faith at its low level, we will see the same low results as before redoubling our works. Such an occurrence will cause a decrease in faith. Many times, I have thought, “If I worked twice as hard, why am I still seeing the same results?” Eventually, I have begun to question if God has the power to help me obtain my goals, thus lowering my faith and paralyzing my results. Satan repeats this destructive cycle until the individual is rendered faithless and all their works and labors are fruitless.

Magnifying our faith will therefore allow us not only to achieve our righteous desires today, but prepare us for the things only the Lord has envisioned we will be capable of tomorrow.