Wow, good morning, church.
It's good to see you all.
It's good to be joined by everyone at home as well.
Our sermon this morning picks up our series in the letter of James.
We're looking at James chapter 2, verses 14 through 26.
This is probably one of the most famous parts of the whole letter of James, and we're going
to tackle it this morning together.
So let me pray for us, and then I'll read our text.
Let's pray.
Lord Jesus, as we have just sung, it's so easy to be distracted by so many other things
when it comes to the worship of you.
Lord, we think about our own acts.
We think about what other people think.
We think about maybe, Lord, whatever it is.
But Jesus, we confess that it is indeed all about you.
You are the center of all that is good and true and right.
You are the one who has created and redeemed us.
So we pray this morning as we come to Your Word, Lord Jesus, that Your Spirit would come
and grant us understanding.
Challenge us, convict us, change us, bring us to new life this morning, Lord.
In Your name we pray.
Amen.
Okay, James chapter 2, verses 14 through 26.
Let me read this for us.
James says,
What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works?
Can that faith save him?
If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, and one of you says to
them, go in peace, be warm and filled, without giving them the things needed for the body,
what good is that?
So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.
But someone will say, you have faith and I have works.
Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works.
You believe that God is one, you do well.
Even the demons believe and shudder.
Do you want to be shown, you foolish person, that faith apart from works is useless?
Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered up his son Isaac on the altar?
You see that faith was active along with his works, and faith was completed by his works,
and the scripture was fulfilled that says Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as
righteousness, and he was called a friend of God.
You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone, and in the same way,
was not also Rahab the prostitute justified by works when she received the messengers and
sent them out by another way?
For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so also faith apart from works is dead.
Well, what is saving faith?
That's what James wants us to consider in our text today.
If you say or claim that you have faith in Jesus, but it doesn't make any difference in
the works and the actions of your life, can that so-called faith really save you?
Now, that's an important question.
Imagine showing up to an event confident that your name is on the guest list.
I guess some of us had that experience this morning if you're here.
Some of us at home have probably had that experience, maybe.
You know, all week you've been touting to your friends how great it is to be going there,
this event, this gala, this gathering.
Imagine only to find when you arrive at the door, your name is nowhere to be found.
Jesus himself spoke like this.
He said, not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven.
So is our faith genuine, saving faith or not?
But it doesn't just matter for eternity.
It's also now that this question matters.
I grew up in Pennsylvania, not too far from the town of Hershey, where Hershey's chocolate
is from.
When you drive through the town of Hershey, Pennsylvania, they actually sometimes pump
chocolate smell into the air, especially in the amusement park.
Hershey is the town of chocolate.
So growing up, that's mostly what we ate when it came to chocolate, chocolate Hershey's.
But then I got married.
And in my wife's hometown, there's this little chocolate shop that makes homemade small batch
real deal chocolate.
And trying that for the first time, I thought, oh man, this is something else.
I'd been eating chocolate all my life, but not like this.
Now, could it be that some of us have been dining, have been eating, have been feasting
on a faith that's not really faith at all?
And the sweetness and the satisfaction of real saving faith, could it be that we've been missing
it?
And so James wants to challenge us this morning.
He wants to shock us.
He wants to wake us up to the real thing.
What is saving faith?
And our passage has four parts.
The first two parts tell us what saving faith is not.
And the second two show us what it is.
So we're going to look at those four parts.
What it's not, what it is.
So first, saving faith is not mere pious talk.
In verses 15 through 17, James presents us with an example.
A brother or sister, that is a fellow Christian, a member of your local church, is in need.
They need clothes.
They need food.
They need practical help getting their feet under them.
And you, seeing their needs, say, go in peace.
Be warm and well-fed.
But then you don't actually give them the things that you need insofar as in your power to do so.
Is that saving faith, James asks?
It sure sounds spiritual, right?
Go in peace.
A blessing.
Be warm and well-fed.
You know, the way that's worded, it could imply that God will provide your needs.
