Faith and Works

Announcements

Young adult bonfire this Friday the 13th at 6:00 PM

Trunk or treat coming up on the 26th

And I want to encourage anyone and everyone in this group if you're not already serving in some capacity in the church I would really encourage you to look into how you can be serving

Introduction:

Over the past couple weeks I have mentioned the illustration that the devil will offer us counterfeit

God will give us something good and the devil will try to offer us a counterfeit that leads to death

God offers us love and the devil will offer us lust

But tonight there's a different and even more dangerous counterfeit genuine faith and counterfeit faith

We're going to go through what the difference is and James hits it extremely hard

So tonight each and everyone of us should consider our faith and ask ourselves if our faith is genuine or if our faith is counterfeit \

But before we get into anything how would you define what faith is ?

What is the faith in that James is referring to in this chapter?

Tonight what James is referring to is our faith in Jesus that he came 2000 years ago died on the cross for our sins was buried rose again three days later and is at the right hand of the father

We are talking about having faith in Jesus for our salvation keep that in your mind as we go forward

I'm going to go ahead and read our passage and I would like to have someone pray when we finish

James 2:14–26 ESV

14 What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? 15 If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, 16 and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that? 17 So 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 apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works. 19 You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder! 20 Do you want to be shown, you foolish person, that faith apart from works is useless? 21 Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered up his son Isaac on the altar? 22 You see that faith was active along with his works, and faith was completed by his works; 23 and the Scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness”—and he was called a friend of God. 24 You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone. 25 And in the same way was not also Rahab the prostitute justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out by another way? 26 For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so also faith apart from works is dead.

Pray:

James 2:14–26 (ESV)

14 What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him?

In this quote we see James stating the thesis for why he is writing

When we read if someone says he has faith we should read that in a quotations of somebody who says yes I'm a Christian i'm a Christian but when you look at their life you see nothing reflective of that

In our culture today so many people will say yeah I'm a Christian I grew up in the church

Well when were you saved oh I was born saved

I have been a Christian my entire life

These statements don't mean anything if there isn't a genuine fruit coming out of that persons life

It's like me walking around this room and saying I have faith that every single one of these chariots will hold up my weight and I refuse to sit down I refuse to take action

And when Paul says “can that faith save Him” In the Greek this question is phrased as a rhetorical question that requires a negative answer

So Paul sets forth this precedent of you say you have faith but what does faith mean to you

Is faith a buzzword you say so that you can appease your neighbors and look good

Is faith once a year showing up to church or wearing a cross necklace or having a cross tattoo

So over the next several verses James describes what genuine faith is and in it

And Pastor Charles Swindell broke it up into four sections

1. Genuine faith is not indifferent, but involved

15 If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food,

16 and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that?

Some important things to point out in this passage james isn't talking about the needy or the poor of the world

Of course we should be hospitable to the needy and poor of the world but James is saying your brother and sister who sits next to you every Sunday

you find out they've had financial need To the point where they don't have the basic necessities of life and your response is be warm and be filled knowing that they don't have it

Again James is saying that this type of faith that you're describing to me is not real

And a question for you and I is when we see a brother or sister in need what is our first response ?

Imagine that you are in the hospital and you have no way to pay your medical bills and your pastor sends you a card or a text saying that all things workout to the good of those who love God

The gesture is empty because the need isn't me

1 John 3:17 ESV

17 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?

Again we're looking at is this a genuine faith or is this a counterfeit faith

The way one pastor put it is “if you were to say you believed like you should why do you behave like you shouldn't”

2. Genuine faith is not independent but in partnership

17 So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.

Again James repeats himself saying that this so-called quote Unquote Faith if it doesn't have works is dead

Again the faith that says I don't need to care for my brother I have faith I don't need to serve or love people I have faith that type of faith quote unquote is useless

It is as good as dead it is the opposite of living it is counterfeit

Genuine faith loves your neighbor as yourself

Genuine faith treats others as well as you treat yourself

Genuine faith when it sees a need meets a need

Moving to verse 18 point number three

3. Genuine faith is not invisible, but on display

18 But someone will say, “You have faith and I have works.” Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works.

james makes a pointed statement “show me your faith apart from your works”

If James was in person I could imagine him standing there and waiting for like 5 minutes

To demonstrate our faith without using or referencing works it's impossible

And a reminder we're not talking about salvation we're talking about true faith and what Jesus did on the cross

Faith isn't meant to be hidden

A popular thing in the 21st century is to have a private faith or a quiet faith

Oftentimes a person who claims to have a quiet faith looks at someone who has a real genuine vibrant faith and calls them in Jesus freak calls them a fanatic because they look different from the world

If we find ourselves living a faith that looks the same as everybody else in the world and we don't stand out and we don't look like a fanatic then we are probably on the wrong side of this

Matthew 5:14–15 ESV

14 “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house.

