which is found on page 15 of the church Bibles.
And our second reading is from James.
Please turn with me to Genesis 15.
After this, the word of the Lord came to Abraham in a vision.
Do not be afraid, Abraham.
I am your shield, your very great reward.
But Abraham said, O sovereign Lord, what can you give me since I remain childless
and the one who will inherit my estate is Eliezer of Damascus?
And Abraham said, You have given me no children,
so a servant in my household will be my heir.
Then the word of the Lord came to him.
This man will not be your heir, but a son coming from your own body will be your heir.
He took him outside and said, Look up at the heavens and count the stars,
if indeed you can count them.
Then he said to him, So shall your offspring be.
Abraham believed the Lord and he credited it to him as righteousness.
Our second Bible reading, as I said, is from James.
It's James chapter 2, verses 14 to 26.
But before we turn there, I'm going to briefly summarize the other two Old Testament passages
that James will refer to in this letter.
James refers to Abraham and Rahab in this section of his letter.
In referring to Abraham, he mentions the passage we just read,
as well as the start of Genesis 22, where God tests Abraham by calling to him
and telling him to sacrifice the promised son, Isaac, as a burnt offering on a mountain.
Abraham obeys God and travels with Isaac to the place God told him.
When he arrives, God prevents Abraham from sacrificing Isaac, saying,
Do not lay a hand on the boy.
Do not do anything to him.
Now I know that you fear God because you have not withheld from me, your son, your only son.
This leads to God reaffirming his covenant with Abraham.
The last illustration James uses is about Rahab and her actions in the book of Joshua.
When the nation of Israel came into the promised land, what was to become the land of Israel?
In the book of Israel, Rahab could see that God was with them and sided with them.
She hid some Israelite spies who came to her and made sure they safely escaped from the city of Jericho
by sending the spies and the people of Jericho in different directions.
Okay, now that you have those events in mind, let's read what James says in chapter 2, verses 14 to 26.
And it's on page 1214.
What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds?
Can such faith save him?
Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food.
If one of you says to him,
Go, I wish you well, keep warm and well fed, but does nothing about his physical needs,
what good is it?
In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.
But someone will say,
You have faith, I have deeds.
Show me your faith without deeds and I will show you my faith by what I do.
You believe that there is one God.
Good.
Even the demons believe that.
And shudder.
You foolish man.
Do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless?
Was not our ancestor Abraham considered righteous for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar?
You see that his faith and his actions were working together.
And his faith was made complete by what he did.
And the scripture was fulfilled that says,
Abraham believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness.
And he was called God's friend.
You see that a person is justified by what he does and not by faith alone.
In the same way, was not even Rahab the prostitute considered righteous for what she did when she gave lodging to the spies
and sent them off in a different direction?
As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.
We're going to consider the meaning of what we read in a moment.
But first, let's sing towards hardworking employees with end-of-year bonuses.
It's the time of year when bonuses are decided.
You've been working hard all year.
And your boss, the person who awards them in this workplace, comes to you and says,
You're the best worker I have.
You've done exceptionally well and deserve to get a bonus this year.
However, at the appropriate time, no bonus materializes.
You ask your boss about it and they say,
Yes, the bonus.
You definitely deserve it.
Your boss freely admits that under the workplace policy, you deserve it.
And that you should receive it.
But it never materializes.
What's more, you happen to know the business has the money to award them.
How do you feel?
Confused?
Hurt?
Angry?
Used?
Now imagine another situation.
You receive the death threat.
You go to the police.
They're immediately concerned.
They say,
Your safety is our first priority.
Given your circumstances,
we will post offices outside your house for the next few weeks to keep you safe.
What if the offices never came?
Would you not feel that the very institution that was meant to protect you had failed you?
You may wonder what the motto,
Keeping People Safe, really meant.
James tells us it is the same with Christians.
What good is our faith if we do not have works?
Let's turn back to James 2, 14 to 26.
In this section, James answers the question,
What does saving faith look like?
He does this by arguing that faith without works is dead and does not justify the person who claims to have it.
