Faithful Living

Introduction

My grandfather was a preacher. He helped plant about 8 different churches throughout his ministry. One such church was in Delaware. He developed a good friendship with a local preacher named Ray Bennett. My grandfather loved sports and even played on the church softball team. He wasn’t a super fit guy, but he could play with the rest of them.

Papaw and Ray started running together in the mornings. You gotta keep in shape, right? They kept in shape, but I don’t know if it was the shape they wanted. You see, Papaw and Ray ran the same route everyday to the same destination, the donut shop. They ran, grabbed a donut, and ran back. They were active, but it probably didn’t do as much good as they had hoped.

We want our faith to be active and of great benefit to us and others. An active and alive faith changes our view of God and helps our interactions with people. The trouble is that very few agree as to what true faith is.

What is faith? Depends on who you ask. Atheist Tim Minchin said, “Science adjusts its views based on what’s observed. Faith is the denial of observation so that belief can be preserved.” Many believers have said “Faith is believing what you can’t see.” Do these encompass the whole picture of Biblical faith? No. We believe in God because of evidence and observations, not blindly. And faith is more than merely a mental acknowledgement of God.

Let’s ask the better question, “What does the Bible say about faith?” How can our faith be active and alive? (Read James 2:14)

I. Alive Faith (vv. 14-17)

A. Faith must be accompanied by works (v. 14)

1. Faith and works are like a hand in glove, they compliment each other and must be together for faith to be active and alive

2. James asks the question, “Can faith alone save you? If there are no works, just belief, will that faith save you?”

a. That’s the question everyone is asking. James immediately answers the question with “No!” (vv. 15-17)

1. Does it do any good to tell your starving and freezing family “I hope things improve for you. Eat up and stay warm” but you do nothing to help them? NO

2. Words by themselves don’t mean much in showing love. James even says, “What use is that?” Answer: it isn’t useful

b. In the same way, faith by itself, with no works, is dead

B. A saving faith is a working faith

1. Faith being dead means it does not save us. We want our faith to be alive and active because God justifies (declares righteous) the person with an alive faith. That means, the person whose works compliment their belief

a. There are really 3 parts that make up Biblical faith: belief, trust, and obedience

b. You believe in God and His words, you trust in His power and promise, and obey Him as a result

2. Just think about several heroes of the faith (from Hebrews 11) and see that their belief resulted in works/obedience:

a. Abel believed in God and offered a better sacrifice than Cain (Hebrews 11:4). His actions resulted from his belief

b. Noah believed God when He said He would send a flood and he built the ark as a result, so, God saved him (Genesis 6-9)

c. Joseph believed in God’s plan and trusted that God was good so he worked hard and with integrity. So, God used him to save Egypt and the surrounding world from famine

d. Moses believed there were greater riches in God than in Egypt so he refused to identify with sinners and obeyed God’s call to lead Israel out

e. Joshua believed God would give Israel victory over Jericho so he followed a plan that makes no sense, walking around a wall for 7 days, and God gave them victory

3. Are you starting to get the picture? Those who claim to have faith must live it out, walking by the Spirit to do good on behalf of God

a. Jesus said, Matthew 7:21 ““Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.”

b. Words alone are not enough, action must follow. 1 John 3:17–18 “But if anyone has the world’s goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God’s love abide in him? Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth.”

4. Don’t misunderstand. We are NOT saved by works, we are saved by grace through faith

a. Your faith is alive to God when you demonstrate you believe/trust in Him

b. Complete your belief by doing what He says

1. Remember Naaman the Leper in 2 Kings 5? He sought out Elisha to be healed of his leprosy. Elisha told him to go dip himself in the Jordan 7 times and he would be healed. He was belligerent at first and wouldn’t do it, but one of his servants convinced him to go. After he dipped 7 times he was healed. What good would it have done him to hear the words of the prophet and not do what he said?

2. Show your faith alive to God by believing in Him, trusting His power and promise, and demonstrating that belief by doing what He says

II. Dead Faith (vv. 18-26)

A. Let’s take a step back for a moment and consider a common approach to the Christian faith, “easy-believism”

1. Essentially, many people think that they merely need to believe in God (mentally acknowledge Him) and God will take care of the rest

a. What’s the problem with that? The demons have easy-believism and they shudder as a result (vv.18-20)

1. They believe that God is One. Demons are fallen angels, they have served the Living God before rebelling against Him. They know the reality of God and believe He exists.

2. But that’s as far as their belief goes. They didn’t serve God or demonstrate their belief, rather, they rebelled. So, the demons shudder at the Name and reality of God

b. James issues a challenge: “Show me your faith without works and I will show you my faith by what I do”

2. No one can show (or demonstrate) their faith without deeds. Belief alone is useless. James calls the man who only believes and thinks he’s fine is foolish, deceiving himself

B. Just take Abraham for example. He was justified by works and not by faith alone (vv. 21-24)

1. Martin Luther called the book of James “an epistle of straw”, saying it was worthless because he could not reconcile Paul’s statement about Abraham’s faith in Romans 4 and James’ statement in our passage. As a result, many pose the question, “Which is it? Belief or obedience?” The answer is “yes”.

a. Romans 4:1–4 “What then shall we say was gained by Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh? For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness.” Now to the one who works, his wages are not counted as a gift but as his due.”

b. The contexts are completely different

1. Paul is discussing one extreme: people (particularly the Jews) who are trying to earn their salvation by law-keeping. He says no, it isn’t by doing enough works, rather, God justifies us by faith

2. James is arguing from the other extreme: people who say we can’t have any works at all

3. An active and alive faith has the right order: belief in God, trust in His power/promise which results in works/obedience

2. Most every Christian agrees that faith is belief and trust

a. We believe in who God is and trust in His power and promise to save and provide. How can you tell someone believes and trusts in God? They demonstrate their belief through their works/obedience.

b. Demons believe in God but that belief did not prompt obedience only rebellion. So, they shudder at the Name of Christ. Abraham, on the other hand, believed God’s promise in having offspring through Sarah and trusted in His power to raise the dead. So, Abraham obeyed God, demonstrating by his works that God was His center for life.

3. Rahab is another example (v. 25-26)

a. She heard of God’s power through the Red Sea and when Israel defeated the Amorite kings, Sihon and Og. She believed in God and that resulted in her sheltering the spies, saving their lives

b. As a result of her demonstration of faith God grafted her into the nation of Israel and used her descendant to save mankind from sins, Jesus

4. Therefore, just as the body is dead without the spirit (no longer in use) so is faith without works (no longer in use)

Conclusion/Application: Activate Your Faith

A. Do you really believe in God? Prove it. Live your life for Him. Just think about the practical things James has talked about in the first 2 chapters alone and how they work:

1. You’re suffering a trial. Why endure it? Why pray about it? You believe God has a plan and that He will help you, you trust in His power to give you wisdom, that results in you praying for His help

2. When you’re struggling with temptation you remember who God is, the Father of Light who does not tempt anyone. You believe in His Purity and trust in His salvation which results in you being quick to hear His Word (spending ample time in it) and responding appropriately: cutting out sin and doing good as God is good

3. When you’re tempted to form a clique and shun some people you don’t like then you remember that Christ did not show favoritism but loved you enough to die for you. As a result, you love your neighbor as yourself, because mercy triumphs over judgment

B. We grow in our faith. We don’t want to do anything that would hinder that growth (like running to a donut shop)

1.Instead, we have our actions match our beliefs and words

2. Believe in who God is, trust in His power and promises, and do what He says. That active and alive faith is pleasing to God and He will justify