James 2

We have been looking at the book of James, one of my favorite books of the bible.. Last week we looked at chapter 1 and we said...

Some of my favorite verses of scripture, and often most talked about come from this chapter of James… the greatest thing that ever happened… Jesus coming to this Earth, happened after a plan was devised that would work to save mankind and Jesus came to this earth and did some amazing things and taught some amazing stuff while he was here...

But on the eve of his most amazing gift to all of us, he prayed the following prayer in John 17:4,  “Father, while on Earth I have completed all the works that you have sent me to do."

John 17:4 NKJV

4 I have glorified You on the earth. I have finished the work which You have given Me to do.

Jesus knew exactly what he was to be doing, and that is exactly what he was doing. Jesus completed the works that he and the Father had agreed to. Then, Jesus proceeded forward boldly and he went to the cross where he substituted himself for us. The God-man put himself in our place and suffered and died the punishment we deserve, that we might receive the salvation that he alone secures.

 Friends, everything Jesus did is everything that needs to be done. He said this on the cross, breathing out his last in triumphant victory cry, “It is finished!” The work of salvation was completed. We don’t add to it. It’s not Jesus plus baptism, Jesus plus a good life, Jesus plus speaking in tongues, Jesus plus tithing, Jesus plus doing better and trying harder, because Jesus plus anything ruins everything. It’s all Jesus, it’s only Jesus, it’s always Jesus, and Jesus alone saves. And that’s Jesus’ saving work. We are not to do anything; we are to trust the one who has done everything. And the Bible calls that faith.

 The more we trust Jesus and place our faith in him the more we are plugging into his life. ITs similar to having a dead electronic and we would plug it into a power source. The same is true of our lives, we were dead, but through faith, we are able to plug into OUR power source, Jesus.

 And here is the beauty, the work that Jesus did begins to change us, it begins to make us look at life differently, the things we desire change the things we seek change, we no longer do what we used to do, and we are no longer the people that we were… and the work that Jesus did FOR us continues in our lives… this is really what we are talking about…and it causes us to love and serve and give… but we don’t do that so God will love us…but because he already does. Not to get God to accept us, but because He already has. All of that is the life of Jesus in and through us and all of that is the work of Jesus. And get this, there was some confusion in that… that kind of makes us all confused so then, preachers get up and try to explain it, and the truth of the matter is James was one of the first preachers to have to talk about all of this. 

And I love it, because James talks about 3 types of faith.. and two of them are counterfeit… if you will, turn with me to James 2:14-26

James speaks of 3 types of faith

1. Dead Faith

James 2:14 NIV

14 What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them?

     The first type of counterfeit is dead faith… look at vss 14-17 again...14What good is it, my brothers and sisters, Look, he is writing to religious people, some of them are just Jewish by descent but he is writing to those religious people  if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them

This is a really good question, He’s saying we are saved from death, satan, sin, hell, the wrath of God, and what he wants to know is can dead faith save you from all that stuff? So he uses a really good example next...

James 2:15 NIV

15 Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food.

Suppose a brother or a sister (another Christian) is without clothes and daily food.

 Listen, there’s someone that we see every day, every week, they may be that coworker that you know works two jobs and is doing everything they can to support their family, but ends just aren’t meeting.

 It could be the kid in your kids class that you have seen for years and know that they have never had nice shoes, or a nice warm coat, and you have seen them come in from the cold shivering and shaking,

Or you see someone who you know doesn’t have enough to eat, they have food, but you know they are just barely scraping by to get what they need...

and here is a where he really shows us what dead faith looks like… 

Words and No action

James 2:16 NIV

16 If one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it?

If one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,”

Look, you just SAY it… you haven’t done anything… you just saying something… thats part of the problem with religion, it says lots, but does little...

We like to quote those verses and those cool quotes we know at them… “Don’t worry, when God closes a door he opens a window…I will be praying that God gives you that sandwich/coat/extra money  you need…” And those people are all… he did… the sandwich is in your fridge!… the coat in your closet… the money in your wallet...

But we just say… go in peace…be warm and well fed...

That’s the thing, religious people are often really annoying to talk to…you come to them with a problem,… they say… “GO in peace… keep warm…and be well fed… and then do nothing for what their physical body actually does need… and James says….

what good is it? 17In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead. 

James 2:17 NIV

17 In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.

Let me ask this question, what do dead people do? I know, this is a dangerous question.. Seriously, what do dead people do? NOTHING. You know what else… Dead Faith… what does it do?

NOTHING! Dead faith is all Words and no action.  There is no action, because truthfully there is no faith.

This would be like a woman who says, I Love my husband… do you talk to him? NO… Do you serve him? No. Do you live with him? No.

Then you don’t love him! “Oh yes I do, don’t judge my heart…” The problem is that your heart has overflowed and become visible in your life.. its just words without action...