Faith is meant to stand out

our works are meant to be evident

fruit is meant to be harvested and seen

It has been said “Faith is like calories you can't see them but you can always see their results “

We are to demonstrate our faith by our works

In our lives do we see our faith as active or passive I'm not talking perfectly but in general do we live and demonstrate our faith

A common phrase is if you were taking into court today and tried to see if you were a Christian would there be enough evidence to convict ?

And this is a question for all of us are we demonstrating our faith by our works

Moving to verses 19 and 20 point number 4

4. Genuine faith is not merely intellectual but from the heart

19 You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder!

20 Do you want to be shown, you foolish person, that faith apart from works is useless?

We see James reaching out to the church kid reaching out to the person who grew up religious and Judaism

To say the Lord our God is one is one of ancient Israel's oldest creeds found in Deuteronomy

Deuteronomy 6:4 ESV

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

James is saying great you have the Bible memorized you know the creeds but so do the demons

James is looking at you and I saying You know theology you've learned a lot about Christianity you understand a lot about the church

But so do the demons they have a greater knowledge of these things than you ever will but their works are abhorrent

So James is really really hitting this hard

And he wants us to understand that there's a difference in genuine faith and mental understanding of truth

I can mentally understand that Jesus died on the cross for my sins that God exists but I can also have that knowledge and not have salvation

And that's demonstrated by whether I put my faith in that true genuine faith trusts with all that we have that Jesus died for our sins we're banking on it

We put our full weight into the belief that Jesus died for our sins and we are to obey what he said and obedience isn't because we want salvation but because we already have it

A man James pivots to two examples in Scripture of genuine faith that was demonstrated by works

Our first example is the father of Hebrews Abraham and our sex example is a prostitute named rehab

21 Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered up his son Isaac on the altar?

22 You see that faith was active along with his works, and faith was completed by his works;

23 and the Scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness”—and he was called a friend of God.

24 You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone.

And here we find what people often times consider a contradiction in Scripture

how many of you have heard this very soon before?

And how many of you have heard this verse before?

Romans 3:28 (ESV)

28 For we hold that one is justified by faith apart from works of the law.

So my question is what do we think is happening here ?

This passage is often used in the debate between a traditional Roman Catholic Church and the Protestant Reformation Church

So what does the Bible teach?

A few things that are not happening here is James is not claiming something heretical and Paul is not correct in James

We see nothing in church history where James disputes this with Paul or Paul disputes this with James

What we see is unity in the first century but disunity as time goes on so what's the answer ?

The answer is Paul and James use the same word in the Greek for justify but because of its placement and the words around it it means different things

I'm not going to pretend like I could pronounce Greek words well

When James uses the word justify he uses it to mean “proved righteous in the sight of others”

And when Paul uses justify He uses it to mean “pronounced righteous in the sight of God”

Paul is emphasizing the root of salvation

James is emphasizing the fruit of salvation.

Remember James is talking to the church those who were under persecution those who are suffering for their faith and he is rebuking them and encouraging them to have genuine faith that produces fruit

he isn't preaching to nonbelieving people he's sending this to believers

And to be a believer in the first century is so different than being a believer today

Because of their faith people have lost family members they have lost wealth they have lost life

The believers have been scattered he says to the dispersion in chapter one

So it's important for us to realize that there isn't a contradiction here we must be saved by faith alone and that faith should produce a working life of fruit and that should be evident to others again we demonstrate our faith by our works

For a believer to claim to have saving faith and not also have works that are produced out of that faith has no real faith at all.

real Faith produces action

I want to reiterate that we aren't trying to earn our salvation but our faith will be demonstrated by works

25 And in the same way was not also Rahab the prostitute justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out by another way?

26 For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so also faith apart from works is dead.

When we tried disconnect faith from genuine Christian living

When we try to disconnect faith from loving our neighbor and living an outward Christian life

When we try to boil faith down to words that you repeat after someone else that doesn't affect our heart and our lives

It no longer becomes genuine faith it becomes counterfeit faith

And as a church we are to tell people what true faith looks like but then also show people what true faith looks like

We live in a place of justification if you are a believer if we are a believer we are already justified before God but are we living in a way that shows others that we are justified?

My question for each and every one of us is is our faith active

Is our face genuine

Because genuine faith is not indifferent but involved

genuine faith is not independent But in partnership

Genuine faith is not invisible but on display

And genuine faith is not just intellectual ascent but it is from the heart

I know that was a lot any questions before we break up into prayer groups