Advancing Believers Provide Evidence of the Christian Life
In James 2:20-26, James speaks of justification by works, which deals with the Christian life and not salvation. The two examples given were Abraham when he was told to sacrifice Isaac and Rahab the prostitute when she hid the spies.
At the point of major testing in their lives both Abraham and Rahab were believers with the Word of God firmly embedded in their soul. So their thinking, motivation, decisions and actions under intense testing provided EVIDENCE of their faith. That evidence is a higher level of testimony that only believers who are growing and maturing in the spiritual life can produce.
Many believers are what Paul referred to as baby believers (1 Cor. 3:2…NAPIOS in the Greek). The baby believer crumbles quickly under pressure so much so that they often react the same way an unbeliever would react. But the mature believer who handles problems, troubles, and adversities with the Word of God firmly embedded in their souls produces evidence of the power of the Christian life. Their relaxed mental attitude manifests the power of Word of God in their life and so they stand out as a beacon of light in this world.
Any unbeliever in their periphery who observes the tranquility and contentment of soul in the worst of circumstances takes note. And they will often ask how is that possible, what is the difference?
The advancing believer provides light in a very dark world. We all should be encouraged to continue to grow in grace and knowledge (2 Peter 3:18) in what Paul calls the surpassing value of knowing Jesus Christ our Lord (Philippians 3:8). That way we cannot only speak the gospel but also show evidence of the Christian life for all to see.