We might say then that faith without works is not faith at all because it is not saving faith.
In answering the question of what saving faith looks like,
James begins by posing the question,
What good is a claim to have faith which does not produce deeds?
From verse 20, he turns to consider the alternative.
What faith with deeds looks like?
Let's turn to verse 14.
James writes,
What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds?
Can such faith save him?
In this verse, James introduces the problem.
A person who says that they have faith,
who says that they follow Christ,
but does not act like they follow Christ.
He is talking about claim versus action.
This person might be identified with the one in James chapter 1, verses 19 to 27,
who is merely a listener or reader of God's word and not a doer.
In verses 15 to 17, James argues his point with a comparison to hospitality.
Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food.
If one of you says to him,
Go, I wish you well, keep warm and well fed,
but does nothing about his physical needs.
What good is it?
In the same way, faith by itself,
if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.
What does James mean by this?
His example here is a comparison.
He wants us to see the similarities between the situations.
This is why he says,
In the same way, at the start of verse 17.
What is James' example meant to illustrate then?
It's an example from hospitality.
The example is like those I gave earlier.
What good is it if your manager says you deserve a bonus,
but neglects to give you what you deserve?
Or what good is it if the police declare that they care about keeping people safe,
but they don't demonstrate they mean it with their actions?
What good is it if you see someone's need?
If you know how to fill that need and can fill that need,
but you decide that what you have is yours, not theirs,
so you wish them well in having their need met.
Is that showing hospitality?
James is saying that in the same way,
those well-wishers are worthless.
So, faith is faith without deeds.
That is, faith that is not accompanied by action is dead.
It cannot save.
How does this fit with our belief that we are saved by faith alone?
I'll go into that.
But let's save that for later,
after we've examined more of James' arguments.
Let's continue by looking at verse 18 and the first part of 19.
But someone will say,
you have faith, I have deeds.
Show me your faith without deeds,
and I will show you my faith by what I do.
Verse 18 feels slightly strange coming after verse 17.
This verse ties back into 14.
His thought runs in this manner.
If a man claims to have faith but no deeds,
someone will say to him,
you have faith, I have deeds.
Is the imagined claim of verse 18
meant to be suggesting one can rely on their actions to save them,
as though they could work their way into God's good books
and earn the right to be saved under their own power?
Not at all.
The imagined response turns out to be James' own response.
You have faith, I have deeds, he says,
but this is not an isolated claim.
James says that the person with deeds also has faith.
I will show you my faith by what I do.
James finishes verse 19 with a comment
intending to show how faith without action is dead,
that it is fraudulent faith.
You believe that there is one God.
Good.
Even the demons believe that and shudder.
Faith without deeds,
faith that does not produce action,
may be equated with assent to some intellectual facts.
It is faith that acknowledges what God wants,
but then refuses to do it.
It is like the boss or the police from our imagined incidents
who declare one thing with their mouths
and display something completely different with their actions.
James reminds us that the demons,
those angelic beings who rebelled against God,
believe truths about God.
But even the demons shudder at that knowledge.
James is suggesting that a person who claims belief
and is not impacted by that claim,
who thinks they can go on living as they always have,
has even less than the demons.
Because demons in shuddering,
at least demonstrate awareness
of what such belief means for them.
If we truly acknowledge who God is,
there are practical implications.
True belief produces works.
On the other hand,
faith which is dead produces nothing.
Such a person, in the words of James,
deceives themselves
and their religion is worthless.
In verses 20 to 26,
James turns to examples
to demonstrate the validity of his argument.
First, he explains how Abraham's faith
supports what he says
in verses 21 to 24.
And then,
how Rahab's faith
supports what he says in verse 25,
concluding the whole section in verse 26.
Let's look at verses 20 to 21.
You foolish man,
do you want evidence
that faith without deeds is useless?
Was not our ancestor Abraham
considered righteous
for what he did
when he offered his son Isaac on the altar?
I summarized this story earlier,
but we'll quickly cover it again.
