We might begin by hypothesizing that deeds are meant to show that one has faith. James certainly seems to think so:
Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by my deeds (James 2:18 NIV)
And it is indeed true that good deeds, as a general rule, are proof of being in the Christian life (Rom. 6:2-4, return to 1 John 2:4, 2:6, 2:9, 3:6, 3:9, and 3 John 1:11). But we must distinguish. It will not do to say that good deeds are meant to prove faith. That is, we do not perform good deeds for the sole purpose of proving our faith. Jesus repeatedly railed on the Pharisees and Sadducees of His day for their over-emphasis on proving their religiousness:
And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full (Matt. 6:5 NIV, see also Matt. 23:5-7, Mk. 12:38-40 and Lk. 20:46-47)
Common sense should tell us that looking at someone in need and thinking, “Well, I’d better go help that person to prove that I have faith in Jesus Christ,” is an invitation to hypocrisy. To whom are we trying to prove our faith? God? That is really rather foolish. To people? Nothing wrong with that, as far as it goes. But why not, rather, help someone in need because you love them? Isn’t that Jesus’ call to action (Matt. 22:39, Mk. 12:31, see also Rom. 13:9-10)? If you are only helping them in order to prove something, you are still ultimately being selfish. So what we have here is a useless fact. It is indeed true that deeds prove the existence of faith. But that is not why we do them. Why, then, do we do good deeds? If it is indeed true that a living faith is supplemented by deeds as James says, it is quite important for us to find their source; that is, what motivates us to do them.
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