 Fruitlessness

The problem is that some of us here have dead faith… we inherited it… its part of us… we don’t give… we don’t care… we don’t serve… oh we believe in God…but whats happened is we have acquired a lazy, lukewarm religion…and there is nothing more…and the sad thing is, that some of us have come up with some great theological reasons as to why we have no fruit in our lives...

Here’s whats scary, we learn in revelation that we can grow up in the church… go to a Christian school, get married in a church…bring our kids to church..and die and wake up in Hell…and its all because, church doesn’t save us… Jesus does…. and its all about trusting the work that he has already done and allowing that work to move through us...

Jesus said a good tree does what? Bears good fruit….a bad tree does not...

One year I planted some tomatoes.. and I had some grow well, and some that didn’t… ones that didn’t.. dint have good roots…and those didn’t bear much fruit… Jesus said he would cut those trees down, and some of us are like that…. we don’t bear good fruit…. because our faith is not rooted and thats making it not fruitful...

Thats the problem… some of us are rooted in religion… we’re rooted in tradition… we’re rooted in spirituality… but we aren’t rooted in Christ…so there is no life… you’re still dead… so there is no fruit! So I know I have been encouraging… how many of you are happy with all that info and are good to go? Okay.. its about to get worse… next type of faith...

2. Demonic Faith

James 2:18 NIV

18 But someone will say, “You have faith; I have deeds.” Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by my deeds.

But someone will say,

You know why, because people like to argue, there are some people that like to use the Bible to prove why they are being disobedient… Listen, there isn’t anything about that that is right!

You can’t use the Bible, against the Bible, thats oxymoronic.

But Someone will say…. 

“You have faith; I have deeds.” 

Listen, bro, don’t try to tell me how to live, we just have different paths… we’re both right, lets not get too bent out of shape about it…we’re both right… but James says...

Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by my deeds. 

James 2:19 NIV

19 You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder.

19You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder. 

So there are these two groups arguing with each other, and James is trying to address them, the sad thing is that these groups are still arguing today… we have the faith people and the works people…and normally these groups are the one WITHOUT the other.. so the works without faith people are saying… listen you can earn your salvation… its not about what Jesus did, its about what you do… tithe… go to church every week…  be a good person… thats all that matters… those things save you...

Listen, that is what religion is…every single religion other than Christianity will give you a list of exactly what you need to do to get God to love you more… every one of them… every single one… thats why we have muslims doing tons of crazy things in the name of God, they want to get God to love them more… thats what is so frustrating when people try to say that Christianity is just like other religions.. its not! There is a huge difference… with ALL religion your works save you and it all matters what you do… but with Christianity none of that matters, all that matters is what Jesus has already done.

So here the people James are writing to are having this argument, the works people are trying to tell the faith people whats up and remember the faith people are faith WITHOUT works… so these faith people come in and say, just calm down, we don’t need to do anything…remember Jesus has done it all, all we have to do is believe… PRAY? HAH We don’t need to pray, God has already taken care of everything, we don’t even need to worry, we have faith he is in control… We don’t need to serve… We believe God will take care of every single need we don’t need to step up, instead, lets just argue theology… lets see who is right..

They look at the people doing works and say, look you just don’t believe… if you believed you wouldn’t be taking it into your own hands… you must not TRUST Jesus… You’re starting to look like those guys the pharisees I read about and do things just to be seen.. what is wrong with you people...

The truth of the matter is that there are a lot of churches that pick one of these sides and just kind of hang onto it and move forward…they either work a lot or just sit and have lots of faith.. but then there is a group that is kind of in the middle… 

This is the group that is like, I know I can’t do NOTHING, but I am not going to do a whole lot more than I already am… I’m just going to hang out right here… this is that group of people that like the question, If you died today do you know you would end up in Heaven? Yes… Why? Because I’m a pretty good person… really what you are saying is, Im a pretty decent person, I believe God kind of grades on a curve and I am good enough…I know if there is a heaven thats where I’ll end up...

Let’s be honest, most of us live in that group… but the truth is here is what James says about that…”you’re just like a demon..” that right there is encouraging… James says, oh you believe in God, congratulations, you are a monotheist just like the demons because the truth of the matter is you can have a understanding of Jesus without having an affection for him.

You know whats crazy?

When you read the Gospels, there are tons of people that didn’t know who Jesus was… like people that were really close to Jesus didn’t know who he really was, but the demons did… let me show you...

Mark 1:34 ESV

34 And he would not permit the demons to speak, because they knew him.

Luke 4:33–34 ESV

33 …there was a man who had the spirit of an unclean demon, and he cried out with a loud voice, 34 “Ha! What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are—the Holy One of God.”

Luke 4:41 ESV

41 And demons also came out of many, crying, “You are the Son of God!” But he rebuked them and would not allow them to speak, because they knew that he was the Christ.

So there is dead faith, which I would say is what I had… for a long time… I would have told you I was a Christian but I didn’t know Jesus, I didn’t love Jesus, His life wasn’t changing my life…but then there is demonic faith…. you know who Jesus is… but you don’t love him…. you’re not responding to his call… his life isn’t changing you...

