James 2:14-26 | Works

Good morning. It is so good to be with you. I invite you to open your Bibles to the Book of James, chapter 2, verses 14 through 26, are where we will be today. We've seen clearly to this point in James' letter to believers that his emphasis is very simple and very direct, that we must not only be hearers of God's word, but doers of God's word.

And true faith is evidenced by the fruit it produces. And what we do for Christ reveals who we are in Christ. These are the kinds of phrases and ideas that James is known for. But if you're familiar with the rest of the New Testament writings, particularly those of the Apostle Paul, you may be feeling a degree of tension as we walk through these emphases on our works in James' letter. You know, this tension is actually a point of conflict or controversy that many have wrestled with throughout church history.

Particularly the question has been, is James' emphasis on faith being necessarily accompanied by works in contradiction with the Apostle Paul's just as strong emphasis that salvation in Christ is by faith alone apart from works? Because here's the rub. Romans 3:28, Paul says, for we hold that one is justified by faith apart from works of the law. James 2:24, you see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone.

What are we supposed to do with that?

Is rescue from our sin nature, atonement for our sin debt, and restoration with God in Christ, something we receive by grace through faith alone? Or is the Christian life a matter of faith that must be accompanied by works?

Well, to that strategically worded question, I believe both the Apostle Paul and James, the brother of Jesus, would respond, yes. Well, how can that be? Well, in order to understand today's passage, as well as James' ongoing emphasis in his letter, it's important that we understand something about the biblical relationship between faith and works, especially as represented by the positions of Paul and James. We must understand that Paul and James are not standing face to face in opposition to one another, but back to back in support of one another. Because in their writings, Paul and James are fighting two very distinct enemies. Now, legalism is a big theological word for the idea that we are saved by our works, that by doing right things and avoiding wrong things, we can merit or earn our salvation in Christ, as long as we are relatively good people.

Now under this banner, when we come to Christ, we come with our good deeds in hand to show we are justified in receiving his grace. Now, legalism is the opponent that Paul is fighting when he says, no, we are justified by faith alone, apart from works. Now, antinomianism — you can spell that however you want — antinomianism is a big theological word for the idea that if we are saved by grace alone, then we should be left alone.

Then at that point God should be done with us. And under this banner, as long as at some point we believe God is real and Jesus is who he says he is, we can live however we want and God is fine with it. Now, antinomianism is the opponent that James is fighting when he says, no, a person is justified by works, not by faith alone. Now, these are two different opponents requiring two different approaches, but it's the same fight for one gospel truth.

Now, while many throughout history have tried to pit Paul and James, thus faith and works, against one another, in today's text James helps us see they are actually two sides of the same coin.

As both Paul and James would attest, we are saved by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone. But that faith by which we are saved is never alone. True saving faith is always accompanied by works. Let's read in James chapter 2, beginning in verse 14. 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 warmed 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, well, you have faith and I have works. Well, 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.

Now, at this point in James' letter, you can sense some, if not frustration, then certainly passion, because James has instructed Christians to live according to the word of God and detailed specific ways in which they should do so. But after last week's step into the territory of God's judgment and his wrath, as well as his mercy, James bears down in his appeal for his readers to understand what real saving faith in Christ actually looks like.

Now, why is James so passionate about this? Well, he's so passionate in his writing because he is so passionate about the Gospel and the spiritual reality of his readers.

James wants his readers to know Christ not so they can be better, more acceptable people, but so they can truly experience resurrected life in Jesus and know that they have freedom from the power and penalty of sin before a holy God.

He wants those bound by the law of works to live according to the law of liberty.

However, James knows there is a kind of pseudo faith that exists amongst professing Christians, even in the church. That is a counterfeit faith. It is a faith that at some point makes a confession about Jesus, but such confession makes no lasting difference in that person's life.

It is a fruitless faith because it is a rootless faith. Yet some are counting on it to be their saving faith.

Now, James speaks firmly against this kind of pseudo faith because there are many even today who are unknowingly deceived by it.

Thus James begins verse 14. What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? Now here James steps toe to toe with the antinomian perspective of a person who says they have faith in God through Christ, but they do not have works to evidence that such a claim is true.

This person misuses or takes lightly the Bible, yet says it is God's word. This person's time, energy, and resources are spent on themselves while they claim to be dedicated to God and to his people.

This person, though claiming to follow Christ, walks down roads Jesus never went, even warned against pursuing.

And so, putting this person to the fore, James soberingly asks, is this person really saved?

Is this what it looks like to be set free and redeemed by the blood of Christ, born again to resurrected life, and indwelt and guided by God the Spirit?

Or is this in fact a counterfeit faith?

So, to put flesh on his question, James provides an example. Look at verse 15. So if a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, and one of you says to them, go in peace, be warmed 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.

Now, interestingly, just like in verse 2, the example James turns to for evidence of faith in the life of a professing believer is in the context of Christian community.

James pictures a scenario in which a professing believer identifies a need within the body of Christ, even recognizes the need verbally, but does nothing physically to meet that need.

