Faith & Works

I hope that you have been engaged in reading the book of James. My hope is that you read this book as I am teaching from it. I believe that you will get a better understanding of what James is trying to teach us.

This is our third week in this series. Today we move to chapter 2.

If you have ever attended church at all in your lifetime you will have heard two words go together quite often: faith and works. If you were with us last week, the two words we used, listening and doing, have been taught together as well.

To be living God’s best we must learn to be people of action who not only hear the word, but respond in righteousness to the word. James elaborates on this idea further in chapter 2 by comparing the relationship between faith and works. And this comparison, rightly so, has drawn the attention of pastors and theologians for decades.

Dietrich Bonheoffer said, “Faith without works is not faith at all, but a simple lack of obedience to God.”

Charles Spurgeon said, “Faith and works are bound up in the same bundle. He that obeys God trusts God; and he that trusts God obeys God. He that is without faith is without works; and he that is without works is without faith.”

C.S. Lewis said, “Regarding the debate about faith and works; it’s like asking which blade in a pair of scissors is most important.”

If you have your bibles with you or you can look up on the screen, go with me to the book of James, chapter 2.

James 2:14–26 NIV

14 What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them? 15 Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. 16 If one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it? 17 In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead. 18 But someone will say, “You have faith; I have deeds.” Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by my deeds. 19 You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder. 20 You foolish person, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless? 21 Was not our father Abraham considered righteous for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? 22 You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did. 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 considered righteous by what they do and not by faith alone. 25 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? 26 As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.

Here is a question for you to ponder on today.

What good is all the faith in the world if it doesn’t move you to action?

Think about this statement for a moment. Write it down in the margin of your bible if you have to.

How much faith do you have?

Do you believe that God can move mountains?

Do you believe that God can heal those that are sick?

Do you believe that God can provide for your family financially?

These are all questions that should be asked and you should ask yourself. Do you believe?

However, the same is true of my first question. What good is all the faith in the world if it doesn’t move you to action?

Now here’s another question.

Can a person with inactive faith be saved?

That is the question that James asks in the first verse of our text.

Look at verse 14 again. This is what the New Living Translation says.

James 2:14 NLT

14 What good is it, dear brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but don’t show it by your actions? Can that kind of faith save anyone?

Listen to me closely. True saving faith is always a living and active faith that does not stop with the confession of Christ as Savior, but also shows obedience to him as Lord by submitting to His leadership and authority.

When you become a follower of Jesus, obedience is a necessary and core part of faith.

Only those who obey can truly believe, and only those who truly believe can obey.

If you read Paul’s letters, Romans, Galatians, Ephesians and so on, notice that there is no contradiction between Paul and James on the matter of saving faith. Normally, Paul emphasizes faith as the means by which we accept Christ as Savior.

Romans 3:22 NIV

22 This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference between Jew and Gentile,

James calls attention to the fact that true faith must be practical, active and enduring. Hear me! James is not saying that a person is saved by works; only faith in Christ saves. However, true faith will produce good works.

The great theologian of the protestant reformation said...

Martin Luther, “A person is justified (made right with God) by faith alone, but not by a faith that is alone.”

So, it is not your works that save you, but once you are saved, the works you do for the father who is in heaven will follow.

Think about this...

Do you believe that we have the best gospel message in the world? Then act like it.

Part of the reason that we find ways to reach out to those in our community is to put our faith in action.

Part of the reason that we send missionaries around the world is to put our faith in action.

Part of the reason that we teach you is so that you can put your faith in action.

If we don’t put action with our faith then our faith is useless. What’s the point?

Galatians 5:6 NIV

6 For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value. The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love.

Here is an example of what James is talking about.

In a farming community, it hadn’t rained in a long time, and things were getting desperate. The minister decided they were going to call a prayer meeting. They said, “Look, we want the whole town to come to the prayer meeting and bring their religious symbols.” So the whole town showed up for the prayer meeting and people brought crosses, they brought their bibles, the Catholics brought their rosaries, and they all cried out to God. They finished the prayer meeting. No rain was in sight. They all went home.