It's almost like a prayer.
It all sounds like pretty pious talk.
But James is quite blunt.
Faith without works is dead.
If your faith, if my faith, is just talk and your heart is not moved to action,
then your faith is not merely little.
Your faith is not merely immature.
It's quite possibly dead.
Now, a lot of us know what to say in the right situations, don't we?
In this setting or in that setting with this group of people or that group of people,
we sort of learn how to speak and how to talk.
And sometimes that can be a helpful thing.
But, you know, if you've grown up in the church or if you've spent some time around Christians,
you maybe know how to talk the Christian talk.
You know the lingo.
You know the vocab.
But James is quite clear.
That is no reliable evidence of a living faith,
of a real, dynamic, trusting relationship with God in Christ.
Because after all, that is what faith is.
It's a wholehearted trust in Christ alone for life now and for life to come.
But James goes even a little deeper.
He says, saving faith isn't just mere pious talk.
He says, second, saving faith is not mere proper doctrine.
Doctrine, what you know.
In verses 18 and 19, James begins by sort of positing an imaginary conversation partner.
And this conversation partner, this imaginary conversation partner says,
Oh, look, James, some people have faith.
Some people have works.
Different strokes for different folks.
Why are we being so picky here?
And James says, well, okay.
Show me your faith.
How do I know you have it?
I can show you my faith by my works, James says.
How will you show me?
By what you profess to believe?
By the doctrines that you hold?
Is that going to be how you prove to me your faith?
And then he says this.
You believe that God is one.
You do well.
Now, this doctrine, this biblical truth that God is one, is one of the most foundational,
in fact, it is really the most foundational creed of the Hebrew Bible of the Old Testament.
The Lord your God, the Lord is one.
Deuteronomy 6.4.
There is only one true God.
Do you believe that?
Good, James says.
You should believe that.
That's exactly what you ought to believe.
But merely having the right doctrines in your head isn't saving faith.
Even the demons believe and shudder.
Verse 19.
If we were to give, imagine, we were to give demons a theology test,
James says, they would probably pass.
They know that God is one.
They know that there's only one true creator God,
and that all the rest of the so-called gods are just idols.
They even shudder at the thought.
But they haven't surrendered to God in genuine saving faith.
Now, I'm glad, as a church, that we love sound doctrine.
We love to think right thoughts after God,
to know Him better,
to understand who God has revealed Himself to be in Jesus and in Scripture,
and not just according to our own imaginations.
We need to be theologically sharp thinkers.
But a mere head full of doctrine is not a sure sign of a heart full of surrender,
full of faith in Christ.
So what is saving faith?
Not just what you say with your mouth.
Not just what you know in your head.
It's more than pious talk.
It's more even than proper doctrines.
So what is it?
How do we know if we've got the real thing?
What's the evidence that we have?
This saving trust in Christ alone for life now and life to come.
Well, in the rest of the passage, James gives two examples of genuine saving faith.
The first is Abraham, and the second is Rahab.
And these two examples form James' fourth,
excuse me, his third and his fourth point in this passage.
So number three then, saving faith.
Saving faith is proved by obedience to God's commands.
Saving faith is proved by evidence, by obedience to God's commands.
If the demons believe and shudder, James now points us to Abraham who believes and obeys.
Abraham, of course, is the father of the Jewish nation,
the great starting point of God's covenant with Israel,
that covenant that would bring blessing to all the nations of the earth.
And the decisive moment for Abraham in his life,
as you read through Abraham's narrative,
the decisive moment for Abraham comes in Genesis 15.
When after going years without a child,
years of God seemingly not fulfilling his promises to him and Sarah, his wife,
God takes Abraham out on a starry night,
and he says,
look at the stars, Abraham.
Can you count them?
And Abraham doesn't answer.
He's probably just shaking his head.
Of course I can't count them, God.
Staring in wonder at the vast night sky.
And then God says to him,
so shall your offspring be.
Countless.
