Is Your Faith Dead or Alive?

In September of 2022, Pew Research released a study about how many Americans identify as being Christian. How many Americans do you think identify as being Christian?

64% - this is down from 90% in the 1970s

NPR took this study and did some further analyzing of the data and released a shocking announcement that by 2070, the number of Americans who identify as being Christian will be under 50% if these statistics remain steady in decline. This is just with people who identify as being Christian, though. You and I both know people who make lots of statements that they don’t necessarily back up with their actions. Growing up I had a friend whose grandparents owned a local grocery store and he said that because of the competition between their family store and Walmart, he would never shop at Walmart! For a few years this was true, but what do you think began to happen as he got a little older and could drive for himself? We would make regular trips to Walmart. He identified as a Walmart hater but he would still visit and shop at the store from time to time. Have you met someone like this? They say one thing but they do the other?

This is how many people in our world treat Jesus and Christianity. They’ll say they identify as a Christian, but their actions speak a different story. They’ll say that Christianity isn’t about a religion, it’s about a relationship… but many don’t have a relationship in the first place. Also, we’d better be careful not to take that statement too far because James 1:27 told us a couple weeks ago that

James 1:27 CSB

27 Pure and undefiled religion before God the Father is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself unstained from the world.

Christianity IS a religion… and it’s based on a relationship with Jesus Christ. It’s both - it’s certainly meant to be lived in Christian community horizontally and it’s certainly between ourselves and God vertically. It’s both and. The problem that our nation has is that 2/3 people claim to be Christian but only 28% of Americans attend church once or twice a month. Let’s get this: 2/3 of Americans claim to be Christians but only 1/4 of Americans worship with God’s people 1 or 2x per month. This is the trend in our country though. I get that things happen like sickness and traveling but the question remains: Do we just give Jesus lip service or do we follow Jesus’ commands which include to gather with our brothers and sisters and worship Him regularly? For many Americans they would answer no to this question - lip service is enough because, again, it’s all about a relationship and I can worship God better by myself than I can with other people. We know that we can worship God by ourselves, but we also see in Scripture that we aren’ called to exclusively worship God alone in our isolation silo. We’re called to gather. We’re called to lift one another up in corporate worship. We’re called to walk the walk and talk the talk. We’re called to a life not only of saying the right things but doing the right things as well. This has been James’ point to this stage in his letter: Works matter. Where you go and what you do matters.

Today we get to one of the most intense passages in the entire book of James, if not the entire Bible, Faith without Works is Dead! James 2:14-26 is loaded with Scriptural truth and it might take us into next week to finish this passage because it’s so dense and important for us to understand. Before we dive into God’s Word, I want to open things up and just hear your thoughts on this passage of Scripture first. Either this week in preparation or in previous weeks or years as you’ve studied this passage, what stands out to you about James 2:14-26?

Lots of things!

This passage is convicting and concerning on one hand

This passage is motivating

Let’s begin today by reading the first section of this passage. Could someone read for us James 2:14-17?

James 2:14–17 CSB

14 What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but does not have works? Can such faith save him? 15 If a brother or sister is without clothes and lacks daily food 16 and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, stay warm, and be well fed,” but you don’t give them what the body needs, what good is it? 17 In the same way faith, if it does not have works, is dead by itself.

Counterfeit Faith (14-17)

Last week we talked a little bit about favoritism and how many people in James’ audience were very poor just like many Christians around the world today. They would have been tempted to give preference to a rich guest over a poor guest for political or power reasons. It is likely that some of these people would have been lacking in various places. Some perhaps with food or clothes or basic needs. Here James is asking a simple question, what good is it if you know someone in need and you don’t help them with their need?

What are some ways that we are tempted to do the same thing in our world today?

Thoughts and Prayers / Well wishes / Good vibes

Place for prayer, absolutely, but God answers prayer through means and often times other Christians are the means that God uses to answer the prayers of His people who are suffering.

This is why we have a budget item for benevolence requests and this is why we do mission work like Love Thy Neighbor in our community and what we do in places like Guatemala and Moldova. We don’t want to just give lip service to those in need - we want to help out!

Sadly, we can’t help solve every problem because we don’t have the funding necessary to do that… but we try to help with whatever we can!

Why does James say that faith without works is dead? How do we know this to be true?

An inactive faith is a dead one. If you have been saved by Jesus, you will act and that faith will change the way that you live your life! Think of the story of the Good Samaritan in Luke 10:25-37 - what is Jesus’ point with that parable?

Our responsibility is to help those around us, even those who might think or be a little different than we are. Be a good neighbor - Great Commandment, love God and love neighbor as self!

Within the Church, though, we have even more reason to help one another out because we are all on the same team and apart of the same body. Galatians 6:10 is appropriate here

Galatians 6:10 CSB

10 Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us work for the good of all, especially for those who belong to the household of faith.

Do good and help others!

Yet, here there are some who have the means to help and they refuse to help - James says that these people demonstrate that they in fact have no faith. It is a lifeless and deedless faith and that makes it a dead, counterfeit faith.

Real faith acts.

Picture painted in our study guide: Are works the root (plant) or are works the fruit?

Works are the result of faith. Faith produces works just like a plant produces fruit. If you don’t have fruit, you have reason to say that the plant might be dead - same in the life of a Christian. If you aren’t living a Christlike life and bearing Christlike fruit then you have reason to evaluate if you are truly saved by grace through faith in the first place

This isn’t where James stops though - this is where he starts!

