Living Faith and Works (James 2:14-26)

Introduction

If I was to tell you this morning that I am a Professional athlete, particularly that of a Pro Football Player, would you believe me? I mean, why would that be ridiculous to believe? Well, for one, I am here on a Sunday morning, not on my way to the stadium to get ready for the game. Two, I’m 5’10”, I’m 36 years old, past the age of most professional football players. And to boot, I’m out of shape. I might can tell you that, but it is nothing but empty words.

What if I was to tell you that I am a husband and father of two girls? You believe me right? Why? Because you see me doing the work of being a husband and a father. There is visible and tangible evidence of that.

But what if I told you that I was a very competitive person and I can’t stand to lose. Whether sports or card games? Well you would have to observe and watch and be near in order to see if that was true. Do you see a pattern here? Merely saying we are something doesn’t mean its true. Evidence of that statement must be there. And this is what we are going to talk about this morning as we continue to work our way through the letter of James there in James 2:14-26. You can find the passage in the Pew Bible in front of you on page #1200.

While you are turning there, I want to take a moment to emphasize why we do this. Why we take time now to open up an Ancient Book, read from it, and then spending the next little bit unfolding what we read. It’s not because of tradition that we do this. It’s not because its the norm, in fact it is becoming abnormal for an emphasis to be placed on the Bible, even in many so called churches. No, the reason we open up the Bible and read it and unfold it is because we actually believe this is the very word of the Living God. The God who spoke all things into creation and has given his word to speak to us. We believe this word teaches us who God is and what it means to draw near to him. And so, we give ourselves to this word. A word here in James that has been teaching us what it looks like to not only hear the word, but do the word. Teaching us that love with distinction and partiality is sin, true love shows no partiality. And with all this talk about doing and commands, we come to the showdown of James, what actually saves us? Our works or our faith? Therefore let us hear the word of the LORD from James 2:14-26….

The main idea I think here of James 2:14-26 is this, faith without works is worthless and dead, but living faith is active with works. We are going to unfold this with two points: (1) A Worthless Faith and (2) A Justified Faith.

A Worthless Faith

In this letter, James has unleashed an all out assault against the idea of a nominal Christian faith. That is an assault on the idea of one merely saying they believe without any evidence. Verse 14….

James questions what good is this kind of faith? What does it even profit? A faith of mere words. And yet there are those who would argue, that one could have faith separate from loving one another. This was true in James day and it is true now more than ever.

Think about how often we hear phrases like I love Jesus, but I don’t love his church. This kind of thinking is part of what James is dealing with here in this text. Part of faith is a call to love one another, to carry that out in real and tangible ways. In particular in the local church when we commit ourselves to one another through church membership. For in church membership it isn’t like the membership of a country club where you merely put your name on a role. Church membership is the mutual commitment we make to one another in saying I’m responsible to you and your responsible to me. We are going to labor hard to carry out the one anothers of Scripture together as fellow members of the same body. That doesn’t mean we only help those in the local church, we certainly want to do good to all people. But as Paul in Galatians 6:10 writes, Let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers. That is the local church.

Now, while there are many reasons that various ones struggle with this. For some it is previous church hurt. Others are unsure about the beauty and importance of church membership. I get that friends. Church Membership has become a foreign and an untaught discipline. For you I want to encourage you though to see the importance of this mutual call to faith and love and how that works in more tangible ways when there is the mutual commitment to one another in what we call church membership. And for those who struggle with this, again, I get this and I want to walk with you in love on this topic. Let’s set up a time to talk.

But for others, the reason you fail to join a church and keep an arms length within the church has nothing to do with this struggle or unknown discipline and practice as part of discipleship. You keep an arms distance between you and others simply because you want to claim faith without loving others. And it is this kind of faith that James is arguing is worthless. For faith without the works of love and care for one another is of no gain. For consider here the example that James uses in Verses 15-16….

What good is it to say to this brother or sister in their moment of need go in peace, be warmed and filled without aiding them in that need? The words are hollow, because it lacks the work of love for this brother or sister. It lacks the care for one another that is expected to be shown within the family. For this brother or sister in Christ.

And just as this is no good, so is faith without works. In fact, James here takes this a step further. Verse 17…..

