As I was reading and meditating on James 2:24, I saw two things; (1) faith what we believe in our heart unto Salvation; and (2) works are the way we live our beliefs of Salvation. 

James 2:24, So you see that a person is shown to be righteous through faithful actions and not through faith alone.  CEB

The NLT put it this way: so you see, we are shown to be right with God by what we do, not by faith alone. 

It’s not rocket science to understand that it is very hard to live righteously unless we are already righteous. So, righteousness of Salvation is the result of our belief in Jesus and must come before any good works are actually works of righteousness. 

Now I’m NOT talking about working for Salvation because we can never to do that, because it’s only by the Blood of Jesus that we can be saved; we cannot earn Salvation; I’m talking about works because of Salvation. 

Justification of our faith is the believing and confessing that Jesus is our Savior and Lord is what gets us into heaven. God provided justification through the Blood of Jesus shed for the sins of the world and it means He has pronounced us free from the guilt and shame of sin when we accept Jesus as our Savior.  It’s our faith in the Salvation of Jesus that justifies us; we cannot justify ourselves. 

Justification of our works are a result of what we do with our faith in Jesus.  What are some of these works? It’s the preaching of the gospel, making disciples, laying hands on the sick to recover as we are instructed in Matthew 28:18-20 and Mark 16:15-18. We are to walk worthy of our vocation (Ephesians 4:1); and we are to walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increase our knowledge of God (Colossians 1:10). We are to be kind and forgiving of one another (Ephesians 4:32).

It is our faith-alone that justifies us for eternity with God; but it is our works that justifies us for rewards of our faith.

The blessings of Salvation have to do with what God gives us, because and as a result of our faith in Jesus, which includes forgiveness, mercy, healing, divine health, fellowship with God, prosperity, to mention a few.

The rewards have to do with, or based on, the works we do as a result of our thankful heart and because of our love for Jesus. 

Romans 14:12 tells us that everyone will have to give account of himself to God. Second Corinthians 5:10 says it this way: for we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he has done, whether it be good or bad. 

In saying all this, I must also remind us that we are NOT to seek the rewards but we are to seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto us. (Matthew 6:33) 

My challenge for us this week is that we will renew our commitment to always seek God first and His righteousness so we can live worthy of the Salvation He’s given us in Christ Jesus.