James 2:18–20 CSB

18 But someone will say, “You have faith, and I have works.” Show me your faith without works, and I will show you faith by my works. 19 You believe that God is one. Good! Even the demons believe—and they shudder. 20 Senseless person! Are you willing to learn that faith without works is useless?

What stands out to you in these 3 short verses about the distinction between faith without works and faith with works?

The demons have some sort of knowledge and right belief… So right belief cannot = faith!

Orthodoxy w/o orthopraxy = lifeless

Orthopraxy w/o orthodoxy = pointless

Orthodoxy + Orthopraxy = Goal

You demonstrate your faith through works of faith.

Look at Jesus healing the man who was lowered from the roof in Mark 2:1-12. Jesus says that this man is saved only after he saw their faith

Mark 2:5 CSB

5 Seeing their faith, Jesus told the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven.”

Really interesting story here! Their faith in the Lord to heal their friend led to an action on behalf of their friend. All true faith leads to action. What you believe about God internally will impact your actions and thoughts externally as well.

If the demons believe in God but aren’t saved… what does this tell you about real faith?

It’s not just about knowing the right things

It’s not just about saying the right answers

There are no atheists in hell - not even the demons are that dumb!

Personal illustration: This is the issue with emotionally based decisions. Many people that go to a concert or conference hear a Gospel presentation and altar type call to raise a hand with their eyes closed and make a decision because other people are making a decision that might or might not be genuine. Real faith isn’t about raising a hand, walking an aisle, even getting dunked in the water… Real faith is about hearing the truth of the Gospel and responding to the Gospel with repentance and obedience. This is what the atheist and the demon fail to do - they fail to repent and they fail to obey.

Let’s look at 2 final examples of this in our text, could someone read James 2:21-26?

James 2:21–26 CSB

21 Wasn’t Abraham our father justified by works in offering Isaac his son on the altar? 22 You see that faith was active together with his works, and by works, faith was made complete, 23 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. 24 You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone. 25 In the same way, wasn’t Rahab the prostitute also justified by works in receiving the messengers and sending them out by a different route? 26 For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead.

Here James uses 2 people who appear to be polar opposites to demonstrate the types of people that God uses and that Christians come in all sorts of shapes and sizes. As you look at Abraham and Rahab, what initially stands out to you?

Abraham is the Father of the Jewish nation and well known and respected by the Jewish people

He was called the friend of God and much ink is devoted to him and how God used him

Romans 10/11 talks about we, as Gentiles, are grafted into the blessing of Abraham through faith whenever we believe and trust in God

Rahab wasn’t nearly as well known as Abraham but she too had faith in God

She was at bottom of society

She too is in the lineage of Jesus Christ

Even the spiritually poor and bankrupt can serve God and be saved by grace through faith and live a changed life

Abraham demonstrated his faith in God in Genesis 22 as he was willing to sacrifice his son Isaac - we talked about this during our Wednesday night bible study for those of you who were able to take part in that study of God’s covenants. The only person who would be willing to sacrifice his son if God asked him to is the person who has genuine faith and trust in the Lord’s power to provide. This action, trusting in God to provide, demonstrated his faith and the Bible tells us that God credited this to Abraham as righteousness. Verse 24 is a bit confusing and our book does a good job of fleshing this out.

Compare and Contrast what James and Paul say:

James 2:24 CSB

24 You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone.

Ephesians 2:8–9 CSB

8 For you are saved by grace through faith, and this is not from yourselves; it is God’s gift— 9 not from works, so that no one can boast.

Are James and Paul contradicting one another here?

No! Many people fail to see this and they argue yes, in fact many Christians fall into one camp or the other. People like Martin Luther wanted to toss James out of the Bible and many people who identify as Christian today want to disregard everything Paul ever wrote in the Bible. What we need to do is study carefully what they are saying and what they aren’t. First, if we say that the Bible contradicts its message about salvation - everything else that we claim to believe crumbles quickly. We have to hold to the truthfulness and inerrancy of Scripture. Therefore we have to look at this situation carefully.

What’s going on here?

James wrote his letter first - not Paul

William Mounce book, “Why I Trust the Bible” is super helpful!

Paul is emphasizing how one becomes righteous and that is by faith alone - not through works

James is emphasizing how one lives a righteous life - a life that demonstrates they have true faith

James’ audience (Jewish Christians) claim to have faith but their faith isn’t changing their lives - this is why he says that faith without works is dead faith

The NLT translation renders this in a helpful way

James 2:24 NLT

24 So you see, we are shown to be right with God by what we do, not by faith alone.

Hopefully this helps us see that James and Paul aren’t arguing - they agree that we are saved by grace through faith not through our works… and that a faith that doesn’t work is a useless and fruitless faith. Romans 12:1-2 talks about the importance of works, after all!

What about Rahab?

Contrast her and Abraham (if not already)

Jewish | Gentile

Man | Woman

Rich | Poor

Patriarch | Prostitute

Yet, both are saved through faith

Rahab trusted in God’s power even though it meant she could be killed by her own people. She doesn’t offer the Israelite spies good vibes and well wishes… She helps them out. She goes above and beyond!

What about you and me?

Our faith must work!

We must help others see the importance of living a changed life because if you don’t, you demonstrate a potentially counterfeit faith