Faith Works 3

Start by highlighting known/unknown and true/false based on what we see, what we show

I have three kids. Is that a true statement? How do you know that’s a true statement?

I like building things. Is that a true statement? How do you know that’s a true statement?

I enjoy reading and studying. Is that a true statement? How do you know that’s a true statement?

I own a fully restored 1922 model T that I bought on a part-time youth ministers salary while I was in Abilene, but you can’t see it because its got an awesome custom paint job that makes it invisible- and in fact, I can’t remember where I last parked it. Is that a true statement? How do you know?

All of those are relatively easy to suss out. I have three kids. You can see that I have three kids. They make themselves well-known in every room they ever go into. I like building things. You know I like building things. I just built a camper that lindsey and I took on our two-week tour de Colorado, which is just one of several large projects I’ve done during our time here in Altus. You know I enjoy reading and studying. One- its part of this job. Two, I’m willingly subjecting myself to more of it and paying a school to assign my reading list as a work on another degree. Three, there’s a table on the west side of our lobby that has books I set out every few months as an encouragement to those of you here to read. You also know that there’s no way the last one is true. One- If I can’t show you something that incredible, there’s no way you’ll believe me. And the invisible paint job thing is insane, though if not for that you might have been willing to believe that I lost a car- thats the only part that would not surprise anyone. But the real impossibility would be that I afforded a fully-restored model t on a part-time youth minister’s salary. Ya’ll know better than to believe it. In general people have an easier time believing things that can be backed up by “the visible,” and a much harder time believing things that can’t be displayed, no matter the reason.

Today as we dive into the next section of the book of James, we see the importance of the visible aspect of our faith- a faith lived out and on display for all who are around us. In today’s passage, James highlights the idea that faith is not some in-your-head concept, some high ideal that has no practical application. “Faith” doesn’t simply mean that you state that you believe something is true. Faith is more than thought, and more than words. Faith is a force that drives us

The New Revised Standard Version Faith without Works Is Dead

14 What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but do not have works? Can faith save you? 15 If a brother or sister is naked and lacks daily food, 16 and one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and eat your fill,” and yet you do not supply their bodily needs, what is the good of that? 17 So faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead.

Explanation here

The New Revised Standard Version Faith without 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 by my works will show you my faith. 19 You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder. 20 Do you want to be shown, you senseless person, that faith apart from works is barren? 21 Was not our ancestor Abraham justified by works when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? 22 You see that faith was active along with his works, and faith was brought to completion by the works. 23 Thus the scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness,” and he was called the friend of God. 24 You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone. 25 Likewise, was not Rahab the prostitute also justified by works when she welcomed the messengers and sent them out by another road? 26 For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is also dead.

Our faith is meant to be on display, and in fact James would tell us that it is only truly faith IF it is on display. This isn’t to say that our works brings about our salvation. James doesn’t state that we are justified by our works alone. He says that we are not justified by

We know God loves and is faithful to us because God displays that love in the form of Jesus.