And then at that moment, upon hearing God's promise,
Genesis 15, 6 says,
and Abraham believed the Lord,
and the Lord counted it to him as righteousness.
Abraham became a believer,
became a man of faith, real faith that night.
And God counted it to him as righteousness.
That is, God viewed Abraham as wholly acceptable despite his sin.
But James is asking a question here.
He's saying,
when was the moment of truth for Abraham's faith?
It's one thing to look up at the stars and have a moment.
When did we find out that Abraham's faith that night was the real deal?
That moment came years later.
When God had fulfilled his promise and given Abraham and Sarah a son,
whom they named Isaac.
And then God told Abraham to take his only son,
this son that he loved,
and to let him go.
To give him up as a sacrifice to God.
The ultimate test.
And a test, by the way,
that's never repeated in the Bible for a human parent ever again.
This was an utterly unique moment for Abraham,
the father of faith.
And you can read this story in Genesis 22,
when Abraham takes Isaac up Mount Moriah,
not knowing how God is going to fulfill his promise through Isaac
to bless all the nations,
if now God's telling him to sacrifice Isaac.
In fact, the New Testament will look back on that moment
in the book of Hebrews and say,
Abraham perhaps even believed in the resurrection of the dead in that moment.
And that's how he was able to march up that hill.
But before Abraham can lower the knife,
the angel of the Lord calls out,
Abraham, don't harm the boy.
Now I know you fear God.
And God provides a ram as a substitute for Isaac.
And then in that moment,
God renews, he repeats,
he reiterates his promise to Abraham
to bless all the nations of the whole world
through him and his offspring.
And that's a promise, by the way,
that would ultimately come true
in Abraham's ultimate, long, far-off offspring,
the Lord Jesus Christ.
The Lord Jesus, who like Isaac,
was also led up a hill
with wood on his back.
But unlike Isaac,
Jesus did become a sacrifice.
The one true sacrifice
for the sins of all of us,
you and me.
He took our place
and he died the death
that we deserve to die
because of our sin.
And he offers eternal life
for all who will repent
and believe in him.
But again,
that faith in Jesus
that saves us,
how do we know
it's genuine faith?
The thing that proves
his faith,
Abraham's faith,
are his works.
In verse 22,
James says,
real living faith
is active along with works,
even completed,
that is carried forth
to its goal by works,
by deeds,
by actions
in obedience to God.
But then James
says something
a little confusing
in verse 21.
He says that Abraham
was justified
by works.
And again,
in verse 24,
he says that a person
is justified by works
and not by faith alone.
Now,
the reason that's confusing
is because if you read
the Apostle Paul,
on the surface,
it sounds like Paul
and James
are saying completely
opposite things.
In Romans 3,
Paul will say,
a person
is justified
by faith
apart from works
of the law.
Now,
this apparent contradiction
has caused
a lot of head-scratching
in the history
of Christianity.
But I think
the context
of James
shows us
that Paul
and James
are using
the word
justify
in different ways
to talk about
different things
to address
different needs.
Paul
was writing
to Christians
that thought
they had to keep
the Torah,
they had to keep
the law of Moses
in order to be saved.
James is speaking
to Christians
who think
that giving mere
lip service
to Jesus
will save them.
So you see,
Paul is combating
legalism,
that I have to do
something
to earn
my status
with God
and James
is combating
nominalism.
If I just say
the right things
then I'm in.
So Paul
has to talk
about what
actually puts
you in a right
relationship
with God
and James
has to talk
about what
actually demonstrates
the validity
or the reality
of your relationship
with God.
For Paul then,
when he uses
the word justification,
he means something
kind of unique.
He means the act
whereby God
reckons us,
declares us
righteous.
For Paul,
justification
means God
declaring us
righteous
because of our
union with Jesus,
the righteous one,
in faith.
Because Jesus
is righteous
and faith
unites us
to Jesus,
then God
declares us,
justifies us
in Jesus
through faith alone.
That's what
justification
means for Paul.