Abraham, when called by God
to sacrifice his son Isaac,
the son promised to him by God,
obeys.
However, God stops him before he can.
And in Genesis 22,
verses 16 to 18,
he commends Abraham for his actions,
saying,
I swear by myself
that because you have done this
and have not withheld your son,
your only son,
I will surely bless you
and make your descendants
as numerous
as the stars in the sky
and as the sand on the seashore.
Your descendants will take possession
of the cities of their enemies
and through your offspring,
all nations on earth will be blessed
because you have obeyed me.
This oath,
this promise that God makes
is a reiteration of the covenant
he made with Abraham,
which appears in various forms
in Genesis 12,
chapter 15,
which was the first reading,
and chapter 17.
There is evidence in Genesis 22
that Abraham was considered
righteous for his actions
in offering Isaac on the altar.
That is,
because of Abraham's actions,
God reiterates his promise,
his covenant with Abraham,
saying,
because you have done this
and have not withheld your son,
your only son.
James does not stop here
with his example, though.
In verses 22 to 24,
he makes his argument clearer.
Let's read those verses together.
You see that his faith
and his actions
were working together,
and his faith was made complete
by what he did,
and the scripture was fulfilled
that says,
Abraham believed God,
and it was credited to him
as righteousness,
and he was called God's friend.
You see that a person
is justified by what he does
and not by faith alone.
What is James saying
in these verses?
What is the relationship
between faith and works
that he's illustrating?
Is James saying
we need to not just believe,
but reach a certain level
of goodness to be saved?
We can answer that
through a careful reading
of these verses.
The core of verses 22 to 24
is bracketed with the conclusion
James is pointing us to.
Verse 22 and verse 24
both begin with,
you see.
You see that Abraham's faith
and actions
were working together.
You see that a person
is justified by what he does
and not by faith alone.
Similarly,
the core of these verses,
which is the second half
of verse 22
and all of verse 23,
use terms of fulfillment.
Abraham's faith
was made complete
by what he did
and the scripture
was fulfilled
by what he did.
We need to pay attention
to the order of events
in this example
so that we properly understand
James' reading of Genesis.
In Genesis 15,
Abraham believed God
that God would give him a son
and make him into a great nation
and it was credited
to him as righteousness.
Afterwards,
in Genesis 22,
Abraham offered his son Isaac,
the son of the promise,
to God
when God tested him
and God reiterated
his promises to Abraham
saying,
because you have done this
and have not withheld your son,
your only son.
James has carefully chosen
which events of Abraham's life
to talk about.
This is crucial
to his argument.
They both involve
the promised son,
Isaac.
Abraham believed
that God would give him Isaac
in Genesis 15
and he freely offered Isaac
back to God
when tested
in Genesis 22.
Because Abraham
had faith in God,
he carried out
what God asked
and so,
it's put this way
in the book of Hebrews,
chapter 11,
verses 17 to 19.
By faith,
Abraham,
when God tested him,
offered Isaac
as a sacrifice.
He who had received
the promises
was about to sacrifice
his one and only son.
Even though God
had said to him,
it is through Isaac
that your offspring
will be reckoned,
Abraham reasoned
that God could raise the dead
and figuratively speaking,
he did receive Isaac
back from death.
Abraham offered Isaac
by faith.
His actions worked
together with his faith.
The faith he claimed
to have
and his actions
were in agreement,
they did not contradict
each other
and so,
James says,
Abraham's faith
was made complete
by his actions.
What does it mean
that Abraham's faith
was made complete?
It sounds rather unusual
in English.
We don't really use
complete in this way.
Unfortunately,
this is the result
of trying to translate
a concept.
This concept carries
the idea of fulfillment.
Abraham's works
displayed the reality
of his faith.
They were the natural result
of his faith.
Going back to our examples
at the beginning,
imagine instead
that your boss
both declares
you're worthy of a bonus
and then gives you
the bonus.
Or the police declare
that they care
about your safety
and they protect you
from those who
threatened you.
Now,
we could say
that their actions
back up their claims.
