James 2:14-17—What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him? Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to him, “Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.
Perhaps one of the dangers of living in the "information age" is that we glorify the brain—our computer, library and communications control center. Misguided brain glorification can result in serious spiritual muscle fatigue.
For example, knowing becomes more valuable than doing. Faith accordingly, is defined as knowing God. We have the cerebral awareness that our salvation comes through His Son, Christ. We determine that by reciting a formula in which we confess our sin and invoke the name of Jesus we shall be saved. We therefore base our salvation on an intellectual assent to God’s plan. But faith is not simply an intellectual act.
Faith is a matter of the heart! James challenges us with the reality that a faith that does nothing is dead. Doesn't faith engage the heart more than the mind? The mind identifies what must be done, but the heart is the responding agent. I can say that Jesus is my Lord with my mind but until I embrace Him with my heart do I really have faith?
The faith we see demonstrated in the Bible is a faith that responds obediently to an invisible Creator. God never affirms those who call Him Father but ignore His leadership. "You believe that there is on God. Good! Even the demons believe that--and shudder." (James 2:19) Faith that ignores observing God's will, that is entirely devoid of any evidence of a changed life, is not faith. The demonstration that I have faith is not that I call myself a Christian but that I am a Christian.
I know that my body must have water to survive. I believe it when I drink. If I don't drink I become physically useless and all the knowledge I possess about liquid nourishment is irrelevant
Inspiration