But for James,
justification
here means
the evidence,
the proof,
how do we know
that you have
saving faith
in union
with Jesus?
So for Paul,
to justify
means to make
or to declare
righteous.
For James,
to justify
is to prove
or to demonstrate
that you have
faith in the first
place.
Now,
this shouldn't
surprise us
that two different
biblical writers
should use the
same word
in different ways.
That happens
all the time
in real world
language use,
does it not?
And the New Testament
writers are very much
writing in the real world.
Imagine you overheard
me talking on my cell phone
saying something like,
where does he get off?
Okay,
you'd think,
either I was really
mad at someone,
or I was asking
which subway stop
was closest
to the particular
destination.
Where does he get off?
And you'd only know
which one it was
by the context,
maybe my tone of voice,
but ultimately
the context, right?
You know,
the same is true
when we read
the New Testament.
Lots of words.
There's a handful
that can actually be used
in very different ways.
Sanctification is one of them.
You read through
the New Testament,
sometimes sanctification
means that you are
positionally clean
before God.
Sometimes sanctification
means this growing
increase in righteousness.
You just have to
look at the context
and know which one
the writer means.
And in reality,
James and Paul,
though they have
their different emphases,
and they have
their different audiences,
and they have
their different styles,
they actually both
come down
on the same side
of this issue.
When you read
across the entire
of their works,
you find that there's
a lot of unity
and harmony.
Faith saves us.
Both will agree,
but faith without works
is dead.
Paul will say
in Galatians 5,
in Christ Jesus,
the only thing
that counts
is faith
working through love.
The only thing
that counts
is faith
working through love.
a kind of faith
that changes your life.
A real relationship
with Christ.
I think it was Calvin
who synthesized
this brilliantly.
He said,
we are saved
by faith alone,
but not by a faith
that stays alone.
We're saved
by faith alone,
but not by a faith
that stays alone.
A faith that will
generate works.
Now, do works add
something to our faith?
Is faith sort of
square one
and then we've got
to build a little
castle of righteousness
on top of that?
No, James isn't saying
that faith needs
to be supplemented.
He's saying that
if your faith
doesn't flow forth
in a desire to obey God,
then it's not really
faith at all.
It's a test.
It's an evidence
of the real thing.
Which brings us
back to Abraham then.
Abraham,
whose works
justify,
and for James
that means proves
or demonstrates
that his faith
is the real deal.
That he is actually
in a saving relationship
with God.
Saving faith,
Abraham shows us,
is proved
by obedience
to God's commands.
So as you look
at your own heart,
your own life,
do you see a desire
and the follow-through
to keep God's commands?
James isn't talking
about being perfect here.
Abraham was far
from perfect.
Read his story
in Genesis
and you will find that out.
But his faith
made a difference
in what he did.
He took God
at his word
even if it was
counter-cultural,
even if it wasn't
popular,
even when it was costly.
And that brings us
to our last point.
James' last example
is Rahab.
And here we see
this fourth point.
Fourth,
saving faith
is proved
in particular
by love
for God's people.
Abraham showed us
that saving faith
was proved
or demonstrated
by obedience
to God's commands.
James wants to
focus it down
and say,
saving faith
is proved
in particular
by love
for God's people.
He writes
in verse 25,
and in the same way
was not also Rahab
the prostitute
justified by works
that is proved
to be faithful
when she received
the messengers
and sent them out
by another way.
Now you probably
couldn't imagine
two characters
more different
in the Bible
than Abraham
and Rahab.
One a male,
the other a female.
One of them old,
the other probably young
or maybe middle-aged.
One the father
of the Jewish nation,
the other a Gentile.
One wealthy,
the other a prostitute.
But by juxtaposing
these two figures
and holding them
both up
as exemplars
of faith,
James is making
a brilliant rhetorical point,
is he not?
That no matter
what your background
or your upbringing
or your social status
or your gender
or your class
or your race,
there is an equal place
for you
in the people
of God.