In James' language,
their actions
could be said
to complete
their claims,
to show
that they truly
believe what they say.
This is how
James can go on
to say
that Abraham's actions
fulfilled scripture.
Genesis 15,
1-6,
concluded with,
Abraham,
that is Abraham,
believed the Lord
and it was credited
to him
as righteousness.
Abraham's actions
of offering Isaac
fulfilled this scripture
by demonstrating
that his faith,
his belief
in God
was true.
it was faith
that was proven true
by his action.
So going back
to those questions
I said we could answer
with a close reading
of verses 22 to 24.
What is James saying
in these verses?
What relationship
between faith
and works
is he illustrating?
Is James saying
we need to not just believe
but reach a certain level
of goodness
to be saved?
What is the answer?
Well the answer is
James is not addressing
that question.
What is James addressing?
James is addressing
whether or not
saving faith
will produce fruit
in our lives.
Are we saved by works?
No.
It is helpful
to consider Paul
on this subject.
Paul says
in Ephesians 2
verses 8 and 9
Paul quite clearly
writes that we are
not saved by our works
but he does not
stop there.
He goes on to say
in verse 10
for we are God's
workmanship
created in Christ Jesus
to do good works
which God prepared
in advance
for us to do.
So we see that
while we are saved
by faith alone
that is what we do
works sorry
that is what we do
remain important.
Why then
does James claim
that we are not saved
by faith alone
in verse 24?
because he is answering
a different question.
He is talking about
whether or not
we are saved
by a claim
to have faith.
True faith
will necessarily
produce evidence
of its existence
as Paul says
we are created
in Christ Jesus
to do good works
which God prepared
in advance
for us to do.
Jesus tells us
if you love me
you will obey
what I command
and if anyone
would come after me
he must deny himself
and take up his cross
daily and follow me.
Saving faith
is productive
it is worked out
displayed
in changes
in every aspect
of life.
Saving faith
is a work of God
in us
which inevitably
transforms us
affecting how we think
and all we do.
When James uses
the word faith
in this passage
he is choosing
the language
of those
whom he is critiquing.
In verse 14
he talks about
those who claim
to have faith.
All through this passage
when he refers
to faith
he is talking
about the claim
to faith.
Making a claim
to faith
does not save you.
You need to have faith.
Faith which is not dead.
Faith which produces
action.
You need to have
saving faith.
faith.
The Westminster
Confession of Faith
which is the doctrinal
standard of our church
in its 14th chapter
summarizes what
saving faith is.
It says among
other things
that by
saving faith
a Christian
acts differently
in their life.
However
the principal
acts of saving
faith are
accepting
receiving
and resting
upon Christ
alone
for justification
sanctification
and eternal life
by virtue
of the covenant
of grace.
What does that mean?
Many wonderful things
but the important part
that I want us
to take away
this evening
is what I have
been saying.
What James
has been saying.
That saving faith
that is faith
which is not dead
will produce
changes in our life
good works
which do not
themselves
save us
but are instead
an outworking
of our faith.
What saves us?
The sacrifice
of Christ.
He saves us
through his death
and resurrection.
Saving faith
is not idle
it produces
many things
but our salvation
our forgiveness
by God
for all the wrong
things we know
we've done
all the shameful
things we wish
to hide from
the world
even for all
those wrong
things we do
not realize
we do.
Our salvation
is as Paul
says
not by works
so that no one
can boast
but instead
is through faith
and so we are
transformed inwardly
so that we can
desire what is right
and we are
gradually changed
outwardly
sanctified
by God
so that we both
more and more
desire what is right
and are enabled
to do
the good works
which we now
desire to do
which God
has prepared
for us to do.
James has one
more example
for us.
Let's look at
verses 25
and 26.
In the same way
was not even
Rahab the prostitute
considered righteous
for what she did
when she gave
lodging to the spies
and sent them off
in a different direction
as the body
without the spirit
is dead
so faith
without deeds
is dead.
In verse 25
James offers
the example
of Rahab
the prostitute.