The one who does not have works, particularly the work of love within them has a dead faith. That means a faith that is not genuine, a faith that is not real. In his book James for You, Sam Allberry writes, “Our words sound fine, while our lack of actions shout: I don’t really mean this.”

Faith without actions proves we don’t actually believe what we claim to. But with such a bold statement, objections are certain to come. And James here anticipates a few. The first, Verse 18….

The first anticipated objection is those who will proclaim there are two types of believers. Those who have faith and those who have works. These will argue there different gifting in trying to sound spiritual. I have faith, they were gifted works. But the counter point here is prove that faith. Where James says he will prove his faith by his works. These others have no proof of faith.

There are some who might be tempted to turn to a date that they made a profession of faith or even went through the waters of baptism, and yet this is no proof of a true and living faith. For faith without works is worthless and dead as we have already seen. Therefore a profession or baptism aren’t the proof we need, for they prove to be empty without transformation.

But here comes the next objection. Verse 19….

James anticipates the doctrine lovers! And just for the record, I’m a doctrine guy. I believe doctrine is important and good. To quote a dear friend and brother from his book Sound Doctrine, Bobby Jamieson writes, “Sound doctrine is a summary of the Bible’s teaching that is both faithful to the Bible and useful for life.”

Therefore to rightly summarize the teaching of the Bible is good and important. But doctrine alone doesn’t save! Right doctrine isn’t meaningful or good if it is absent from living out that doctrine, living out the works it teaches, including that of love.

So what if we know this by heart and believe it fully:

Deuteronomy 6:4

“Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one.

Having the right doctrine is important. Especially having the right doctrine about God. For we cannot rightly understand who we are both as sinners or as the redeemed apart from a right view and understanding of who God is. But it does us know good to rightly know right doctrine if that right doctrine does not produce in us the right right love of God and love for others. Verse 19….

We do well to have the right doctrine, but we must observe the demons have the right doctrine. For they believe and shudder at the Triune God.

Matthew 8:28-29

And when he came to the other side, to the country of the Gadarenes, two demon-possessed men met him, coming out of the tombs, so fierce that no one could pass that way. And behold, they cried out, “What have you to do with us, O Son of God? Have you come here to torment us before the time?”

The demons know who Jesus is, they know he will torment them, they shudder at this, yet they do not stop in their rebellion. They do not turn and submit to the King of glory!

Right doctrine that fails to lead us to a right worship of God is worthless. And the faith it produces is dead. Therefore for the doctrine lovers, myself included, let us be warned that the doctrine we love must be transforming us and leading us to a right worship of God which includes a love for others!

Faith and doctrine without works is worthless. And lest the person among us who is tempted to debate this, that we simply must confess with our mouths.

Romans 10:9

Because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.

Do we not read this in what follows that confession by the mouth from

Romans 12:1-2

I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

The call to confess and believe is to be shaped by a life transformed by that confession and belief.  Anything less than this is a dead and worthless faith.

Listen to how J.I. Packer puts this. He says, “Faith cannot be defined in subjective terms, as a confident and optimistic mindset, or in passive terms, as acquiescent orthodoxy or confidence in God without commitment to God. Faith is an object-oriented response, shaped by that which is trusted, namely God himself, God’s promises, and Jesus Christ, all as set forth in the Scriptures. And faith is a whole-souled response, involving mind, heart, will, and affection.”

Therefore let us not just believe passively, but be transformed by our faith in a whole response. This is where we turn now with our second point.

A Justified Faith

As James continues to labor the same point that a nominal faith by words only, he turns our hearts towards what it means to have our faith justified. That is to have it verified and proven. And in doing his, he points us back to that of both Abraham and Rahab.Both of which find themselves in the Hall of Faith as it is often called in Hebrews 11.

First, our eyes and hearts are pointed to Abraham, the father of faith. Verses 20-21….

Abraham and his faith journey are found in the book of Genesis, beginning in Genesis 12 where God first makes promises to Abraham. Abraham believes God in this moment. Though Abraham struggles in that belief, he continues to follow the LORD. But Abraham’s belief is put to the test in Genesis 22. To test whether Abraham will believe and follow God or turn away in disbelief. His faith works though when he obeys God and offers his son Isaac on the altar. He believes God in his actions, proving his faith. Therefore in this, Abraham our father in the faith is justified by his works. His faith is active and living, not worthless and dead. Verses 22-24….