Whether you're
an Abraham
or a Rahab,
this family
is one
in Jesus.
And Rahab's story
is so powerful.
Joshua 2,
that's where she enters
the biblical storyline.
And in that moment,
the people of Israel
are about to take
the promised land.
They're about to
kind of come in
and God's going to
give it to them
and they come
to the city
of Jericho first.
And Joshua,
the leader of Israel,
sends spies into Jericho
to check it out.
And they meet Rahab.
And Rahab tells them,
she says,
we've heard all about
what your God did
in Egypt.
We've heard all about
how he dried up
the Red Sea.
We've heard all about
how he conquered
those other kings
on the other side
of the Jordan,
our neighbors
just over the water.
And you know,
most of my town,
our hearts are melting
in fear when we've heard
of all this
because we know
that your God
is the God
in heavens above
and the one true God
in earth beneath.
In other words,
Rahab professes faith
in the God of Israel
having heard
the message
of what God has done.
She hears
and she believes.
But what demonstrates
that her faith
is genuine
is the real deal.
What demonstrates
that her faith
is saving faith.
The evidence
is the costly kindness
that she shows
to the people of God.
At great risk
to herself,
she hides the spies
from the Jericho authorities
when they come knocking
and she stages
their daring escape
from the city,
putting her own neck
on the line
to save this handful
of spies
from getting caught
and getting killed.
And in Jewish tradition,
Rahab becomes
the model
Gentile convert.
She becomes
sort of the hero
of those who would
come to faith
from the outside.
And in the New Testament,
we see that Rahab
even becomes part
of the family line
of the Messiah,
of Jesus,
in Matthew 1.
And here,
James holds her up
as an example
of real saving faith,
faith that works,
faith that flows forth
in practical love
for the people of God.
So how about us, friends?
Do we have
the real thing?
Is our faith
mere talk?
Is it mere ideas?
Or is it a living
relationship
that bears the fruit
of obedience to God
and love
for our brothers
and sisters in Christ?
You know,
this is the sort of passage
that invites
self-examination,
does it not?
It's a challenging passage.
And by design,
James wants it
to be
very straightforward
and cause us
to do some soul-searching.
But as we apply
this passage
to our hearts,
the first thing
to say
is that we should
not do it alone.
I know many of us
have what we might call
tender consciences.
When we hear
a passage like this,
we bring all
of our failures
and all of our
shortcomings
to mind
and we can just
despair
of our relationship
with Christ.
We think of all
the ways
we've fallen short
and all the ways
we're not where
we want to be
and we think,
well,
maybe I just,
maybe I don't have it
at all.
Well,
friends,
if that's you,
let me encourage
you strongly
to find
a mature
fellow believer.
Reach out
to one of the pastors,
your small group leader,
an older friend
in the faith
that you trust.
Find a mature
fellow believer
and talk to them
about your doubts
and fears.
The reality is
we are often
not the best judge
of our own
spiritual state.
Bernard of Clairvaux
supposedly said,
he who appoints
himself
his own
spiritual master
has a fool
for a disciple.
You see
what he's saying
there?
If you look
to yourself
as your own
spiritual guide,
you're leading
a fool,
i.e.
you're being
very foolish
to think
that you're
the best one
to assess
your own
spiritual life.
There's too
much you'll
miss.
Whether in
fear
or in pride,
you've got
blind spots.
I've got
blind spots.
We need
someone else
to take a look
at our life
and say,
yeah,
brother,
yeah,
sister,
you know what?
You have
failed.
But look
at all this
other fruit
in your life
that,
you know,
doesn't come
to mind,
that I see
and I affirm.
Be encouraged.
So find
someone to
talk to
about this
as you do
some examination.
Second,
then,
be open
to repentance.
That is,
if God
is showing
you areas
of your life
that do
need to
change,
areas
where your
faith isn't
bearing good
fruit,
then today,
even now,
as we draw
this service
to a close,
go to God
in prayer.
Admit
your failing,
your shortcoming,
your fear.