 Let me give you three aspects of Demonic Faith

     3 Aspects of Demonic Faith

          1. It’s knowledge doesn’t transform

              Some of us could answer questions about Jesus and get all the answers right, we could say, Yes, Jesus is the son of God, I believe that…just like the Demons do.  the problem is, when it comes to Jesus its not just about answering the questions… it is impossible to meet and know Jesus and live the same way… it is impossible to have knowledge of Jesus as the son of God and not be transformed.  The truth is, we can’t say, I met Jesus but nothing changed. 

          2.It doesn’t love Jesus

               The second truth, is that demonic faith knows Jesus but doesn’t love him.  Look at all those scriptures I just told you… they say, you are the son of God, we know you are… but they don’t say, AND we love you…and we want to listen…. and we want to follow…They don’t love him… do YOU love Jesus? Has he changed you? Is he CHANGING you?

          3.Its rebellious and not repentant 

               Demonic Faith is rebellious… this is the teenager that says, I know you are my parents, I know you are in charge, but you’re dumb, nothing you say makes sense, I’m not going to listen to you, I am going to do whatever I want to do anyway… forget it… 

 These are the people who know who God is, and we believe, but we don’t care what he is telling us to do….

So those are the two types of counterfeit faith… what about real faith? Real Dynamic faith?

3. Dynamic Faith 

Lets look a the rest of this section… 

James 2:20 NIV

20 You foolish person, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless?

He wants to prove a point to you about how foolish this is so he is about to show you two different examples...

James 2:21–22 NIV

21 Was not our father Abraham considered righteous for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? 22 You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did.

Pay attention… he was made complete by what… by what he did… and it goes on...

James 2:23–25 NIV

23 And the scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness,” and he was called God’s friend. 24 You see that a person is considered righteous by what they do and not by faith alone. 25 In the same way, was not even Rahab the prostitute considered righteous for what she did when she gave lodging to the spies and sent them off in a different direction?

Here comes the second example... 

How many of you have done something you are ashamed of? The Bible tells you of God Loving people like you….this is actually what is wrong with religion…. religion tells us we have to do good things, follow a list and God will love us… the bible tells us God loves us no matter what we do… so you get this example of Rahab the prostitute… I mean, that meant the same thing then as it does today… I am not sure if she was hanging out in the Cardinals dorm or not… but there was no way that Rahab would have died and stood before God and been like, look I am justified because I was a prostitute… nope…. look it goes on...

James 2:25–26 NIV

25 In the same way, was not even Rahab the prostitute considered righteous for what she did when she gave lodging to the spies and sent them off in a different direction? 26 As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.

James is saying, remember Rahab… everyone knew she was a prostitute…she wasn’t one of Gods people… and then Gods people show up… and Rahab has a conversion… and her heart changes and she starts making some different life choices… so what he’s saying is as soon as she was converted… you could see it…her life changed.. she wasn’t perfect.. .but different 

And here it is… Christians aren’t perfect… far from it… but they ARE different…they are on the path to perfection, to get to what God has called them to...

What Rahab did was start to identify with God’s people… she didn’t say, oh you’re in trouble, I trust God, good luck getting out…she said, I’m here to help, I know God loves you and he loves me, let me serve you…God saved me from my mess, let me save you from yours...

To this Jewish audience he is talking about abraham… God told him he would have a son.. old…barren.. couldn’t have kids… had a son.. God told him to sacrifice… the thing he waited for… and James is saying…what if he did nothing… what if he believed God, but just didn’t act… it wouldn’t have worked…because faith isn’t just what we believe internally, its how we behave externally...

WORSHIP TEAM

Example… Kids side of pool… jump… no.. trust me…yes… then jump… no… if they never jump do they really trust me? No… and here is what James is saying… rehab believed and trusted and jumped… she had a heart faith and it moved on the outside...

Listen, everyone in the room, I don’t care how long you have been in church, this includes me… apart from Jesus We are not good people… we’re not…and here’s the thing, there is nothing at all that we can do to fix ourselves we just need to start trusting in what God has already done for us..

IF you are here this morning and consider yourself a Christian, know this God has prepared good works for you to do.  There are people for you to love, there are people that you can share with about Jesus, there are ways to grow, there are desires to change, there are mindsets that need to be altered, there is a kingdom to serve, a mission to serve, and Jesus has invited you to be a part

Listen, Community there is work for us to do, in a 10 mile radius there are at least, 70,000 people that need to know Jesus, we need to get that message out there… we need people to step up and be leaders, to step up and take care of things, 

And don’t think, oh he’s just preaching works, no, I am preaching love! Love for Jesus and all his people…Here’s whats cool, he doesn’t need us, but he loves us, and just like a good dad allows us to participate in the things that he is doing Jesus allows us to participate in the things that he is doing...