Active Faith

Introduction

“How do you know that your faith is real?” As a pastor, I’ve had plenty of people ask me that over the years. I remember one guy several years ago who really struggled with that question. He had prayed to receive Christ again and again, come before the church for baptism multiple times and he would tell me, “Fred, how can I know for sure? How can I know that I did it right? I know it’s salvation by grace through faith, but how can I know that my faith is real?”

If you were to come to me today with that question, I would tell you what I remember telling him. It’s not about you. Salvation is gift, a free gift, and your only responsibility is to receive it, to receive it by faith.

I’d quote Ephesians 2:8-9 to you.

Ephesians 2:8–9 NASB 2020

For by grace you have been saved through faith; and this is not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not a result of works, so that no one may boast.

Because it’s NOT! Salvation is NOT of yourselves! Salvation is not about what you do.

If you’ve been coming to church here for any real length of time, you that. Truth is, these 2 verses, Ephesians 2:8-9, are probably familiar to you. We believe them. We teach them. I reference these verses often, not just when answering questions about salvation, but I quote them often in my preaching , because truly it IS by grace that we have been saved through faith. It is NOT of ourselves, but the gift of God, NOT a result of works.

Here at EBC, we stand firmly on salvation by grace through faith alone as a foundational truth when it comes to knowing and walking with God.

And BECAUSE we believe this and we stand firmly on it, when we read verses like the one we read together earlier, James 2:24, “You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone,” it might give us pause.

“Wait a second, is the Bible contradicting itself here? And if it is, which is true? Are we saved by faith like we’ve been taught, like we see emphasized all throughout scripture? Or are we saved, justified simply by what we do?”

It’s a good question—an important question—not just in terms of our own salvation, but also in terms of the authority of the Bible. Because if Paul says one thing in Ephesians 2, and James says the opposite in James 2, isn’t that the Bible contradicting itself, and if the Bible contradicts itself, how can we take any of it seriously?

Because that’s what plenty of people have done. “See? Your salvation is NOT just about your faith. Your preacher may say it’s not about what you do, but James says right here that it is!”

You might see some Theobro of a certain persuasion on TikTok try to use this verse that way, jerking it out context to prove that his legalism, his works-oriented approach to salvation is justified. I saw one video recently that had a lady shouting and ripping a sheet of paper in half with the byline, “Protestants when you show them James 2:24,” like we’re somehow afraid of this verse, and DON’T believe what 2 Timothy 3:16 says that “ALL scripture is God-breathed and profitable for teaching, rebuke, correction, for training in righteousness.”

We’re not afraid of James 2, not at all. That’s why we’re looking at it this morning. We just don’t believe that it means what you think it means, especially if you think it means that you have to work for your salvation.

So, back to that question, “How do you know that your faith is real?” James’s answer to his original readers, Jewish believers dispersed all over the Roman Empire, his answer to my friend, and to us today is “You know your faith is real if it’s an ACTIVE FAITH.”

That’s the title of the message today, our second message in this series that we’re calling, “New Year, Fresh Faith,” where we’re taking a new look at, well, faith. Faith is not just empty religion or empty belief. Faith, if it’s real, is active.

Let’s look at that passage that we read together earlier, James 2:14-26, starting in verse 14

James 2:14 NASB 2020

What use is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone says he has faith, but he has no works? Can that faith save him?

To get at what James is saying here, we have to keep in mind the context. In the passage right before this one, James 2:1-13, James is correcting a tendency of some of the churches to treat wealthy people visiting the church better than those who were poor.

Apparently, if you dressed well and wore expensive jewelry, you would come in to worship, and you’d be showered with attention, given a seat of honor…meanwhile, the poor who came to worship that day would be instructed to stand in the corner or sit on the floor.

James tells them in verse 5, “Didn’t God choose the poor of this world to be rich in faith and heirs of His Kingdom?” and in verse 8 he reminds them of the second great commandment, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”

And then in verse 13, he says…

James 2:13 NASB 2020

For judgment will be merciless to one who has shown no mercy; mercy triumphs over judgment.

And it’s with that in mind that James reminds his readers that faith must be more than empty belief. Faith with no works, no action, is useless, empty, without any kind of benefit at all. James asks the question, “Can that kind of faith—INactive, sit on the sideline, consumeristic kind of faith—can that kind of faith even save?

And that brings us to the first fact that I want us to take home today, and it’s simply the fact that…

Real faith is active.

Because if it’s not active, it’s not really faith. Or at least faith as the Bible prescribes it. And again, this isn’t new or contradictory to other parts of the Bible. Go back to that passage we looked at earlier from Ephesians 2. Again, Paul says that it’s “by grace that you’ve been saved through faith and not a result of works, lest anyone should boast.”

But then he goes on to write in Ephesians 2:10:

Ephesians 2:10 NASB 2020

For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.

Those of us who are saved, who know the Lord, are “created…for good works.” The works don’t save us, but if we are saved by the grace of God, that salvation will produce the good work of obedience.

That’s how we know it’s real! Just saying you believe something is not real faith. Repeating a few words after a preacher in prayer—that alone is not real faith. Being baptized, going through the waters of baptism, that by itself is not real faith.

Real faith is loving Jesus, trusting Jesus, walking with Jesus, believing in the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus for YOUR sins to the degree that it changes you!

It’s active. Real faith is active.

Keep reading. Pick up in verse 15:

James 2:15–17 NASB 2020

If a brother or sister is without clothing and in need of daily food, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and be filled,” yet you do not give them what is necessary for their body, what use is that? In the same way, faith also, if it has no works, is dead, being by itself.

“What use is that?” James says, “What’s the point of a faith that doesn’t bring glory to God through the work that it does in the world?”

What good is a faith that doesn’t feed those who are hungry or clothe those who are cold? What good is a faith of a person that doesn’t meet the basic needs of those around them.

James says that that kind of faith…is useless. And that’s the next fact that we need to remember about real faith. Real faith is active, and second…

Active faith is useful in the Kingdom.

Again, echoing Paul, we are saved FOR good works that God prepared in advance that we may walk in them. We’re not saved BY them. We’re saved FOR them. That’s what makes them useful in the Kingdom of God.

Remember, that’s our agenda here. Building HIS Kingdom one life, one soul at a time is our mission. Our mission is NOT to do the best we can so that one day, hopefully, we’ll be able to get to heaven. Our mission is bring others with us by letting them see the goodness of God in us. What does that look like? Well, James shows us here. We’ve already seen in the example we just looked at that active faith is…

Useful in service.

One of the ways that we build the Kingdom of God through our faith in action is in the way we serve. We don’t serve because somebody else forces us to. We don’t give because some authority guilts us into it. No, we feed and clothe and build and give and counsel and encourage and correct and motivate because we serve and love a God who has done all that for us!

And as people see and feel that love, it’s inevitable. They will be drawn to Him. That’s what I’m praying for right now. In the rebuilding from the hurricane that’s happening in East Tennessee and North Carolina right now to the rescue and rebuild efforts from the fires in Los Angeles County, I’m praying that the people of God will come out of the woodwork and sacrificially serve for the glory of God.

Because active faith is useful in service. It’s also…

Useful in evangelism.

Look at verse 18:

James 2:18–20 NASB 2020

But someone may well say, “You have faith and I have works; show me your faith without the works, and I will show you my faith by my works.” You believe that God is one. You do well; the demons also believe, and shudder. But are you willing to acknowledge, you foolish person, that faith without works is useless?

Whoa. You hear what James is saying there? He’s quoting the Shema. Remember, he’s writing this to predominantly Jewish believers, Messianic Jewish believers. And that was and still is a core practice in Judaism. This is the Shema:

"Hear, O Israel: The Lord is our God, the Lord is One.”

And it’s typically recited twice a day, again a core element of Jewish identity and practice, a reminder to love Him with all your heart, soul, and strength.

And James is like, “You believe that? Good for you. The demons also believe that, and they tremble.

The bottom line? Someone who claims to know God, but refuses to obey Him in faith, is in reality no more near God than a demon.

That’s so important to get. Because I can’t tell you how many people I know who run from God, who refuse the gift of salvation, who turn away from God, NOT because of anything in gospel that offends them, but because of some hurt, some abuse, some misdeed by someone who called themselves a Christian, but in truth, they didn’t know God any more than the demons.

