Dead Faith? - Rogate 2026

Faith without works is dead. This is true. After all, the Holy Spirit caused St. James to write these very words. More than this, it is also somewhat obvious. Actions are physical confessions of what one holds dear. What we treasure and trust will shape what we do and how we live. For example, someone who claims to be a Vikings fan but who refuses to watch the games, buy the gear, and hope against all reason that this year will somehow be different isn’t really much of a fan. Why? Because faith directs action.

No matter how we slice it, there is an intimate unity between what we believe and what we do. The ancient Christians summarized this with the phrase lex orandi, lex credendi, that is, the law of prayer is the law of belief. In other words, what one truly believes inevitably expresses itself outwardly. Indeed, we rightly recognize hypocrisy when someone’s words and actions contradict one another. We expect unity between confession and conduct in others, and rightly so. Therefore, we should also desire such unity in ourselves.

But this raises an important question: what is the foundation of the Christian life? Is Christianity ultimately about behavior? Is the Christian faith merely moral improvement? Is St. James teaching that salvation depends upon your ability to produce enough good works? No. Not at all. St. James is not saying that works create faith. He is teaching that living faith produces works.