James 2:18-19 “Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works. Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble.”
Can you imagine the reaction of new believers or those curious about the apostles’ teachings when James states that demons have faith? We always associate faith as being something from God, but we all have faith of some kind. Faith is believing in something you can’t see or something that has not happened yet. We do that all the time. We turned on a light, feeling quite confident it would work. We take medicine but don’t understand how it works. We just trust that it will.
I have often used these verses when dealing with someone about their salvation. Many times, people have head knowledge but no heart knowledge. Romans 10:8-10 makes this clear. It takes both.
James uses the words in verse 19 to shock his immature audience. Who would think of using demons to illustrate faith? In the New Testament Jesus cast out demons often. He also gave this power to the apostles.
Mark 3:14-15 “And he ordained twelve, that they should be with him, and that he might send them forth to preach, And to have power to heal sicknesses, and to cast out devils:”
As shocking as it is to believe that demons have faith, it is true. They believe in the existence of God, the deity of Christ, and the existence of a place of punishment, and they recognize Jesus Christ as the Judge. However, they have not placed their faith in Him.
The demons believed in their intellect, and they were also touched by their emotions. We know this because “they believed and trembled!” Many times, in scripture, we see demons. We know that in II Corinthians 11:14, Satan transformed himself into an Angel of Light. He who is an apostate angel, who is malignant and wicked, who is the prince of evil, assumes the appearance of a holy angel. He fools people all the time by having his demons appear as “ghosts.” How do I know this? We cannot come back to this earth once we are dead. Scripture makes that clear. If you see something that appears as your loved one, it is an imposter, a demon. Satan wants nothing more than to play on our emotions and convince us that what the Bible says is untrue. If he can convince you that one verse is a lie, then you will begin to question all of the scripture. Little by little, he will whittle away at your faith. Once that happens, you become your own God. You are picking and choosing what you will believe. He weakens your faith each time he causes you to doubt.
A person can be enlightened in his mind, even stirred in his heart, and still be lost forever. True saving faith involves a changed life. A changed life can be seen. You were forgiven, fitting you for heaven, and changed to fit you as a representative of Christ on earth. If there is no change, there is no salvation.
II Corinthians 5:17 “Therefore if any man is in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things become new. “
Ephesians 2:10 you were “created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.”
