I was doing my devotion the other morning when I came across a passage in James 2 that stopped me mid-sentence.

Faith without works is dead.

Now if you've spent any time around Christian teaching, you've probably heard this. But I'd been thinking a lot lately about the tension between this idea and what Paul writes in Ephesians — that we are saved by Grace through faith, and that not of works. It is the gift of God, lest anyone should boast.

So which is it? Works or Grace?

I actually got into this conversation pretty deeply with someone I barely knew a couple months ago. We were going back and forth on it, and they were saying, no, you have to do good works, because if you don't do good works then you aren't saved. And I just kept thinking, is that actually true? Because scripture seems to say something more interesting than a simple either/or.

Grace saves you. Works reveal you.

Here's the way I think about it now. Salvation is a gift. You can't earn it. You can't work your way into it. Ephesians is very clear. By Grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of works. Jesus went to the cross, took the weight of sin, and if we've been forgiven and justified freely by that redemptive act, then we are saved. Full stop.

But here's what naturally follows from that.

There's a framework I keep coming back to when I think about this. It's the idea of Be, Do, Have. Who you are determines what you do. What you do determines what you have. The results in your life flow from your identity and your actions, in that order.

So if I say I am a man of God, and I believe it, and I internalize it, and that is genuinely my identity, then I'm probably going to do man-of-God things. I'm going to do devotions. I'm going to pray. I'm going to read scripture. Not to earn anything. Because that's who I am.

And then if I do those things, the results follow. I know God more. I establish daily habits. My faith grows. And other people can actually see it.

My mom said this to me growing up, over and over. If you know God and you're living out in the world, your life itself should be a testimony of God. The cross you wear means something. The way you live either backs it up or it doesn't.

That's what James is getting at when he says show me your faith without your works, and I will show you my faith by my works. Works aren't what save you. They're what show the world who you are.

Knowledge is not power. 

You've heard the phrase your whole life. Knowledge is power.

I don't think that's true.

Knowledge without action is nothing. Just like faith without works is dead. The knowing has to become doing, or it stays dormant and produces nothing.

I think about this all the time when it comes to investing, because the parallel is almost exact. You can understand how dividends work. You can know what investing is. You can read about compound interest and understand the math. All of that is knowledge.

But if you never open an account, never buy a share, never start, then the knowledge produces zero results. Zero security. Zero freedom. Zero passive income. Nothing.

God has prepared good works for you in advance that you may live and do them. Not so you can earn your salvation. Because you've already been given it freely. The works are the natural outflow of who you are now that you've received that gift.

The same principle runs through everything that actually matters. You are freely saved by Grace. You take action. You live according to the principles laid out in scripture. And your faith gets shown to the world through the way you live, through the works you do, through your daily habits and actions.

The gap is almost never about knowing more.

Whether we're talking about faith or investing or anything else that requires you to actually grow, the gap is almost never knowledge. Most people who haven't started investing aren't sitting there waiting because they don't know enough. They're waiting because the knowing hasn't turned into doing yet.

Knowledge plus nothing is still nothing.

But knowledge plus action? That's where things actually change. That's where the results show up. That's where your faith becomes visible. That's where your financial future starts to look different from the one you were handed.

So whatever it is you know you're supposed to do, whether it's opening that first investing account or building that daily devotion habit or finally taking a step you've been putting off, the knowing is already there. The question is whether you're going to let it become doing.

Because that's the part that actually counts.

If you're ready to take the first step on the investing side, the First Stock Challenge walks you through exactly what that looks like. Check the link below and come find out if this is a path worth walking.

Click here to learn about the First Stock Challenge 

​P.S. I made a video on this idea of faith vs. works too. Check it out here: