Faith vs Good Works

Ephesians 2:8 For it is by grace you have been saved--- through faith, this is not of yourselves but a gift from God. This verse clearly states we cannot save ourselves, through good works, but what about James 2:14?

For what use is it, for a man to say he has faith, if he does nothing? Will such a faith give him salvation?

 I think he is saying that through our strong we ought to have the want to do things for the Lord. That good works are the product of strong faith. If a christian is truly saved then they should have this desire to tell the world about God. A desire to do the right thing. A desire to go out of their way to do good things for people. James is saying that if a person is truly saved then they should have fruit that comes from our faith. We are not saved through good works. We are saved through grace, through faith. Through Jesus Christ, the mediator between God and us. In James 2:16 he talks about words with no action. (upon seeing a person in need of clothing and food) If one of you says, "Go in peace, be warm and well fed." But does nothing about their physical needs what good is it. In the next verse James goes on to say faith without action is dead. And here you realize that James is saying saying you believe and showing you have faith are two different things. Everyone thought Job had faith but they didn't truly see it until they saw him trust God to the utmost even after losing everything. Now it might seem funny that James said "Will faith save him?" Especially since the book Ephesians just said you are saved by faith. But what James really meant was will that kind of faith save him? If you say you have faith but do not show it then will that save you? James does not mean to discredit what the book Ephesians said. He means only to clarify. We are not saved through good works but what is our faith without fruit? Nothing.

~JESUSFREAKTEEN

I dare you to move..........

You've probably heard of Switchfoot right? Ok if not they're a christian band (an amazing one by the way) and they sing the song, and many others, I dare you to move. But I wanna go deeper. They are my inspiration for this blog post. Lets start with the line:
I dare you to move 
Like today never happened.
Now when those lines play through my head it reminds me of this verse:
John 15:20
Remember........if they have persecuted Me they will persecute you also.
John 15:20  and those verses seem to go together. It seems like maybe the "person" Switchfoot is talking about has been persecuted for their faith. Maybe they don't feel like getting up and walking out the door only to have it happen again. Or maybe this song is talking about someone who messed up. Somebody who doesn't want to face what they did. But they can't seem to forget it. But earlier in the song it says:
Everybody's watching you now
Everybody waits for you
What happens next?
What happens next?
It feels like once you're a christian then everyone has their eyes on you just waiting for you to step out of line. And lets be honest some people are. People can be brutal. Sometimes its more of when people are disappointed that makes you upset than when God is disappointed. Should we be that way? No. Are we? Yes. It's human nature unfortunately. But if we don't get right back up and try again then people will see us as being weak. We must have faith in the Lord. Even if we get knocked down, we have to get back up. If we make a mistake then we ask God's forgiveness. We have to remember that God doesn't hold onto our sins. He's thrown our sins into the depths of the sea (Micah 7:19). He has forgotten our wickedness and our sins. (Hebrews 8:12) If He, meaning God, has forgotten your sins why should you remember them. Neither Persecution nor Mistakes shall keep you from getting back up and doing what God wants. Every one of us is useful to God. Do not think otherwise. Mistakes will not keep you from him either.
Romans 8:35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation distress, sin, persecution, or famine or peril, or sword?
Romans 8:37-39
No in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. (38) For I am sure that neither Death nor Life, nor Rulers or Angels, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, (39) nor height nor depth, nor anything else in creation shall be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.