James 2:14-26

Faith and Works

Key points: This is not talking about individually justifying our salvation. The word justification used in this passage, is referring to “justifying” the CLAIM that we have faith. The claim of one having faith, lacks justification if we don’t live like we have faith. If we live our lives as though our actions don’t matter, James says that it is useless to say we even have faith in the first place if we don’t live like it.

This does NOT mean that we are not justified. James even uses the example of Abraham being justified by his belief in God in verse 23.

Last week we discussed the sin of partiality - which is favoritism.

This week we will finish chapter 2 of James and will be discussing the section about faith and works.

I want to give some context of James chapter 2 today before we read it.

Please grab your physical Bible to follow along as I will be jumping to other scriptures but would love if you all turned your Bibles to James 2:14-26.

There is one specific verse in this passage that gets taken out of context and I want to start with that before we go through each verse.

(SLIDE) James 2:17 “Even so faith, if it has no works, is dead, being by itself.”

Now, how many of you have read that passage before and read, “Faith without works is dead” and were confused by it?

I know a lot of people get confused about this section and think that it is talking about salvation and that you must have good works to be saved.

That is not what James is saying here, but before we get into that, I want to teach you guys and analogy…

(SLIDE) Fortune cookie! Have you guys ever had a fortune cookie before? You go to a Chinese restaurant or Panda Express and you get one of these.

Inside the cookie, is a fortune. Often all it is, is a fake catch phrase or slogan that someone made up.

Often times, that fortune people read has a quick one-line phrase that people read it and then throw away but they only read what they see in front of them on the paper because it is all that’s there.

The way that some people read the Bible is often with a fortune cookie mindset.

They look at one verse like James 2:17 and they read it as a fortune cookie.

A quick one-liner that doesn’t have any significant meaning other than what you see in front of your face.

The Bible is not meant to be read with a fortune cookie mindset!

(SLIDE) 2 Timothy 3:16 “All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness;”

So when we read any verse in scripture, we need to remember that all of God’s word is meant to be read in its full context by looking at more than just a single verse.

So what is the context of this passage in James..?

Let’s looks at some other scriptures to see how this is compatible.

(SLIDE) Ephesians 2:8–9 “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.”

Paul wrote the book of Ephesians. He says here, that is is by grace we are saved through faith.

The key point that Paul makes here, is that phrase “NOT AS A RESULT OF WORKS!”….

Faith in Jesus as our Lord and savior alone is what saves us…!

But does that mean that what we do in this life doesn’t matter? Of course not!

(SLIDE) Do you guys remember at Mid-week when we talked about Romans 6 where Paul says, in Romans 6:1–2 “What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin so that grace may increase? May it never be! How shall we who died to sin still live in it?”

This passage is Paul affirming that good works and good Christ-like behavior is 100% a part of the Christian walk.

(SLIDE) Look at the rest of Ephesians 2:8–10 “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.”

Workmanship..!

We are made for good works BUT as Paul says, it is faith alone in Jesus what saves us.

Does this mean that Paul and James are contradicting each other…?

Of course not! In fact, Paul clearly states in Galatians that he and James specifically are on the same page…!

(SLIDE) Galatians 2:1–2 “Then after an interval of fourteen years I went up again to Jerusalem with Barnabas, taking Titus along also. It was because of a revelation that I went up; and I submitted to them the gospel which I preach among the Gentiles, but I did so in private to those who were of reputation, for fear that I might be running, or had run, in vain.”

Paul used to persecute Christians until he had a radical calling by Jesus into ministry.

Since Paul is a newer follower of Jesus, he went up to Jerusalem to make sure he believed in true Gospel before he began teaching it himself.

You might say, well, how do we know that James was a part of that group?

Paul says so earlier!!

(SLIDE) Galatians 1:19 “But I did not see any other of the apostles except James, the Lord’s brother.”

So the idea of faith being what saves us and works being a fulfillment, are compatible because Paul and James were in agreement!

Let’s go back now to James 2 and read through this verse by verse.

(SLIDE) James 2:14–17 “What use is it, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but he has no works? Can that faith save him? 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,” and yet you do not give them what is necessary for their body, what use is that? Even so faith, if it has no works, is dead, being by itself.”

To start, James addresses the people this letter is written to again.

He says, “brethren” which in this context he is referring to brothers in Christ meaning those who have ALREADY placed their trust in Jesus..!

He asks the question to them, if someone claims they have put their faith in Jesus but they don’t do anything in their lives to represent their faith, then were they ever saved in the first place?

He gives an example of someone who needs food or clothing and rather than helping them you just say something like, “oh I’ll pray for you…!”

James is pointing out the ridiculousness of it and if we truly claim to have faith in Jesus, we should do something rather than just say we follow him…

Otherwise James says that is a dead faith. A faith that is useless.

When he calls it a dead faith, he isn’t saying that our salvation is dead, but rather the works that Jesus created us to do are not being done if we don’t act!

(SLIDE) James 2:18–20 “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 recognize, you foolish fellow, that faith without works is useless?”

James created a hypothetical scenario for us to consider.

If someone comes to us and says, “Prove to me that you are a follower of Jesus without actually acting like a follower of Jesus.”

He’s pointing out that it’s ridiculous to say to anyone that we love Jesus when we aren’t acting like it…!!!

Our good works are a sign of faith that we did accept Jesus as our savior.

(SLIDE) James 2:21–23 “Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered up Isaac his son 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 reckoned to him as righteousness,” and he was called the friend of God.”

Here James talks about Abraham and how his claim to be a follower of YHWH was proven justified when he sacrificed Isaac on the Altar.

Abraham was already saved and counted as righteousness by his belief prior to sacrificing Isaac on the Altar earlier in Genesis.

And we don’t have to look back either! James says it right there at the end of the passage, James 2:23 “and the Scripture was fulfilled which says, “And Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness,” and he was called the friend of God.”

Abraham’s faith in the Lord is what made him righteous and living it out confirmed it.

(SLIDE) James 2:24–26 “You see that a man is justified by works and not by faith alone. In the same way, was not Rahab the harlot also justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out by another way? For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead.”

The word “justified” being used here as well as other parts of the chapter, has multiple meanings similarly in the Greek.

The use for the word “justified”, in this passage, is “shown to be righteous” rather than “is made righteous”.

He uses the example of Rahab who similarly to Abraham, was already saved through their faith.

It is Rahab sending out the messengers that justified that she had faith to those around her publically….

If I were to summarize this passage in James I would say this…

(SLIDE) Christians who say they love Jesus, need to demonstrate their faith.

So we can see clearly that James is urging us, not to live our lives claiming to follow Jesus but don’t live it out…

We need to live our lives RADICALLY for Jesus and not just be passive about it as something we do just on Sundays…

Are you living every area of your life showing the love of Jesus to others..?

If we claim to love Jesus, but don’t live like him, what are we doing…?

We are WASTING our lives as followers of Jesus if we don’t live out our faith….

Don’t waste your life here on earth after you accepted Jesus and do nothing to show for the work that He’s doing in you…

Go out and be the hands and feet of Jesus!!!

SHOW THAT YOU HAVE FAITH ACCORDING TO THE 2ND CHAPTER OF JAMES!

(PRAY)