You want to undermine the Kingdom of God? Say you have faith. Get the Christian bumper sticker. Wear the Christian T-shirt. Quote scripture all the time. But then just ignore the teachings of Jesus and live for yourself. Then it won’t just be your faith that’s like the demons. You’ll actually find yourself doing their work.

But if your faith is active—not perfect, but active—if you’re at least trying to follow Jesus, you’ll be useful in evangelism.

Useful in service, useful in evangelism, and third…

Useful in writing God’s story.

Pick up in verse 21:

James 2:21–25 NASB 2020

Was our father Abraham not justified by works when he offered up his son Isaac on the altar? You see that faith was working with his works, and as a result of the works, faith was perfected; and the Scripture was fulfilled which says, “And Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness,” and he was called a friend of God. You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone. In the same way, was Rahab the prostitute not justified by works also when she received the messengers and sent them out by another way?

Here, to drive his point home, James gives us a couple of examples from Old Testament history. The first is the famous story of Abraham’s obedience when God tested him, telling him to go and sacrifice his beloved son, Isaac, to God in worship. God, of course, stopped it all before it went too far, but He commended Abraham, because he believed God, demonstrating his belief with action.

Same is true for Rahab. Rahab was a prostitute in Jericho who protected the Israelite spies who went in to scout out the city.

Because of her active faith, she was rescued in the Battle of Jericho and brought into the Israelite community. In fact, if you look at the genealogy of Jesus in Matthew 5, you find Rahab, which means that, through her active faith, through her obedience, the world got a Savior!

You see, it’s through the active faith of His people that God writes His story. We see example after example of this in the Old Testament, the New Testament, and still today. Do you want God to do great things in our city? Do you want to see revival come in our community?

Don’t just SAY you believe. PRACTICE what you believe. Get out of consumer mode and activate your faith! Because active faith is useful in the Kingdom of God.

Look at the last verse here, verse 26:

James 2:26 NASB 2020

For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead.

It really is. Faith without works is dead, because it’s not really faith. It looks like faith. It talks like faith. But it’s not really faith, because it’s dead.

When I do a funeral, one thing I often say, looking at the casket, I remind the family that their loved one isn’t there in that casket. The shell of who they were is there, but their soul, the essence of who they are, has gone on into eternity.

And that brings us to one final fact to remember today. Real faith is active. Active faith is useful in the Kingdom, and third…

Active faith is a living faith.

Just like a car isn’t a car if it has no engine, a person isn’t a person if he has no soul, your faith really isn’t faith, if it doesn’t produce works.

So, what’s the solution? I mean, you could add this to your New Year’s resolutions. “I’m gonna start living out my faith. Tell you what, I’ll make a goal to do one good deed per day.”

You could try that. But here’s my prediction. Like most of your New Year’s resolutions, it won’t last. And even if it does last, if you create a habit of doing work—god work even—out of habit or routine or to feel better about yourself, it’s not going to be any better. You will still feel empty and dead inside.

No, the key to activating your faith is not “faking it until you make it.” I tell you what that’s like. You ever see that old movie, “Weekend at Bernies?” It came out back when I was a kid, and it was this silly movie about some guys who are invited to their boss’s fancy beach house in the Hamptons for the weekend only to find him dead when they arrive. Afraid that they’ll be accused of his murder, they decide to pretend that he’s alive, putting goofy sunglasses on him, driving him around in his car. Again, it’s a ridiculous movie and I don’t recommend it.

But that’s what we do when we pretend to have faith. We become like the Pharisees of Jesus’ day, who he called “whitewashed tombs.” We look okay on the surface, but the truth is, we’re dead inside.

No, the key to giving life to your faith is not trying harder. It’s drawing near to the Giver of Life, Jesus. Knowing Him, walking with Him, loving Him, seeing Him for who He is—the King of Kings who loves you and died for you—that’s the only way to have faith that is real.

The reason the demons tremble at the knowledge of God shows that they don’t really know Him.

Let me ask you, do you really know the Lord today? Is your faith real? Is it active, useful, and alive?

If it’s not, the beauty of the gospel is that you can change that today. I’m not talking about going through some religious ritual. No, you can, right now where you’re sitting, ask Jesus to save you. Confess your desire to know Him and walk with Him.

And then live it out.

We want to help you with that today…