Ask Him
for the strength
and the courage
and the wisdom
and the direction
to act.
You know,
all of us
have room
to grow here.
You can't read
the end of
James chapter 2
and not be
convicted.
Perhaps God
is pinpointing
a specific
thing
in your life,
an area
of obedience
or an area
of love
where you know
you need to
change.
If that is
true,
take heart.
What you're
experiencing
is conviction
is conviction.
And conviction
is the work
of God
the Holy Spirit,
Jesus tells us.
So if you are
feeling the tug
of conviction
on your heart,
then the Spirit,
the one who imparts
saving face
in the first place,
is at work
in you,
inviting you
deeper into life.
Conviction
is a sign
that God's
loving you
and drawing you
deeper into
His life
of love.
So don't delay.
Respond
to the Spirit's
work
and repent
and go to God
your Father
who loves you
and open your
hands and say,
okay, Lord,
let's go.
Third,
perhaps you've
come to realize
that your faith
up till now
maybe has been
just talk
and ideas.
maybe what God
is showing you
is that you
don't have
real saving
faith.
What do you
do?
Well,
friends,
the answer
is very
straightforward.
Turn
to God,
the God
who loves
you
and gave
His own
Son for you.
Admit,
admit that you've
been deceiving
yourselves
and maybe deceiving
others.
ask Him
to forgive
your hypocrisy.
Ask Him
to forgive you,
not because you
deserve to be
forgiven,
but because Christ
died for you
in love,
because He loves
hypocrites
and fakes.
He loves them
and shed His
own blood
for them.
Admit that you've
been deceiving
yourself.
Ask God
for forgiveness
and commit
your life
to Him
from this
day forward.
surrender to
Him
as your
Lord,
trusting that
His paths,
costly though
they may be
at times,
are the paths
of life.
And after
you've made
that commitment,
then tell
somebody.
Make a call.
Send an email.
Let a Christian
friend know
about the change
that's taken
place.
Because,
friends,
here's the good
news.
Faith without
works is dead.
But,
as James
and the rest
of the New
Testament authors
know and
proclaim,
our God
specializes
in raising
the dead.
Does He not?
Through
faith,
God makes
us alive
together with
Christ,
saving us
by grace,
creating us
anew
in Christ
Jesus,
creating us
in Christ
Jesus
for good
works.
which God
prepared
beforehand
that we
should walk
in them.
Amen?
Amen.
Let's pray
together.
Lord Jesus,
we take
just a moment
of quiet
before You
now.
And we
lay before You
areas where
Your Spirit
is working
to convict
us and to
draw us
into life.
Lord,
so many
of us
over these
last few
weeks have
been particularly
convicted when
it comes to
racial injustice
in our
country.
Lord,
we pray that
You would
continue to
convict us
and You would
continue to
bring genuine
lasting repentance
that we might
not simply say
be warm and
well fed,
but that we
might act in
love and
charity and
use what good
resources we've
been given to
plead for
justice and for
change.
God,
perhaps it's
another area,
Lord, how we
use our time,
how we use our
money, the
relationships we
have.
Lord, perhaps
even You're
bringing to mind
a particular
brother or
sister in the
faith and need
who needs
care.
Father, we
know that Your
Word says
perfect love
drives out fear.
So we pray that
the perfect love
of Christ for us
would drive out
fear and allow
us to respond
with acts of
love to those
whom You've
placed on our
heart.
Lord, we know
also that perhaps
some who've been
able to hear the
service this
morning don't
have saving
faith.
Father, we
think of that
moment when You
asked Ezekiel to
go out and look
at a valley and
the valley was
full of dry
bones.
And Ezekiel said,
God, how can
these dry bones
live?
They're dry.
They're dead.
But then Your
Spirit came and
brought it to
life.
Spirit, would
You come and
would You bring
life this morning?
Would You awaken
saving faith in
Christ for those
with ears to
hear?
We ask all
this in the
powerful name of
Jesus.
Amen.