As I said earlier
her story appears
in Joshua.
She is a prostitute
who lives in Jericho.
She protects
the Israelite spies
from being captured.
In exchange
when Israel
captures Jericho
her life
and the lives
of those in her house
are spared.
Essentially
she and her people
become a part
of the people
of God.
I do not believe
James idly
chose this example.
Rahab was a prostitute
and he points
that out here.
She had a shameful
sinful occupation.
However
she was considered
righteous
by what she did
in receiving
the spies.
James offers
this example
to show
that our past
no matter
what we were
it cannot prevent
us from being
saved.
That is
because we are
saved by grace
not by works.
What shameful
things are in
your past?
What things
make you think
that if someone
knew everything
about you
they would
despise you?
God knows
everything about us
not just what
we've done
he even knows
all the thoughts
we've ever had.
no matter
how shameful
or sinful
our pasts are
God offers us
his friendship
if only we
believe in him
in Jesus
he promises us
his spirit.
He has prepared
good works
for us to do
but not on
our own.
He transforms
those of us
who believe
gradually and
gently
into better
people who
care and
love others.
What if
you're thinking
I'm not that
bad
I'm a pretty
good person
really.
Jesus tells us
that to earn
ourselves into
favour with
God through
our own
works requires
nothing less
than perfection
according to
God's rules.
In Matthew
5 48
he says
be perfect
therefore as
your heavenly
father is
perfect.
We're all
far from that
kind of
perfection.
However the
example of
Rahab
who had
such a
shameful
occupation
demonstrates
that we
can be
saved if
only we
believe in
God with
a true
faith.
In 1
Corinthians
chapter 6
verses 9
to 11
Paul writes
Do you
not know
that the
wicked will
inherit the
kingdom of
God?
Do not
be deceived
neither the
sexually
immoral
nor idolaters
nor adulterers
nor male
prostitutes
nor homosexual
offenders
nor thieves
nor the greedy
nor drunkards
nor slanderers
nor swindlers
will inherit
the kingdom of
God.
And that
is what
some of you
were.
But you
were washed
you were
sanctified
you were
justified
in the name
of the
Lord Jesus
Christ
and by the
Spirit
of our
God.
Through
Jesus
we who do
so many
things God
detests
can be made
clean from
those things.
Because God
loves us
he made
us a way
through Jesus
to be clean
to be changed
to come
to him.
Rahab
was considered
righteous
for what
she did
and spared
the destruction
that came
upon Jericho.
We too
though we
are sinners
though we
do what
God detests
need to
come to
God in
faith
and being
transformed
by him
we need
to seek
his will
and do
the good
works
he gives
us to
do.
James
wrote this
passage
to answer
the person
who is
thinking
I believe
God saved
me by
faith
but I
don't need
to change
I can
live for
myself
and do
whatever
I want
but what
about the
person
who's
thinking
I believe
and I
want to
change
I want
to be
what God
wants
but I
just can't
see any
changes
in my
own
life
should
they be
worried
for their
salvation
should
they be
afraid
do you
understand
that it
is by
grace
you have
been
saved
that it
is not
by
works
and that
there is
nothing
you can
do to
earn
your
salvation
such a
person
should pray
pouring out
their heart
to God
seeking
his help
this is
a prayer
he delights
to answer
he will
not let
you down
in
Ezekiel
36
verse 26
God
speaking
through
Ezekiel
of the
new
covenant
which we
now have
says
I will
give you
a new
heart
and put
a new
spirit
in you
I will
remove
from you
your heart
of stone
and give
you a
heart
of flesh
the fact
that you
desire
what God
wants
is a sign
of change
in itself
pray that
God will
complete
this change
in you
what's more
you need
not do
this alone
and you
are never
alone
if you
believe
God
is with
you
but
he's
also
given
us
each
other
to help
to encourage
to build
each other
up
let's
help
each
other
as we
seek
to live
for
God
let's
help
each
other
as we
become
outwardly
the people
God has
made us
inwardly
let's
pray