Walking Through James (6)
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Putting our faith into action...
Putting our faith into action...
Tonight, I want to take a look at something that can be a struggle for many people. It’s the struggle of “faith and works” or “faith and actions.” We’ll take a look at this conundrum, and then we’ll look at two examples from the Bible.
Let’s read James 2:14-20
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?
Suppose you see a brother or sister who has no food or clothing,
and you say, “Good-bye and have a good day; stay warm and eat well”—but then you don’t give that person any food or clothing. What good does that do?
So you see, faith by itself isn’t enough. Unless it produces good deeds, it is dead and useless.
Now someone may argue, “Some people have faith; others have good deeds.” But I say, “How can you show me your faith if you don’t have good deeds? I will show you my faith by my good deeds.”
You say you have faith, for you believe that there is one God. Good for you! Even the demons believe this, and they tremble in terror.
How foolish! Can’t you see that faith without good deeds is useless?
Martin Luther struggled with the book of James. To him, it had no substance. He called it an epistle of straw.
This passage was one that he really struggled with. He believed and rightfully so that we are saved by faith alone.
For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God,
not of works, lest anyone should boast.
We have no reason to boast.
Martin Luther was born in 1483, and became a priest in 1507. As a young man, he struggled attempting to please God. In fact as part of his penance, he would climb upstairs on his knees. Until one day he read,
For in the gospel the righteousness of God is revealed—a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: “The righteous will live by faith.”
Often our belief system, or our faith, is shaped by our experiences. Luther had grown up trying to please God by what he did. His faith, was based on works, so when he realized that we are saved by faith, the pendulum swung from works to faith.
On the other hand, James argued that we need to show our faith by our works.
James asked the question,
What good is it?
What good is it?
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?
These are questions that should make us pause and think. Can we say we believe and yet have no evidence of it in our lives?
Is there such a thing as a Sunday Christian?
Here’s an example of a Sunday Christian:
We go to church, we sing, we pray, and we hear the word of God, but it really doesn’t have any affect on our lives the rest of the week. Then it’s Sunday again...
Have you heard the story called “Pulling both oars?” I want to tell you about it.
Encyclopedia of 7700 Illustrations (1492 Pulling on Both Oars)
An old Scotsman operated a little rowboat for transporting passengers. One day a passenger noticed that the good old man had carved on one oar the word “Faith,” and on the other oar the word “Works.” Curiosity led him to ask the meaning of this.
The old man, being a well-balanced Christian and glad of the opportunity for testimony, said, “I will show you.”So saying, he dropped one oar and pulled on the other called Works, and they just went around in circles. Then he dropped that oar and began to pull on the oar called Faith, and the little boat just went around in circles again—this time the other way around, but still in a circle.
After this demonstration the old man picked up Faith and Works and pulling both oars together, sped swiftly over the water, explaining to his inquiring passenger, “You see, that is the way it is in the Christian life. Dead works without faith are useless, and “faith without works is dead” also, getting you nowhere. But faith and works pulling together make for safety, progress, and blessing.”—Bible Friend
James uses an example that we can all understand: Food and clothing.
Usually, somebody in need doesn’t come at the best time, they come when they are in need. You might be sitting in for supper, or maybe it’s your day off and somebody needs help.
What are you going to do?
To do nothing doesn’t help the person in need, to wish them the best and hope that somebody else helps them instead doesn’t work either. What good does it do to tell somebody that you’re thinking about them while they are stranded on the side of the road or they have no money to fill their empty stomach?
Over the last several weeks as we have gone through the series, “Not a fan,” we have been brought to the place of much thought and decision as to what it means to be a follower of Christ.
“A statement was made in a discussion between Eric and his father, Bill. “Those people that you work with are where they are for a reason. You work hard. You live a good life and you get ahead...”
Does this mean that we don’t show the love of Christ when somebody falls on hard times? Do we send somebody away if we have any ability to help?
It’s not always money, sometimes it’s our time or some food out of our cupboard. What is God calling us to do?
James says,
In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.
He also said in
You say you have faith, for you believe that there is one God. Good for you! Even the demons believe this, and they tremble in terror.
Let’s put our faith into action.
As we look further into our Scripture, James uses two people that we might know about from the Old Testament: Abraham and Rahab.
Don’t you remember that our ancestor Abraham was shown to be right with God by his actions when he offered his son Isaac on the altar?
You see, his faith and his actions worked together. His actions made his faith complete.
And so it happened just as the Scriptures say: “Abraham believed God, and God counted him as righteous because of his faith.” He was even called the friend of God.
So you see, we are shown to be right with God by what we do, not by faith alone.
Abraham was 100 years old when his son Isaac was born. God had promised that all the families of the earth would be blessed through him.
Years later, God asked Abraham to sacrifice Isaac. You can read about this in Genesis 22. So Abraham took Isaac up Mount Moriah. He made an altar, then put wood on the stone altar, and tied Isaac up,probably with ropes or cords, Then Abraham placed him on the altar. Can you feel the anguish that Abraham must have felt?
As he raised his knife and was ready to strike his son, his pride and joy, the angel of the Lord spoke.
Genesis 22:11–12 (NIV)
...“Abraham! Abraham!” “Here I am,” he replied.
“Do not lay a hand on the boy,” he said. “Do not do anything to him. Now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son.”
God provided a ram for the sacrifice, and God provided Jesus as our sacrifice.
It could have been so easy for Abraham to turn away from God, but he believed even though he didn’t know God’s plan, and it was counted to him as righteousness.
What about Rahab?
What about Rahab?
Rahab the prostitute is another example. She was shown to be right with God by her actions when she hid those messengers and sent them safely away by a different road.
A prostitute doesn’t seem like a very good example, but God used Rahab to save the spies who had come to the city of Jericho.
Since God was about to give the Land of Canaan to the children of Israel, before they went in, Joshua sent in two spies.
I find it interesting that Joshua only sent in two. Forty years earlier, Moses had sent in twelve, but only Joshua and Caleb brought back good reports.
The people of Jericho had heard what God had done to bring Israel out of Egypt, so they were afraid.
Somehow, word had gotten out that there were two Israelite spies in Jericho. The officials locked the city up so that nobody could come in or leave.
Upon hearing this news, Rahab could have betrayed the spies and turned them in, instead she hid them under bundles of flax, and sent them out of the city, on a scarlet rope that she hung from her window.
Because of her faith, God protected her. Because she believed, she was obedient to God.
When the city was finally destroyed, after Israel marched around it for seven day, Rahab and her family were spared.
Here’s something you might find interesting. In Jesus’ lineage, Rahab is mentioned.
Salmon was the father of Boaz (whose mother was Rahab). Boaz was the father of Obed (whose mother was Ruth). Obed was the father of Jesse.
The devil wants us to think that God could never use us. He wants us to think that we’ve done too many things wrong. Consequently, we haven’t measured up, and can never measure up.
Rahab’s story, is an amazing story of what God can do in our lives, as we trust in Him.
For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
We are saved by faith. Since we are saved. we do good works .that God prepared in advance for us to do.
James closes this section with the reality of life itself.
Just as the body is dead without breath, so also faith is dead without good works.
Let’s not just stand on the sidelines and claim that we believe in God, let’s choose to follow Christ.
Then he said to them all: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me.
Let’s pray!