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James 2:14-19 14 What does it profit, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but does not have works?
Can faith save him?
15 If a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food, 16 and one of you says to them, “Depart in peace, be warmed and filled,” but you do not give them the things which are needed for the body, what does it profit?
17 Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.
18 But someone will say, “You have faith, and I have works.”
Show me your faith without [f]your works, and I will show you my faith by [g]my works.
19 You believe that there is one God.
You do well.
Even the demons believe—and tremble!
Today we are going to continue with our verse by
verse Bible study series through the book of James.
And as you can see up on our video screens, the focus of our Bible
verses today in James Chapter 2 is:
SLIDE
FAITH THAT WORKS
And James is going to have some interesting things to teach us about
the CONNECTION BETWEEN faith and works in the lives as Christians.
Story - FAITH AND WORKS
There was once a Scotsman who rowed people across a river.
On one oar he had carved the word 'faith' and on the other oar he had carved the word 'works'.
One day as he was rowing, one of the passengers noticed the carvings and asked him about them.
The Scotsman did not reply but pulled in the oar marked 'works' and started to row with only one oar.
The boat went round in circles.
He then pulled in the oar marked 'faith' and started to row only with the 'works' oar.
The boat again went round in circles, but this time in the opposite direction.
He then rowed with both oars and reached the other bank safely.
Before his passenger got off the boat he said, 'A Christian must row his life using both oars, faith and works.
Only then will he reach heaven's shore.'
True faith influences the heart and life, so that we obey God and serve...
Well our Bible text today is going to focus on the connection between….FAITH and WORKS.
And we are going to see that it is possible to BELIEVE IN JESUS, and yet not be a Christian and not go to heaven.
The Bible actually teaches us that there are TWO KINDS OF FAITH, there is a DEAD FAITH, and also a TRUE LIVING FAITH.
And God’s word is going to teach us that
SLIDE
GOOD WORKS will always be an outward sign of a true inward Christian faith!
And if you are taking notes this morning, in our Bible text we are going to see
SLIDE
5 Qualities of a true Christian Faith
These are five qualities that we need to make sure are evident in our lives as Believers today that have a TRUE CHRISTIAN FAITH.
So let’s get started and please open up your Bibles with us to the book
of James Chapter 2.
And we will begin where we left off last Saturday, by reading verse 14.
SLIDE
James 2:14 What does it profit, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but does not have works?
Can faith save him?
faith save him?
As we get started here, keep in mind that the author of this epistle, Jesus’ brother James is writing this letter to teach Christians how to live.
So all of the instructions in the book of James, are designed to help us walk victoriously through the problems, challenges and pains of real life.
Now James begins this section of his letter by mentioning the two main themes of our Bible text today.
Let’s read verse 14 again… What does it profit, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but does not have works?
Can faith save him?
I want to define our TWO MAIN TERMS that are both found in this section here, faith and works.
By “faith” the Bible is talking about WHAT WE BELIEVE spiritually.
And by “works” (which also could be translated deeds or actions) we are talking about THE THINGS WE DO.
And what James is going to show us today is that there IS ALWAYS A CONNECTION between what we truly believe and what we do.
This verse is important because verse 14 might be the most misunderstood verse in the entire New Testament!
Is James saying that we are saved not only by our faith, but we also need to have works or good deeds too?
What do you think, are we saved by faith or by our works, or by some combination of the two?
The reason that this verse is controversial is because some people have tried to teach that James is saying that we are saved by both faith and works.
So what does the Bible teach us about our salvation as Christians?
The greatest reformation in the history of the church answered that important question for us! (SLIDE)
And that happened through… The great Theologian Martin Luther (1483-1586) and the other Christian reformers.
At that time, Martin Luther and every other believer in Jesus grew up in Europe under the only religion available at that time, Roman Catholicism.
Now there were two major problems with that.
#1- The people weren’t allowed to have their own bibles, and the Catholics outlawed the translating of the Bible into the languages of the common man.
But a 2nd and more important problem was that the Catholic Church was teaching that people were saved by a combination of Faith and works!
They taught that people could be saved by faith and being part of the church, or by faith and giving alms or by faith and completing the sacraments.
But Martin Luther who was a Catholic priest at that time, found his answers about salvation in the Bible.
And when he read this famous passage that is up on the screens…
SLIDE
“The just shall live by faith” - (Romans 1:17 and Habakkuk 2:4)
he was convinced that the Bible teaches us that we are saved by faith.
And we know that the Bible teaches us that Martin Luther was right, we are saved only by faith in Jesus.
Listen to how the Apostle Paul describes our salvation for us over in…
SLIDE
Ephesians 2:8-9 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, 9 not of works, lest anyone should boast.
yourselves, it is the gift of God 9 not by works, so that no one can boast.”
Now because Martin Luther had to fight so hard for this truth, and so many Christians died in this religious struggle, Martin Luther didn’t even like the book of James.
Martin Luther believed that here in verse 14, James contradicted the rest of the Biblical message that we are saved by faith in Christ alone.
But James isn’t talking about SAVING FAITH here, what James is teaching us about is HOW WE SHOULD LIVE as true believers.
With faith in Jesus Christ as our Savior and our King, and with good works that flow out from that inner faith.
So James introduces this topic here in verse 14 by asking us two rhetorical questions…
James asks us … What does it profit, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but does not have works?
Can faith save him?
And the obvious answers to James questions is NO, and in the rest of our Bible verses, James is going to show us that TRUE FAITH WORKS!
So let’s continue on by reading verses 15 to 17 together.
(SLIDE)
15-17- Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food.16
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?
17 In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.
In order to prove this Biblical truth, James brings up a hypothetical situation here that could happen at any church
And I want you to try and put yourself in this story and think about how you would respond to this situation if it happened to you.
TELL STORY POOR MAN AT CHURCH
So in this story, you as a Christian see a poor and hurting believer at church after the service.
You can tell that this believer is wearing dirty clothes that they probably slept in, and it is obvious that they are hungry and without money!
Here is your question… How would you respond to them?
What you would you do about it?
Would you buy them a meal after church or offer them a snack, Would you try and ignore them, and just continue to talk with the people that you already know?
Or maybe worst of all, would you do what James says here in verse
STOP TELLING STORY POOR MAN AT CHURCH
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