The next day though, in the town square where they had had the meeting, there was a little boy. He prayed, “Oh God, we need rain. God, show Your power, and give us rain.” The day before, with all the preachers and all the religious symbols calling on God, no rain. The little boy shows up the next day by himself in the town square, and as he was praying, the sky got darker. As he was praying, rumbling occurred. As he was praying, the shower hit, and it was pouring down rain.

What was it about this little boy? He said the same things that all the people said the day before. The day before they had all the preachers, they had all the ministers, they even brought their religious symbols. But the day the young boy came, when the clouds got dark, he lifted up the symbol that he brought: an umbrella. The difference was this little boy expected it to rain.

When you anticipate rain, you take an umbrella. When a man tells you it’s going to rain, when a meteorologist says it’s going to storm today, most people will get their umbrellas because they believe his word. Meteorologists are wrong half the time and we still take them at their word. Why is it, when it comes to God, who is never wrong, we hesitate to believe and act on His Word?

Just like James said, “faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.”

James brings up another example from the Old Testament. It is the story of Abraham and his son Isaac.

Abraham loved God. He is considered a man of faith. Abraham place his decisions in what God told him. Sure he made mistakes but Abraham was a great man of faith. One day God told Abraham to take his only son and go and sacrifice him. This is what that story might have looked like.

Video - The Bible Preview - Sacrifice of Isaac Extended

Now that is faith. Abraham heard from the voice of God and he was willing to make the sacrifice.

Abraham’s faith inspired his works, and by his works his faith was made perfect. True faith and works are inseparable. The first produces the second, and the second evidences the first.

People have a hard time believing. The only way that you can show someone your faith is through your works. That is why these two words go hand in hand.

The second illustration that James gives us here is of Rahab. Now, she certainly was not saved by good character, she was a prostitute. But she was justified by works because she received the messengers and sent them out another way. Rahab was a Canaanite, living in the city of Jericho. She heard reports that a victorious army was advancing toward the city, and that no opposition had been successful against this army. She concluded that the God of the Hebrews was the true God, and decided to identify herself with this God, whatever the cost might be. When the spies entered the city, she befriended them. In doing so, she proved the genuineness of her faith in the true and living God. She was not saved by harboring the spies but this act of hospitality proved that she was a genuine believer.

Do you understand that faith and works go hand in hand?

We have faith. We believe that Jesus died on the cross. We believe that Jesus rose from the dead. And it is because of that faith that we want to go and do good works. We want to tell people about the good news of Jesus. We want them to have the same faith we do.

I love how James summarizes this chapter in verse 26. He says...

James 2:26 NIV

26 As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.

James gives us one more example of faith and works going hand in hand. Think about your body. Without your spirit your body is lifeless. It is useless. It has no value. So faith without works is dead. It is ineffective. It has no worth.

So, to summarize, James tests our faith by our answers. He is wanting you to answer these questions for yourself. Ask yourself these questions this week.

Am I willing, like Abraham, to offer the dearest thing in my life to God? Am I willing, like Rahab, to turn traitor to the world in order to be loyal to Christ?

For Abraham it was his only son. What is it for you? And are you willing to give it up for God?

These are some tough questions to answer.

If you would think about the culture that James lived in I believe that you would agree that we live in an admittedly “easy” culture compared to the one that James was writing from. And it’s no secret that there are other believers all around the world facing very real life-or-death persecution because of their faith. Their experience of faith is markedly different than yours or mine is.

So, as you leave today, let me encourage you to step out of your comfort zone. Ask yourself these questions. Find ways to stretch your faith. Find ways to have your faith increased. Allow yourself to enter into situations that will stretch you and grow you as a believer. Pray that God would give you the courage to step out in faith.

God wants to use you to do some amazing things. This week let God challenge you in everything that you do to step out in faith in Him.