James asks, quite simply, what good is that?

He agrees with John in 1 John 3:17, that if anyone has the world's goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God's love abide in him? Little children, let us not love in word or talk, but in deed and in truth.

James says faith that merely holds an idea mentally, or even recognizes it verbally, but makes no difference in one's life physically, is of no use to the person in need, no benefit to the person who professes it, and thus brings no glory to God.

And James says, such a supposed faith is empty. It's worthless. In fact, such supposed faith is dead.

Verse 18. But someone will say, you have faith and I have works. Well, show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works. Now here James describes someone seeking to separate faith and works through talking about gifting or personality or desire. Someone who says, hey, good works, good deeds, that is great for you, but that's just not for me.

You know, there are thinkers and there are doers. I'm more of a thinker. I'm more of a have-faith-and-it'll-all-work-out person. You go do works and I'll pray for you.

In response, James again says, clearly, faith and works cannot and will not be divided, no matter how charitable or religious the means may sound. Rather, anyone with genuine saving faith in Christ, that faith will be accompanied by works for Christ that put that faith on display. The two are inseparable. If one claims to have faith, their faith should be evidenced by works. If there are no works, there is likely no faith.

Now, as a quick aside, this is the basis for what is called church discipline or church accountability in Matthew 18, that if someone says they are a follower of Christ, a Christian, and thus part of the church, yet their actions ongoingly do not support their assertions, their brothers and sisters in Christ should lovingly confront them, not as the morality police, but because that person they care about and are in covenant community with may be in spiritual danger, or worse, may not actually be saved.

Such confrontation is not ungracious or legalistic. It's actually the most loving, caring thing a Christian can do for another person.

If we just hope someone has faith but do not help them walk according to that faith, or express concern when they habitually are not walking in alignment with God's word, we are no better than the one who tells the hungry brother to be fed without offering them the food that we have in abundance.

As James says, such matters are not simply about making bad Christians better people. They are literally a means of life and death, heaven and hell. Look at verse 19. James says, you believe that God is one. You do well, but even the demons believe and shudder.

Now remember, James is writing this letter to first century Jews who were professing faith in Christ. Now, this phrase, God is one, is the first line of what is known in Hebrew as the Shema, found in Deuteronomy 6:4. It says, hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. Now the Shema was a foundational creed or statement of faith that set Jews apart from their pagan, polytheistic counterparts. So by making this reference, in essence, James is saying, you affirm the opening line of the Shema.

You affirm that God is one. That's great. But even demons know that, as one scholar said, there is not a demon in the universe who is an atheist.

Consider what the demons know, believe, and affirm about God.

Demons are monotheists. They believe there is one true sovereign God. Demons are trinitarian. They know God exists eternally as Father, Son, and Spirit. Demons are creationists.

They know that God created the heavens and the earth. Demons are scripturalists. They know that the Bible is the inerrant word of God.

Demons have perfect Christology. They can tell you that Jesus, God the Son in human flesh, was the promised Messiah, the Christ who died on a cross. He was buried, resurrected, and ascended back to God the Father as the only way back to God.

Demons are excellent theologians, but not one of them are or will be saved.

They know God, but they will not do what he says. They do not seek the glory of God in their obedience. In fact, the very thought makes them shudder. In the Greek this means to bristle up, kind of like a cornered cat or a dog.

So for those who only have faith in who God is, but do not do what he says, what they need is to read the next line of the Shema. Because Deuteronomy 6:4 again, hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one, verse 5, you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. That is what the demons do not and will not do.

They do not have a joyful, sacrificial, obedient love for God.

Therefore, a key difference between a demon and a believer, James says, is not theological orthodoxy or right knowledge. It's active obedience to God.

True faith does not just know about God, it knows God and lovingly serves him.

Verse 20. 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.

So as further evidence, James points to the life of Abraham, which we recently saw up close in our walk through the Book of Genesis. Now, why Abraham? Well, to a Jewish audience, Abraham would have been the premier example of faith. Abraham was the literal father of the nation of Israel. Even more, he was considered to be the father of the Jewish faith.

So if ever there was a picture of faith to be modeled for a Jewish person, it was Abraham. And so James points to the example from Abraham's life in Genesis 22, in which Abraham was asked to sacrifice his only son Isaac as an act of faith. And because Abraham was willing to go to this length before God intervened, God then knew that Abraham's faith was genuine. Now, did God not know if Abraham actually had faith before?

Well, no. God knew Abraham's faith intimately all the way back to Genesis 12, when God first called him out of Ur.

Well, was Abraham's act of faith what secured the covenant of God with him? Well, no, God made that covenant with himself all the way back in Genesis 15, when God initiated and completed the covenant ceremony on Abraham's behalf.

However, James says it was this putting faith into action that fulfilled what Scripture says, that Abraham believed God and it was counted to him as righteousness. It was Abraham's living obedience that was a key ingredient to his faith.