Abraham had believed God, and this was counted as righteousness is what we find in Genesis 15:6. But his faith is justified, it is given proof in his acting on his belief. John Calvin puts it this way, he writes, “It is said to have been perfected by works, not because it received these its own perfection, but because it was thus proved to be true.”

Faith when true and genuine, when alive and real will always be proven by its works. Returning to the example James used in verse 15, faith is proven to be false when food and clothing is not given to the needy. But when faith is put to work and not only wishes well, but does well to the one in need by providing food and clothing, this faith is justified. This faith is proven to be genuine and real.

But Abraham is not the only example we are given of this. We are given that of Rahab as well. Verse 25….

The story of Rahab is found in Joshua 2. You can turn there with me or you can listen in as I read.

Joshua 2:1-14

And Joshua the son of Nun sent two men secretly from Shittim as spies, saying, "Go, view the land, especially Jericho." And they went and came into the house of a prostitute whose name was Rahab and lodged there. And it was told to the king of Jericho, "Behold, men of Israel have come here tonight to search out the land.” Then the king of Jericho sent to Rahab, saying, "Bring out the men who have come to you, who entered your house, for they have come to search out all the land.” But the woman had taken the two men and hidden them. And she said, "True, the men came to me, but I did not know where they were from. And when the gate was about to be closed at dark, the men went out. I do not know where the men went. Pursue them quickly, for you will overtake them.” But she had brought them up to the roof and hid them with the stalks of flax that she had laid in order on the roof. So the men pursued after them on the way to the Jordan as far as the fords. And the gate was shut as soon as the pursuers had gone out. Before the men lay down, she came up to them on the roof and said to the men, "I know that the LORD has given you the land, and that the fear of you has fallen upon us, and that all the inhabitants of the land melt away before you. For we have heard how the LORD dried up the water of the Red Sea before you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to the two kings of the Amorites who were beyond the Jordan, to Sihon and Og, whom you devoted to destruction. And as soon as we heard it, our hearts melted, and there was no spirit left in any man because of you, for the LORD your God, he is God in the heavens above and on the earth beneath. Now then, please swear to me by the LORD that, as I have dealt kindly with you, you also will deal kindly with my father's house, and give me a sure sign that you will save alive my father and mother, my brothers and sisters, and all who belong to them, and deliver our lives from death.” And the men said to her, "Our life for yours even to death! If you do not tell this business of ours, then when the LORD gives us the land we will deal kindly and faithfully with you.”

The whole of Jericho trembled with fear, but Rahab didn’t just tremble at knowing the Lord was with Israel. She believed and she acted on that belief. She acted by helping the spies by hiding them. Her faith was active with her works, with her actions.Therefore her faith was justified, it was proven in her works.

Brothers and sisters, what about us? Is our faith justified by our works? Do our works show that we truly love God and others ? Is our faith at work in counting trials as joy? Is our faith at work in remaining steadfast under trial? Is our faith at work in fighting temptation? Is our faith at work in practicing acts of mercy towards those who harm us and wrong us?

Beloved, these are to be the outworking of our faith and proof of our faith. They are not what save us, but evidence of our salvation. These are the good works that the Father prepared beforehand for us to walk in by his grace!

And though we will stumble in each of these various workings of our faith, this pattern of god works is to be the norm in our lives. And they are the evidence of our faith when we are tempted to doubt our salvation. Let us see these outworking and be encouraged.

But maybe you are here this morning and as we have gone through this call to have a living faith, a faith that is gain and works, maybe you have realized your supposed faith is worthless and dead. Or maybe you have never even considered the necessity of faith. Friend, if this is you. I want to call you to not simply claim belief in Jesus. I want to invite you to come and collapse in his arms and find rest for your weary soul. I want to invite you to see that Jesus came and lived and died so that you could have eternal life in him. He didn’t come with empty words. He came and gave himself to the point of shedding his own blood on a cross so that you could live. Will you friend, come and trust and follow Jesus today! I’d love to talk with you more about this after the remainder of our service this morning. I’ll be in the back. Make today the day that you have a living faith in Jesus!

Verse 26…..

But faith with works is a true faith, a faith that believes God and acts accordingly. Let’s pray….