Sunday, March 09, 2025

"Even the demons believe in God" (James 2:19)

The new pastor of my congregation asked an interesting thought-question recently: If the demons believe in God, what exactly do they believe about him? 

  • They believe that God exists (James 2:19)
  • They believe that Jesus is the Holy One of God (Luke 4:34)
  • They believe that God will bring an end to their evil reign (Luke 4:34)
  • But they do not work for mercy; they are "the accuser" (Revelation 12:10)

When we accuse each other -- even with cause -- we often do the work of the opposition. 

2 comments:

Martin LaBar said...

I hope I've never done that!

JimII said...

I think James just means believe that God exists. I think it is a straw man argument in the faith versus works conversation. Because I think Paul’s idea of faith is much closer to being faithful that accepting a set of facts. But James want to emphasize the need for action, so imho mischaracterizes Paul’s view of faith ir belief.