Faith Without Good Deeds Is Useless

“So you see, faith by itself isn’t enough. Unless it produces good deeds, it is dead and useless. Now someone may argue, “Some people have faith; others have good deeds.” But I say, “How can you show me your faith if you don’t have good deeds? I will show you my faith by my good deeds.” You say you have faith, for you believe that there is one God. Good for you! Even the demons believe this, and they tremble in terror. How foolish! Can’t you see that faith without good deeds is useless?” ‭‭James‬ ‭2:17-20‬ ‭NLT‬‬
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Faith that doesn't transform into action isn't genuine faith. Let me give you an example: If I say that I believe that a chair can hold my weight if I sit in it but don't ever sit in it, my professed faith has no evidence. Consider this point: In today's scripture, James uses the devil and his demons as an example. The devil and his demons believe in God (acknowledge His existence) but that doesn't mean that they  do good deeds or that they are saved. How ridiculous! Simply acknowledging God's existence, intellectually, doesn't save someone.  I can believe in a bank but if I never open an account and place my money in it, then it is of no benefit to me. I can drive through the parking lot, admire it's structure, walk inside to look around, and even speak with an employee, but no matter how much I acknowledge it's existence, it is of no personal relationship to me. I must express interest in opening an account and be willing to place money into their trust. Once the account is open, it is active and available. The account must have activity such as deposits or withdrawals. A healthy account will do both. Now, let me be clear here. Faith that trusts in Christ places itself in His care. He opens our account and makes the deposit for us. We have nothing that is of worth that we can deposit on our own. However, now that He has accomplished this for us, He has opened our account in order to see it active. He desires to see us practice what we now have by His accomplishment.
•Positional righteousness is our right standing with God through faith in Jesus.
•Practical righteousness is our behaving like we belong to Him.
How can we not desire to please Him? How can we say that the Creator of all things is our Lord and Savior, that He lives within us, yet produce no fruit to evidence that profession? Something to think about today.