Verse 25. 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? Now, for those unfamiliar with Rahab's story in Joshua 2, after the Hebrews fled Egypt — that's with Pharaoh, and Moses, and the plagues, and the Red Sea — they were brought back to the promised land of Canaan to conquer it. And when they arrived, they sent two spies into Jericho, which was the first major city in Canaan.

And the spies came to the house of a woman named Rahab, who was a prostitute. Now, Rahab hid the two spies when the king of Jericho came looking for them. Rahab protected God's people, asking only that when the Hebrews came, they might show mercy to her, because she believed their God, Yahweh, was the one true God over heaven and earth.

Even with limited knowledge, even with her sketchy background, Rahab believed and acted accordingly, even to her own possible detriment.

Now, why does James highlight Abraham and Rahab?

Well, these two Old Testament figures represent far pendulum swings in the people of God. Abraham was the quintessential Jew, the father of the faith. Rahab was a Gentile, a non-Jew, a convert to the faith. Abraham was a relatively moral man. Rahab was a notably immoral woman.

Abraham was a well-off patriarch. Rahab was a struggling prostitute. Abraham had been spoken to directly by God himself. Rahab had only heard rumors of God from wandering travelers.

But despite their stark differences, Rahab and Abraham both, in their own ways, put everything they had on the line for their belief in who God is.

Their lives and their actions evidenced sincere trust in God, his character, and his word.

They showed their faith by their works. And though they were not perfect people by any stretch, they were called faithful and rewarded in the kingdom of God.

So no matter who you are, what background you come from, or what label lies in your past, James says this call to live in obedience to the one true God who has extended his saving grace and his mercy — this call is for everyone.

But so too is the warning, verse 26. For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so also faith apart from works is dead.

James says that faith apart from works is like a body apart from its spirit, its personhood, its activity, and its life.

Such a body is not living. It doesn't move, breathe, speak, and love.

A body without its spirit is just dead flesh, something to be mourned and buried.

Likewise, if one's faith is not living, if it does not move, breathe, speak, and love, it is dead. You may be able to keep up appearances for a while, but eventually, and often tragically, the truth will be revealed.

Again, James in his letter can be brutally honest, and at times, for his readers, uncomfortably so.

I mean, why go through all this invasive spiritual examination and toe stomping? Can't we all just sing some Chris Tomlin songs and hold hands at Chick-fil-A?

Why not talk about God's love? Why talk about my sin?

Well, the truth is, addressing our sin is one of the most significant ways we can remember God's love, celebrate the gospel, and care for one another. Because when we remember how far we are separated from God in our sin, we are reminded of how far God the Son lovingly came to rescue us.

And when we see our need for Christ that cannot be met by our own efforts or merits, we are grateful for it. And we celebrate the good news of the Gospel, that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

And when we care enough to be honest with one another and take down the facade of religiosity, we become a transformative community that recognizes we are all sinners in a variety of ways. But in Christ we are seeking to spur one another forward toward our common Savior.

So, as the Apostle Paul said to the church in Corinth, whom he loved very much, in 2 Corinthians 13:5, he said, examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves.

So how do we test ourselves? Well, we examine ourselves to see whether we are in the faith by looking at the fruit of our lives, the results and the actions our lives are or are not producing. And if our works are in alignment with the faith we profess, then great, glory to God.

If they are not, then we know something is wrong, and we can go to God, who always hears and is ready to receive us.

As one scholar said in his teaching, Jesus left no room for unrepentant faith or saved non-disciples. Jesus said, if anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. So, church, Jesus defined one who has faith as one who denies, who takes up, who follows, who loses, and who finds — all of which are words of action for Jesus.

As with James, faith alone saves, but saving faith is never alone. It is always accompanied and evidenced by faithful deeds, as we just read together from the pen of the Apostle Paul in Ephesians 2:8-10. For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing. It is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.

Let's pray.

Oh God, I am humbled before you, as you are the Almighty God, the Creator, sustainer of all things. By your hand and by your will we exist and move and breathe, and God, I admit first that I often do not do that well. I seek my own way instead of your way. My heart can become callous when I see another in need.

Instead of thinking of their need, I think of the things that I want.

God, I confess that I am a broken sinner in need of that grace and that faith that you give so freely through the blood of Jesus Christ. And I thank you for it. I thank you for the guiding and the leading and the indwelling of God the Spirit. And I thank you for the word that leads us and guides us along the way, that shows us the truth that you have so freely given to us. God, it is a miracle, the gospel that we celebrate and the God that we serve.

But God, I also pray, knowing that we live in a culture in which Christianity can often just be taken on as an outside label, as an identification apart from other religious groups, or a desire to be with another group, without actually understanding what it means to trust and follow Jesus Christ by grace, through faith. So, God, I pray that you would show us that clearly. I pray that you would help us to examine our works well, to see if there is fruit that looks like Jesus, that shows the Spirit is alive and well within us. It shows that we are that fourth kind of seed in the parable of the sower, whose roots are deep in gospel soil, who is saved and producing glorious fruit that we could never do on our own.

For your glory and for our good, help us, Jesus. It's in your name that we pray.